News Article

Man finds new career through college


5/15/2001 2:18:33 PM


Students in the Electronics Engineering Technology program in Corner Brook graduate with the skills necessary to compete in today's workforce.


Graduates of the EET program earn a starting salary of between $35,000 to $45,000 per year.

May 15, 2001 - If someone offered you a chance to go to school for three years and come out with a job paying $35,000-$45,000 per year, would you take it?
That may be an easy question to answer if you are a newly graduated high school student (yes!). But what about somebody already in the workforce who wants to improve his or her situation?

Newton Pritchett found himself facing that very question only a few years ago.
The Gambo man moved to Corner Brook in 1986 to work as a meter reader with Newfoundland Power. He spent a few years with the utility giant, when company restructuring left him unemployed.

“I had always had an interest in electonics and when I finished high school my original intent was to attend university and pursue a career in Electrical Engineering,” says Pritchett.

“Unfortunately, I was unable to attend and when my employment with Newfoundland Power ended a friend of mine suggested I consider the Electronics Engineering Technology program at the college.”

Being out of school for almost 11 years, it was only natural that Pritchett was a little apprehensive about the idea at first.

“I had no experience with chemistry or physics and they are two important subjects in the EET program,” he says.

“It would also be difficult to pursue a college education in such an in-depth field of study and compete with younger students. However, after careful research and some hard thinking, I decided the program was right for me.”

Pritchett researched similar programs at other colleges in Canada and the U.S. and found the curriculum to be comparable. He was also aware of the excellent reputation of the program’s faculty and knew there were growing opportunities for employment in the electronics field.

In the beginning, Pritchett found the program difficult. But as time passed the skills he was learning in the various individual courses began to overlap into each other and the workload became easier.

“One definite quality that the instructors of the EET program possess is the ability to provide students with the knowledge to grasp new concepts and expand on existing ideas,” he says.

“I view it as teaching students how to learn. The professionalism of each instructor in the program allowed me to excel and it prepared me to compete in the industry.”

With a home in Corner Brook and his wife with a full-time job, Pritchett was hoping he could obtain employment in the area upon graduation. He was not disappointed.

“I was very fortunate to be able to gain contractual employment with the college as a lab demonstrator. This position also exposed me to computer and network support,” he says.

“Although most of my work involved demonstrating and computer support for the technology department, I was also involved in providing instruction for the Computer Support Technician program.”

From there Pritchett got a job with Sir Wilfred Grenfell College (Memorial) where he still works as a Microcomputer Support Specialist and a Telephone System Administrator.

“My successful application for this position was based on my knowledge and experience with electronics and computers – both of which are a product of the EET program,” he says.

Julian Edwards is one of the instructors of the EET program. In the past few years he has noticed a growing demand for graduates of his program by industry.
“The program meets the needs of industry,” he says.

“Industry prefers graduates with a broad base of knowledge and skills in their chosen occupation. They want someone with a positive attitude, who can work in a team setting, who has an excellent work ethic and an ability to work and learn independently. Our program has been designed to produce graduates with these qualities.”

Evidence of this has been shown by the recent hiring of EET graduates by NavCanada, Nortel, Newfoundland Hydro and NewTel, just to name a few.

“The demand for EET graduates has grown more and more over the past few years than ever before, and it’s continuing to grow,” says Edwards.

“Companies such as NewTel, NavCanada, Celectica, Nortel, Corner Brook Pulp and Paper and others have been actively recruiting our graduates on a continual basis. We cannot supply enough graduates to meet the demands being placed on us even for this current year. All of these companies and more are projecting massive demands for EET personnel over the next five to 10 years due to retirements and attrition.”

The success of EET graduates stems somewhat from the broad base of knowledge they leave the program with.

“They are qualified to work in any technologist type of environment. A company which depends on computers, communication networks and interfaces in an industrial setting would be like home to the graduates of the program – and that represents over 80 per cent of most industries around today.”

There are still openings in the Electronics Engineering Technology program for the fall of 2001. To find out more about the program contact the Corner Brook campus of College of the North Atlantic at (709) 637-8530, or visit their website at www.northatlantic.nf.ca.