As end users, your average American citizen may not give a lot of thought to how all the components of his or her car, computer or clothing came together to be purchased at a local store. But in a global economy, all our lives are touched by international trade, said Margaret Kidd, San Jacinto College instructor in International Businessand Logistics.
Moving products and goods around the globe is a science that requires people trained to work as different links in a long chain.
"We are positioning students to work in arenas such as maritime transportation, global supply chain management, purchasing, trade compliance, customer service, consular offices, documentation, warehouse and inventory management, and more," Kidd said.
Houston, with its port and thriving oil and gas industry, is positioned for huge growth in logistics careers, and companies are gobbling up their graduates "like serving pancakes to hungry teenagers," she said.
"The majority of our students are employed before they leave college," she said. "It's more of an anomaly if they don't have a job at the end."
San Jacinto College offers a two-year associate of applied science degree in International Business and Logistics at the North Campus, in addition to a 30-hour certificate of technology and an 18-hour occupational certificate. Kidd said San Jacinto also has an articulation agreement with the College of Technology at theUniversity of Houston's Department of Information and Logistics Technology that allows the bulk of credit hours earned to be transferred toward a four-year degree.
"What attracts me to the field is very much the idea of achieving the American dream," Kidd said. "In this industry, it can happen. It's not who you know, it's the ability to work hard. Go-getters and self-starters, people who are motivated and seek challenges will do well."
Other helpful attributes are the ability to wear many hats, to work well with a diversity of people and communications skills, Kidd said.
"Many of these employers need bilingual workers," Kidd said. "It's a huge asset to have more than one language. In terms of most valuable second languages for international business here in Houston, I would rank Spanish, Portuguese and Mandarin as the top three. Next, I'd add Hindi, Arabic and Vietnamese."
Kidd said the industry is anticipated to grow 15 percent over the next decade nationally, but locally may be even faster. People in these careers can earn anywhere from $17 to $87 an hour depending on specialization, education and career arc.