Ashley Perna
2012 Graduate, Building & Property Trades Technician
Electrician's Apprentice, B. Baptista Electric
" The skills I learned gave me a solid base that I can build on. I would recommend MTTI to anyone interested in learning a new trade. "
I was working in an office doing accounts receivable and was thinking I wanted to find a different line of work. My mom saw an ad on television about MTTI. I was interested in finding work in the construction trades. I went to tour MTTI and saw that the building trades program offered a wide variety of construction related training. They actually have you build a module that includes framing, plumbing, electrical, and finish work. I decided to enroll. I had visited another local career college, but they required that I take studies I felt were unrelated to the type of work I was interested in performing.
Getting back into the classroom life was difficult at first. I was nervous, but excited that I had chosen to attend school again.
The best part was that I was in a class, working with people who had the same interests as me, and we had fun learning these new skills together. The instructor was great. He would drill everything into our heads. I could tell he cared about our success. Being in the program everyday helped get me used to what it would be like to work in the industry. There was a great deal of hands on training time.
I found that I was very interested in the electrical portion of studies, so I began searching for an internship with an electrical company.
I wanted to secure the internship early so I made some calls and B. Baptista Electric interviewed me, and signed my internship agreement a month ahead of time. When I started on the job site I knew I had made the right choice. I was working with three electricians running wires, reading electrical plans and making connections. My supervisor noted that I followed directions well and completed all my tasks correctly and thought I would do well in the field. The owner of the company offered me an electrician’s apprenticeship and I accepted.
I started my apprentice studies in September and will eventually be able to apply and test for a Journeyman’s License.
I have found a career, with a future I like, working in an industry that I love. I know what the other tradespeople on the job sites are talking about because of the training I received at MTTI. The skills I learned gave me a solid base that I can build on. I am pretty handy around the house, I even built a deck. I am sure I can find other projects to keep me busy. I would recommend MTTI to anyone interested in learning a new trade.