Testing… testing… Success!
4/4/2006 11:56:34 AM
There is a great deal of good news coming from College of the North Atlantic’s (CNA) Port aux Basques campus these days. Good news for programs such as Non-Destructive Testing (NDT), good news for students enrolled in the program, and good news for companies looking to fill the multitude of positions they have available.
NDT, also referred to in industry as non-destructive examination (NDE) and non-destructive inspection (NDI), is a family of specialized technical inspection methods that provide information about the condition of materials and components without destroying them. It is one of the major tools of quality control, according to Technico Inc., and is firmly entrenched in quality programs of industries such as aerospace, automotive, defense, pipe line, power generation, preventative maintenance, pulp and paper, refinery, and shipbuilding.
Technico Inc. and Quality Assurance Labs have a history of 60 years in the provision of non-destructive testing, inspection heat treatment and specialized engineering services to the industrial market. Based in Saint John, New Brunswick, Technico maintains full-service operations throughout the Maritimes. Quality Assurance Labs, based in South Portland, Maine, services the New England States.
Steve Foster, Marketing Associate with Technico, has contacted Port aux Basques campus on several occasions recently, looking to recruit NDT students. He says it’s because of CNA’s reputation for quality programming and personal experience with its graduates that he is so eager to recruit them as soon as possible.
“About eight months ago Technico hired a graduate of the NDT program. She has worked out very well and now has obtained Magnetic Particle and Liquid Penetrant certifications through CGSB. Coming to Technico with all of the CGSB exams written and passed, all she needed was hours in the field to obtain the government certifications,” reveals Foster.
Technico isn’t the only company looking for quality graduates. Others throughout Canada have been visiting the campus and soliciting resumes from students before they even graduate, says Campus Administrator Jan Peddle.
“This program is just amazing right now… there are all kinds of opportunities,” he says.
A representative of Acuren (formerly Canspec) visited the campus in February and signed several students before he left, to begin work as soon as they graduate.
“One of our students who graduated in February is working there now – Stephen Pearce,” says Peddle.
“He did five months of training with us, went to work with Acuren for the summer and they didn’t want him to leave. He came back to his studies anyway and is now working with them.”
In fact, Pearce finished the NDT program February 17 and was in Fort McMurray working his new job at Acuren only three days later. And boy is he working.
“I am working all the time,” he says. “I think I’ve had three days off since I started.”
Pearce currently has three tickets along with his NDT diploma: Ultrasonics Level I, Magnetic Particles Level II, and Liquid Penatrants Level II. But he won’t stop there; he knows the more tickets and levels he possesses, the more valuable he is to the company.
“I’ll be going back to Port aux Basques to get more levels, including the Ultrasonics Level II in May,” he says.
He says the more he invests in himself, the more Acuren invests in him.
“This is the best move I’ve ever made,” exclaims Pearce, “and I’d recommend College of the North Atlantic’s NDT program to anybody who likes hands-on work and lots of money!”
Travis Pike echoes the sentiment. He was the Acuren representative who visited CNA in February. He also happens to be a graduate of the same NDT program. In fact Pike, currently Supervisor at the company’s Syncrude Base Plant, says many of Acuren’s employees came through College of the North Atlantic.
“Many of our employees went through CNA – including me; I went back for certifications three times. I started at the bottom at Acuren with my CNA diploma and with the other tickets, worked my way up,” says Pike. “It’s a great company to work for.”
Pike was quite pleased with his visit to the campus and came away with nine students signed to the company. Some of these students will graduate in May and others, by the end of August. The company doesn’t mind waiting for them.
“We know the quality we’re getting. We’ve had nothing but success with grads from CNA,” says Pike.
This is the first time the company has actively recruited in this way. And it won’t be the last, says Pike.
“We’re hiring people everyday. In fact, we just had a group of 130 hired from all over Canada for our current shutdown.”
If one is testing the labour market ‘waters’ for a sure thing, this is as close as it gets.
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For more information contact:
Stephen Lee
Manager of Marketing and Communications
709 227-6283
Or
Tanya Alexander
Public Information Officer
709 643.7928