Hands-on training for a hands-on career
8/29/2008 2:52:20 PM
For 20-year-old Greg Rendell of St. John’s, the decision to enroll in the Machinist program was a no-brainer.
He had a job ready and waiting for him in this high demand industry before starting the program at College of the North Atlantic’s (CNA) Placentia campus.
“I started the program last September and finished in June. My family has a machine shop here in town – it’s a family business,” says Rendell.
E. Tucker and Sons Limited was established in 1964 by Ed Tucker. According to Rendell, the business has been run by his family since its inception.
In fact, it was through his family and co-workers that Rendell found out about the Machinist program at CNA.
“My family members have all completed the same program. We have five or six of us from the family working here now but it’s my grandfather who actually owns the business. I have been around (the business) my whole life and I’m lucky because I didn’t have to go looking for work.”
Rendell recalls spending time at the shop when he was a child.
“It always interested me – what they were doing in the shop for sure,” he says.
“I was actually working here for two years before I started the course. But I realized that you have got to get the papers to get the big bucks. I was doing some labour work and some machine work but I’m more in depth with the machine work now that I have my diploma.”
He says he learned everything he needed at the CNA.
“This is the first program I’ve taken with the college. I thought it was a pretty good program – it had a good pace and it was pretty well in-depth. I thought the instructors were always great since anytime you had any questions they were always there to help. They were friendly and polite.”
And he feels there is definitely a demand for workers in this field.
“All the machine shops around town have been looking for workers. The problem is there aren’t many journeymen around who can fill the positions. I would recommend people to take this program for sure. There’s plenty of job opportunity and decent money involved,” he says.
“It’s hands-on all the time. You never know what you’ll be doing one day to the next – it could be changing because you never know what will come to the door.”
Brad Greeley, 18, from Conception Bay South, is also a recent graduate from the program.
“I like working with my hands so I figured the machinist would be a good trade to take,” says Greeley.
“I found out about it from the guidance counsellor in high school and she helped me decide to pursue it further. I graduated in from the Machinist program in June and had a job lined up a couple of weeks before I got out of school.”
Greeley had originally considered pursuing a career in the automobile service sector but quickly decided the Machinist program was the right choice for him.
“I thought the program was excellent. I like working with my hands and I had a really good experience in the class and at Placentia campus,” continues Greely.
“The instructors were excellent. I keep in touch with my instructors and if there was anything I had trouble with or wanted them to help out with, I would have no problem being able to go to them for advice.”
He is currently employed at TRT Services in Conception Bay South.
“I love it. I like to make things out of nothing and my job gives me a chance to do that. This is something I see myself doing for a very long time.”
There are still several seats available in this program, to be filled on a first come, first served basis. For more information about the Machinist program, contact Placentia campus today at (709) 227-2037 or log on to the website at www.cna.nl.ca.
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For more information please contact:
Glenda McCarthy
Public Relations Assistant
College of the North Atlantic
(709) 643-6408
glenda.mccarthy@cna.nl.ca
OR
Tanya Alexander
Public Information Office
College of the North Atlantic
(709) 743-7928
tanya.alexander@cna.nl.ca