San Joaquin Valley College has a dual focus in every community it serves. We prepare well-trained business and technical program graduates for their chosen fields and provide local businesses and industries with skilled, eager-to-work employees. SJVC’s Electrical Technology program graduates serve those businesses that are committed to keeping the lights on and machines running.
As president of Thompson Electric, Inc., Tom Thompson’s company provides power – Industrial Commercial, and Residential electrical generators and motors – to homes and businesses, large and small. To keep things humming, Tom partners with SJVC’s Strategic Workforce Partnership Manager, Dajon Coleman to fill his high-performance electrical technician needs. Thompson Electric is also an extern site for SJVC ‘s about-to-graduate Electrical Tech students’ hands-on experience module.
How does SJVC support your electrical business’s employee hiring needs?
I knew my service employees needed to be licensed, so I researched electrical programs that had flexible program options (day or evening courses) that would allow them to work toward their General Electrician certification while in school. The key for me was an Electrical Tech program that had a favorable time balance of classroom, work and family.
SJVC provides program options for students to be able to work and still get through the program. Classes that didn’t interrupt their work schedule made it an affordable option for them.
Do you feel the Electrical Technology program is worth the education cost in your specialty field?
So many programs are more expensive, but SJVC’s program cost is justified. SJVC does a class at a time for considerably less than the cost of other program’s options. And some programs out there can be financially crippling.
For us, it’s a benefit for job applicants to have been part of SJVC’s Electrical Technology program.
What qualities do you look for during your hiring practice?
SJVC provides a good platform for our hires and is very in tuned with small business. And I like our ability to find employees and offer them the option to go to SJVC’s Electrical Technology program. It would be a benefit to them and would take them through necessary steps to have useful electrical field knowledge and methodology.
We’ve already sent two new-hires to SJVC’s Electrical Technology program to confirm their knowledge and skill level.
How important is technical education for those applying for a position with you?
It’s a benefit for them to be part of a program that takes them through the necessary steps to have very useful tooling and field knowledge. SJVC is a good platform, but applicants need to be prepared to learn more from us. There are certain areas we need to train in that are specific to our services.
I had called multiple colleges to find a program that fit our needs, and the one at SJVC did just that. The program at SJVC meets the standards set forth by the California Department of Industrial Relations for the current California Electrician Certification Program.
How would you rate your interaction with SJVC?
I am a tool master (Master Electrician) and without the right tool in your tool bag you are not fully operational. The college needs to be in my tool bag. I would not want to put in a bid on a job without SJVC being part of that growth.
Dajon Coleman is our Strategic Workforce Partnership Manager at SJVC who created this Electrical Technology program relationship. Finding the right people used to be a big stressor, but Dajon makes that connection easy and effective. He listens to the employee aspects I’m looking for and finds that match. (In SJVC’s Career Services Department, Dajon partners with employers to provide well-trained SJVC graduates in specific career fields.)
What key elements do SJVC Industrial Tech students/grads bring to your business?
I don’t have to waste my time asking if they know these things. SJVC will have indoctrinated this in them. Their Career Services Department listens to the aspects I’m looking for in a new hire. And, having a partner like Dajon, we know our needs are accurately represented.
What advice would you give to someone considering a career in your field?
You need to be versatile, constantly learning, gaining different experiences to bring something valuable to the table. Having knowledge of different systems is so important. Knowledge of different tools and how to use them well. That is so critical. SJVC provides all that.
Do you have a clear vision for what you want for your shop in the future?
Our government, commercial and private work will increase, and we will need up to another half dozen employees. My wife and partner, Jennifer Thompson, helps me manage the operation, along with keeping insurances and licensing up to standard. She probably fires me once a quarter – and has quit a time or two, herself. But our vision and partnership is to lean on the Lord – not prideful.
What is your next stage of growth?
Our next phase is diversification. We’re adding automative mechanics. I will be looking for SJVC graduates who have the electrical knowledge and understanding of tooling. That cross training is important, and we can fill in the mechanical part.
And, with a partner like Dajon, there won’t be any stress in finding the right people.