{"id":821,"date":"2016-09-23T21:49:19","date_gmt":"2016-09-23T21:49:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=821"},"modified":"2016-09-23T21:49:19","modified_gmt":"2016-09-23T21:49:19","slug":"tstc-graduates-helping-to-fill-mechanical-technician-needs-in-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=821","title":{"rendered":"TSTC Graduates Helping to Fill Mechanical Technician Needs in Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"

(WACO) \u2013 An Oklahoma City-based company has found a hiring pipeline for Diesel Equipment Technology majors at Texas State Technical College in Waco.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kirby-Smith Machinery Inc. has hired 10 graduates so far this year. The alumni are all full-time service technicians at the company, specializing in sales, repairs and rentals of bulldozers, dump trucks, excavators, boom trucks, loaders and other heavy machinery.<\/span><\/p>\n

The company has about 400 employees at its locations in Abilene, Amarillo, Dallas, Fort Worth, Lubbock and Odessa, as well as Oklahoma City, Tulsa, St. Louis and Kansas City, Kansas. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ben Sitton, a technical trainer for Kirby-Smith, said TSTC in Waco\u2019s location is strategic for filling its needs at its Texas branches. Most of the graduates work in Dallas.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEverything is going computer-based and it is hard to find people who want to get dirty and build things,\u201d said Sitton. \u201cWe have a lot of guys retiring in the future, so we will constantly add trainees. We want to give them some of the knowledge of the more experienced workers before they retire.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

TSTC\u2019s graduate hires are in a two-year, on-the-job training program implemented earlier this year by Kirby-Smith that places them with experienced technicians to learn the working culture.<\/span><\/p>\n

Victor Membreno, 20, of Brenham and an August 2016 graduate of TSTC, learned about Kirby-Smith through friends.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou have people who have done this for 25 years,\u201d Membreno said. \u201cThey see you as the next generation. They want to give you their knowledge.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of the skills the graduates are learning include fire, water and air analysis; hydrology and failure analysis. The end result will be experienced workers certified as Komatsu technicians with a knowledge of how Kirby-Smith handles its service to customers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe can mold them into what we want,\u201d Sitton said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The company teaches safety around the machinery. Ty McCarver, 21, of White Settlement and a spring TSTC graduate, said the family-like atmosphere is also emphasized. His career goal is to get repair experience and later move into management.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI told them when I was interviewing that I was willing to work,\u201d McCarver said. \u201cI did work on my grandfather\u2019s older cars growing up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Rick Adam, 35, of Granbury and a spring TSTC graduate, said his job at Kirby-Smith is the best he has ever had.<\/span><\/p>\n

Adam said the key to being successful at the company, and any job, is to listen.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are willing to work and have an open mind and be willing to learn, those are the best things,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want co-workers who are willing to take a step back and think.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The alumni are grateful for what they learned in TSTC\u2019s Diesel Equipment Technology program.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt DET, they taught us the basics,\u201d said Rodrigo Gutierrez, 21, of Ennis and a spring 2016 TSTC graduate. \u201cKnowing your basics is important. We can grow from there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Gutierrez said working with engines came naturally to him because he did repairs on his father\u2019s two tractor-trailers while growing up.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI went to school for this, so I knew what I was getting into,\u201d Gutierrez said as he stood beside an excavator in the searing heat on a recent afternoon.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ciro Suaste, 21, of Italy, Texas said TSTC\u2019s Career Services staff were helpful in him finding a job. The summer graduate said he enjoys the flow of work and the tools, particularly the sockets, he uses daily.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sitton said the company anticipates hiring more TSTC graduates later this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe like to find students with good grades who are willing to learn and have a good knowledge of hand tools and the basics going through school,\u201d Sitton said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"_dsc0830-resized\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(WACO) \u2013 An Oklahoma City-based company has found a hiring pipeline for Diesel Equipment Technology majors at Texas State Technical College in Waco. Kirby-Smith Machinery Inc. has hired 10 graduates so far this year. The alumni are all full-time service technicians at the company, specializing in sales, repairs and rentals of bulldozers, dump trucks, excavators, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-waco"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=821"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":823,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821\/revisions\/823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}