Story Published:
May 27, 2009 at 9:37 PM CST
Story Updated:
May 27, 2009 at 9:37 PM CST
The walls are going up. "Today, I helped put a wall up." said Klaus Scharioth, Germany’s ambassador to the United States, at Chattanooga’s Enterprise South industrial park.
The new Volkswagen plant began to take shape in Chattanooga Thursday as the first wall was hoisted and VW moved ahead with the $1 billion investment in the automotive assembly plant.
The recession has had no affect on the company's plans, according to VW's chief executive Stefan Jacoby.
While Chrysler closed dealerships in the past week, VW ramped up its national dealership network. Dealers are looking at the 150,000 vehicles to be produced annually and are are investing millions of dollars to upgrade and improve quality, Jacoby said.
Gov. Phil Bredesen told ceremony attendees that VW’s decision “puts a bright spotlight” on Chattanooga.
But what about those jobs? An estimated 2,000 jobs will be created at the factory along with thousands of other spin-off posts at supplier companies.
Marlena Russell, senior VW recruiter who joined the company in February, says “I’m looking, and VW is looking, to hire local people."
At least two area individuals are currently interviewing for managerial jobs in the company, and finding the process really interesting.
"I was expecting the process to be really intimidating" said one candidate (name witheld), "but it was very relaxed."
The candidates are learning, however relaxed, that the process of selection is also quite rigorous. "I was presented with a problem and asked how I would handle it on the spot. It was all content I should know, but still a little scary."
In the next round of interviews (there are many), the candidate is being asked to make a presentation based on a past project and actions he took.
"It's a lot of work, but I think they take hiring very seriously. I like that" he said.
So....how do you get those interviews? Apply through the career center and follow up. Then, if called, be prepared for a series of events.
With management teams being selected, large scale hiring doesn't seem far behind. Plans are underway to have education programs in place and running by October, which suggests that hiring plans will follow the same pattern.
Chattanooga State Technical Community College is poised to educate an entire crop of workers for the plant. Larry Bramlett has been an electronics repairman for years, but the 56-year-old enrolled in the school’s electronics program in August 2008 because his small business faltered under competition.
