Justin has his 3rd class ticket and
half of
his 2nd. He graduated from the Technical Institution in
1996.
He works for a large multinational in a control room at one of their
newer
plants. He likes the job, the challenge, the variety in what he does
and
all it has to offer including the opportunity to transfer over to a
trade
department or get into management at some point if he so desires.
Justin originally wanted to get his
Ph.D. in
engineering so he could get a decent job when he got out of University.
But after two years in University he re-examined his direction and
decided
to take a year off to look at his goals. If Justin had continued with
his
goal he would be spending about 9 years in University. It’s a good
thing
he took that year off.
During his year off he had some
interesting
discoveries for himself. He first worked for an oil and gas company and
quickly recognized that the oil and gas business was the place to be
because
of the money being made. Problem was he didn’t have any qualifications
to be making the big bucks so when his work term was up he went to work
in the rail yard for a rape seed oil production facility. There he was
had the opportunity to study for his 4th Class certificate
as
the company he was working for was looking for volunteers.
Justin has an uncle who is a welder
and who
has his 4th. Justin quizzed him about P.E.T./Stationary
Engineering
and got the low down on the business and so decided to go for his 4th.
This way he got to work in the utility part of the rape seed plant and
get steam time and graduate to a better pay scale. Justin didn’t stop
there
he continued his investigations into P.E.T./Stationary Engineering
while
working on his 4th. He then quit his job and was determined
to go to a technical institution to fast track himself through the
process.
He also got $9000 in grants to cover expenses while at school. He had
to
go through a few interviews to get it but what the hey, it’s free money!

One thing a person can learn from
Justin's
experience is to ALWAYS check out the bursaries department. There are
thousands
of dollars just waiting to be picked up by anyone who qualifies for
them.
Justin admits that some of the grant money he got was due to his Native
American heritage. Keep in mind, there are still many grants available
for regular folks. If you have your eye on a large corporate employer,
it doesn't hurt to call their offices to see what grants and
scholarships
they may have available for a prospective employee as well.
In 2003 Justin made a jump
between
employers. His reasons for the shift were primarily for the good
of his children. Although he grew up in the area where he was
working
and had a lot of attachment because of family and friends, he wanted to
live in the big city. This offered his children better
educational
opportunities and greater amenities for the family. Justin is
young
and open to change. Having a Second Class Steam Ticket helped
considerably
when it came to making the employment transition.
Justin's attraction to the
business:
He noticed friends of his that are in
the business
had a higher standard of living than his other friends.
P.E.T./Stationary Engineering had
greater job
stability.
Justin's advice:
Don’t let the word "Engineer" scare
you. An
average person can make their way through the education for this stuff
even if you were getting 60% on your math exams in high school.
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