Grow Your Own Training Programs

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Figure 2: Patrick Reardon, selective solder production specialist, oversees a panel of printed circuit board assemblies during the selective soldering process.

Lectronics' "grow your own" strategy has been incredibly successful over the last couple of years. In fact, a few employees that started at Lectronics in temporary positions have made successful transitions to managerial roles and plan to further develop careers within manufacturing.

Here are their stories:

A Geographer in Electronics Manufacturing

With a B.S. degree in Cultural Geography, Luke Timassey never anticipated he would develop his early career at an electronics manufacturing company, but that’s exactly where he’s currently flourishing.

When he finished school and moved back to Michigan, Timassey was introduced to Lectronics through friends who worked at the organization. They spoke very highly of their work experience, and in August 2014, he applied through a temp agency to an open SMT Technician position on the night shift.

“I thought the SMT Tech position would be a good starting point,” commented Timassey. “I figured I would slowly work my way up—little by little.”

After spending a few months as an SMT Technician, Timassey quickly transitioned to the day shift, and was promoted to training specialist for the SMT Department. His expedient growth trajectory felt a bit overwhelming at times, but he expressed incredible support and encouragement from his managers.

After about six months, Timassey was looking for more of a daily challenge and applied for an internal posting that piqued his interest, documentation specialist. He interviewed and was immediately awarded the job. To help ease the transition, Timassey stayed in SMT to appropriately train his replacement before moving over to the new documentation group.

Now, as documentation specialist, Timassey is responsible for creating and processing necessary production documents such as work instructions and assembly drawings. He feels that he still has a lot to learn within the documentation group and is eager to expand his responsibilities.

“I plan to continue to work on my resume and grow within Saline Lectronics,” commented Timassey.

Testing a Temporary Plan

Originally referred through a temp agency, Alex Johnson started at Lectronics as an AOI Operator. He had no plans to stay on long-term and simply needed a job.

With a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, Johnson’s analytical mind and clear problem-solving work approach enabled him to quickly climb the ranks. Within one month, Johnson was promoted to AOI programmer. Shortly thereafter, an associate engineering position opened up, and his manager at the time, Jason Sciberras, recommended Johnson for the position.

“Jason wanted me to grow internally,” commented Johnson. “It made me feel confident in myself and my abilities. It was exactly what I needed to keep me at Lectronics.”

Even without prior industry experience Johnson flourished within the engineering group. He believes his production perspective from actually working on the floor allowed him to better understand the appropriate type of support manufacturing needs from engineering.

Johnson’s excellent work in engineering was noticed and appreciated by upper management, and he was internally recruited for the process engineering position that he’s currently doing.

“Process engineering lets me do more of what I enjoy,” commented Johnson. “I take a close look at a specific processes and make tooling to help that process flow better. Streamlining the process in conformal coating is quite satisfying.”

While a far cry from chemistry reagents and lab work, Johnson enjoys exploring the electronics assembly field and finds the work intellectually satisfying. He even likens it to the scientific process—collecting samples and data and making decisions based on that empirical information.

The Importance of Asking Questions

Neena Vemuri takes great pride in her engineering mindset. With an education background in interdisciplinary engineering and CAD drafting, she’s always been drawn to work that requires thorough examination and questioning.

After struggling to find the right job fit for a few months, she got involved with a Michigan employment agency to find work. When she initially interviewed at Lectronics in December 2014 for a stockroom specialist position, the hiring manager was so impressed by her that he recommended her for an entirely different position, documentation assistant, where he thought her skills would be better served.

She used the documentation role as an opportunity to get her foot in the door, and to absorb everything she possibly could about printed circuit board assembly. Within six months, Vemuri applied for an internal process engineering role as that work appealed to her longer term career goals.

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