Road to Talent: Discovering the Next Generation in Everyday Conversations

Last week, I was in Oklahoma City helping my daughter move into her residence hall at Oklahoma City University for her sophomore year. Like many parents on move-in day, I was caught up in the whirlwind of boxes, multiple trips to Target and Walmart, and that interesting mix of pride and bittersweet emotion that comes with watching your child take another step toward independence at a school 17.5 hours away from home.

After another trip to Walmart and a goodbye lunch, I called an Uber to head to the airport. What I thought would be a routine 20-minute ride turned out to be one of the most inspiring workforce conversations I’ve had in a long time.

My driver was a U.S. veteran who had spent years working on an oil rig. Wanting to spend more time with his wife and 6 children, he made the bold decision to change direction and pursue industrial engineering. Today, he’s enrolled at Oklahoma State University’s Oklahoma City campus through the FAME (Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education) program.

The structure of the FAME program is powerful: he spends two days each week in college classes and the other three working with a local company in a paid role. This earn-and-learn model not only allows him to gain valuable real-world experience but also ensures he graduates with an associate degree—and no student debt. As we talked, he spoke with genuine enthusiasm about the hands-on learning, the career opportunities opening up for him, and how different this new path feels compared to his past work in oil and gas.

Naturally, I shared with him some insight into the world of metal casting, particularly the critical role that industrial maintenance and engineering play in our foundries. Skilled professionals who can maintain equipment, troubleshoot problems, and optimize operations are the backbone of any successful manufacturing facility. His interest reminded me just how transferable technical skills can be, and how someone from an entirely different industry can bring real value to ours.

That ride underscored an important truth: the next generation of manufacturing talent can be found anywhere, you just need to be willing to have a conversation. Whether it’s in an Uber, at a community event, or through a formal program like FAME, opportunities to connect with potential workers are all around us. Too often we limit our view of recruitment to job postings, career fairs, or traditional pipelines. But as this experience reminded me, sometimes the most promising candidates are sitting right next to us, waiting to share their story.

For foundries, where the need for skilled workers in maintenance, engineering, and operations remains urgent, this mindset is critical. We cannot afford to overlook potential talent simply because it doesn’t come to us in the traditional way. We need to engage, share our industry’s story, and invite people to see the opportunity that exists in metal casting.

As I stepped out of that Uber at the airport, I couldn’t help but think: if every one of us made the effort to start conversations like this, how many more people could we inspire to explore a career in metal casting

Sometimes, recruiting talent isn’t about looking harder, it’s about listening better.