2025: Episode 3 - ESD Apprenticeship Program - On The Job Career Training!

The Environmental Services Department is opening up applications for its Apprenticeship Program. Listen to the experiences of the people who have been in the program for a couple of years now and what surprised them about the work. You can also learn what the application process is like and who makes a great candidate. Hint: You don't need a college degree! Applications will open on Wednesday, March 28, 2025, at JobsQuest.org. 

Have an idea for a County podcast? Contact the Director of Public Information, Helen Hays at haysh@jccal.org

Transcript

Speaker 2 0:11

Welcome to the Jefferson County Podcast for the People. I'm your host today, Helen Hayes. I'm the Director of Public Information for Jefferson County. And today we are talking about the Environmental Services Department Apprenticeship Program. And we have with us today Margaret Tanner, who is a deputy director for ESD. And we have Kyrie Walker, who is a grade two operator and has been in the apprenticeship program, as well as Carrie Ray, who is now a chip supervisor after going through the program. And so welcome everybody.

Speaker 3 0:48

Thank you.

Speaker 2 0:50

Well, thanks for being here. I know uh Tyree and Carrie, this is not your what you're used to doing every day. And uh I think Tyree, you've been working all night. So I really appreciate you um joining us today. But we'll start with Margaret. Margaret, first give me a quick overview of what this apprenticeship program does for environmental services and kind of why it's so important.

Speaker 3 1:17

So we have to have certified operators to run our wastewater treatment plants. The point of us having this program is certified operators are extremely hard for us to find. It's not a well-known career choice. A lot of people don't think about wastewater on a day-to-day basis. I mean, they just want it to go away. And if it doesn't, then they might think a little bit more about it. But um, and so the the goal is to find people who want to become wastewater treatment operators across the country. There's a deficit of water people in the water field, um, especially wastewater treatment. And our goal is to train people to become them. The jobs are good jobs, they're well-paying jobs, they're steady jobs, and um we're hoping people are interested.

Speaker 2 2:09

Great, great. Tyree, let's go to you. You've been in this program, you were in the second cohort, and I believe you've been in the program since 2019. Walk us through what you thought when you started, and uh, you know, what do you think now after being in the program for a couple of years personally? Has this been good for you?

Speaker 2:31

Uh yes, ma'am, it's helped me grow a lot um from this apprenticeship to where I'm at now. Um I really feel as though that uh the career choice that I made at first, I thought I was in over my head, looking at um what they had us doing at first, like around the plants. But as I've grown over the years to, you know, have people like Carrie and you know, Miss Tanner and the support system I have, it's helped like really open my eyes to how important this process is. And I really enjoyed doing this for a career. Like it's something that at first you might look at it and think that it's hard, but it's it's it's worth it. It's worth it. That's one thing I can say.

Speaker 2 3:12

And did you think of it uh as an environmental uh job as uh when you when you started as much as you uh do now?

Speaker 3:21

Uh no ma'am. When I first started, I didn't get the ramifications of what we do, uh how much it weighs on society, but you know, just learn about things far as how we control things from the sewers, how we control things as far as going to the waterworks and different the different measures of the water, how we cleaned it. It's just it was it's really amazing. And it's you know, I really enjoy it. It's more it's it's one of those careers that you can grow into every day and enjoy.

Speaker 2 3:50

Great. And we're glad you're we're glad you're here and um have continued to work so hard. Uh Carrie, now you do have kind of an an environmental background. Tell us a little bit about what kind of surprised you the most about being in the program.

Speaker 1 4:06

It it kind of surprised me that I was able to use as much, you know, some of my previous experience and knowledge and how related so much to the environmental field. You know, looking at the job, obviously it's more of a hands-on uh mechanical type issue, but it really isn't. It it's completely an environmental position. I appreciate the fact that everybody has has been super supportive. If I needed anything in the program or needed any help, people went out of their way to help me. The opportunities that I have for you know further advancement in my career. That that's a huge plus that I wasn't really sure, you know, what I was getting into. So I think that's you know, a really awesome thing. Like I said, everybody's really supportive and is helpful if you want to move up and if you know, whatever you need.

Speaker 2 4:55

We we talk about apprenticeship programs and and these type of things at the county, and there are also some internship programs. But the one thing that I've noticed is with these programs, the people, you know, like Margaret who are managing them, we we really do want people to succeed. Uh it's in their personal best interest, but it also helps the county maintain qualified people in these jobs, which is really important to us maintaining the wastewater uh system, you know, in the county. So it's it's really important. Margaret, talk a little bit about what makes a successful candidate.

Speaker 3 5:36

So the curriculum in the program, there is a good bit of study that has to be done. We uh provide like in-class learning opportunities as well as the working out in the plant for hands-on uh learning opportunities. Uh the curriculum is extremely heavily science and math-based. So understanding math, understanding biology, chemistry, physics is just extremely important. Now, it you don't have to have gone to college for this. I mean, definitely, but if you know you have a pretty good aptitude in these things, though you've never had a chance to really uh practice that aptitude, then this might be a good program for you. If you did good good math in high school but didn't want to go to college, this is this would be perfect for someone like that.

Speaker 2 6:24

Fantastic. And so do people have to take like an entrance test once they apply? What is that process like?

Speaker 3 6:33

So the application process, um, once you apply, when they open the positions, once you apply, um, about two to four weeks go by, and then we have what's called a realistic job preview, uh, where you actually come in and you get to see the wastewater, a wastewater treatment plant, you get to walk through it and smell the smells and see the sights. Um, it's not as bad as people think, so don't don't be afraid to come.

Speaker 2 6:59

Yeah, it really, it really isn't. I can attest to that. I've been to almost all of our facilities now, and it it's nowhere near what people think.

Speaker 3 7:07

Yeah, it doesn't really smell. So um, but anyways, the um, and then we'll do a screening test just to see if you have those math and science abilities. You know, so some simple math problems, you know, calculating volume and areas, and and maybe, you know, some uh, but based on word problems, and then and you know, it's just a little bit of science background to see what you what you know. Well from that, we'll select, you know, the top candidates from that test and move forward from there.

Speaker 2 7:38

Well, it sounds like a great opportunity. How many people are you guys looking for in this next cohort?

Speaker 3 7:43

Um, we have 19 vacancies, and and I would like to fill them all. So that's a pretty big group. Um we usually do about 10, but I think we're gonna expand it this time because we are really becoming short staffed because of um because of people retiring. So we really need to find people and get them trained fairly quickly.

Speaker 2 8:04

And I would add that's not just a Jefferson County thing, that's a nationwide thing where people are experiencing that you've got some workforce aging out in this industry. There's not, you know, a new workforce coming in, right?

Speaker 3 8:18

Right. Uh, you know, the Clean Water Act started in 1972 that started requiring a lot of treatment and certified operators. It was uh uh was revised in the late early mid 90s, and you know, and so people started building plants and hiring folks, and a lot of municipalities had pension programs, and 30 years later we're kind of starting to lose everybody, you know, between the time they were hired and the time they they are leaving, and we didn't have a lot of job turnovers. So that's why these jobs aren't that well known. They're not super fast-paced, you know, people coming and going all the time. I mean, we like to hire people and see them stay 30 years.

Speaker 2 9:00

That's fantastic. We absolutely do. Well, thank you guys all for joining us today on the Jefferson County Podcast for the people. Um, anybody listening, if you have ideas on other topics that you'd like to hear about, you can email me. My email is Hayes H A Y S H at JCCAL.org. And we will send you next time on the Jefferson County Podcast for the people.