career connection
technical school
Electronic
Technician
Alabama Community College System (ACCS)
chose to highlight Taylor Kendrick ,
20-year-old graduate of Reid State Community
College as he shares his experience of becoming
an Electronic Technician. Having graduated high
school from Sparta Academy in Evergreen,
Alabama, Taylor sought out education close to
home in Atmore. He studied in the Industrial
Electronics/Maintenance program at Reid State
Technical College.
When asked what sparked his interest in the field,
he shared, “I have always wired up lights and
speakers for my friends, and I wanted to learn
more about electronics and make a career with my
hands.” Attending a technical college allowed him
to do just that and provided him with great
opportunities in his field.
Attending Technical School
As a junior or senior in high school, everyone wants to know
what your plans are after graduation. Often, they are expecting
you to answer with the name of a 4-year university and a partic-
ular career path. Taylor addressed a few of his favorite aspects
of attending a technical college and claimed that he valued
“having people around you that have the same goal and having
instructors push you to make you better.” His experience in the
Industrial Maintenance program taught him a significant amount
of useful knowledge and skills to apply hands-on. There was an
alternate option in the program that offered a different career
route. “The course in residential wiring was a bonus in case you
weren’t cut out for the long vigorous hours of industry work, you
could have a career in residential wiring.” He identifies the dif-
ference between technical school and a traditional university as,
“The people—the instructors understand what it is like working
in the industry and they do their best to get you ready for work
and life after school.”
30
| Spring 2020
Landing the Job
Taylor secured a position at Schlumberger. Schlumberger is the
world's leading provider of Oilfield services such as technology
for reservoir characterization, drilling, production, and process-
ing to the oil and gas industry. Working in more than 85 coun-
tries, Schlumberger supplies the industry's most comprehensive
range of products and services. Through his studies at Reid State,
he was able to obtain his current position. Schlumberger came
to Reid state, and they were searching for new employees, so he
flew out to Dallas Texas and went through the interview process.
He currently serves as an Electronic Technician and wears many
different hats every day at work—anything from electrical to me-
chanical. Most days, he works 14-hour shifts and works for weeks
at a time. He has worked for Schlumberger for 10 months. He
started in Oklahoma, working on land Rigs, and is now working
in Louisiana on Offshore Rigs.
Advice to Seniors
He offers this advice to high school seniors, “They need to under-
stand when you accept a job in the industrial industry, the hours
are long. The work is dirty and you are exposed to all conditions.
Some people are built for it but some are not. There are many
different paths you can take with an electronic degree—it doesn’t
have to just be for industry work.”
Did you know?
The drop out rate for a
traditional 4-year college is
40% but the drop out rate for
trade/technical schools
is only 1.6%.
Source: https://careerschoolnow.org/careers/trade-school-vs-traditional-college
www.potentialmagazine.com