A group of local high school seniors officially signed on the dotted line Friday to join Caterpillar, marking their graduation from the company’s Essentials for Life training program for students.
This year’s class of E4L students consisted of 16 seniors from three local high schools – Manual High School in Peoria, East Peoria High School and Morton High School. All signed offer sheets to join the Texas-based manufacturing giant as either a full-time employee or an intern through their future college or university.
The ceremony was similar to that of a signing day for prospective athletes, complete with each of the students putting on a Caterpillar hat to symbolize their commitment to the company. Even Tim Young, director of drive train operations for the company and sponsor of the E4L program, referred to the new recruits as “industrial athletes,” ready to provide fresh ideas to the company.
“Much like a student athlete continuing his or her journey at the next level, these students have made a deliberate decision to keep building their future,” Young said. “We know that sustaining innovation (and) meeting customer needs starts with investing in people, providing hands-on experience (and) creating real pathways into long-term careers.”
Young said the students spend a half day each day at a Caterpillar facility, shadowing employees and learning about how the varied roles of a modern manufacturing company. They rotate through the factory floor five times, provided with mentors who show them the ropes about their various tasks and teach them about Caterpillar advanced technologies.
The students are paid for the time they spend in the program and also receive training in building a resume, navigating job interviews, time management and budgeting, and other life and career skills needed to succeed, either with Caterpillar or elsewhere.
Students can be brought on board at Caterpillar either if the company has openings or if they have demonstrated they have what it takes to be successful. Young said the program is a reflection of Caterpillar’s commitment to broaden the development of its workforce and show a side of manufacturing that people may not know much about.
“It’s dispelling the myth that manufacturing is dirty,” Young said. “It’s actually clean; there’s a lot of great careers. As technology advances, we’re looking for a different skill set, so these students are helping fulfill some of that talent pipeline for us.”
For Young, that pipeline also helps to make Caterpillar top of mind for potential career paths for students across the area. He feels that it can help further the company’s image by showing that they value vocational education as an option for students.
“We recognize the value of vocational education, helping schools have a different pathway for students to learn,” Young said. “All of our factory floors (are) extensions of the school system. It helps the students understand what modern manufacturing is.”
Students learn skills and confidence at Caterpillar
Students such as Brayan Cruz from Manual and Mason Sullivan from East Peoria got a crash course during a year in what it took to work at Caterpillar. Both Cruz and Sullivan are planning to take full-time roles in machining and spent time learning from their mentors about what might suit them best.
Cruz said that he was first intimidated by his first mentor, but once he got more comfortable, he learned a great deal about all of the work that goes into his job and others.
“I learned computer work from him (and) how to type his numbers,” Cruz said. “We went to walk sometimes and we had to look at graders. He showed me how to use it, then we walked around and checked everybody else. We tested people because we had to; that was part of his job.”
With the work done with his mentors, he feels more comfortable looking at Caterpillar as a long-term job option.
“My mentors made it comfortable and they told me to do that,” Cruz said.
Sullivan got a lot from hands-on learning about various tasks at Caterpillar, such as assembly, machining and heat treat work. He said that he would be cutting gears and splines for the company’s many vehicles, saying that the people in machining attracted him toward that side of Caterpillar.
“I really enjoyed it from the moment it started,” Sullivan said. “It definitely taught me a lot, people skills and hands-on skills as well.”
Both Sullivan and Cruz gave advice for future students who may be thinking of going through the E4L program, with Cruz saying that one should take a chance on it, even if they’re not entirely sure about what to do with it.
“If you see a chance like this and you’re not sure about it, go for it, because it turns out to be great at the end of the day,” Cruz said. “You find out what you want to do with that.”
Sullivan said that students should try to meet as many people as they can and get their foot in the door to make a good first impression.
“That’s really going to be the best thing you can do,” Sullivan said. “The reason I’m signing here is because I met everybody, I looked them in the eye, I shook their hand, I had confidence.”
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: ‘Investing in people’: Peoria area students sign offers from Caterpillar
Reporting by Zach Roth, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
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