Pickens Technical College Advanced Manufacturing Pathway: Job Shop and Career Services

Pickens Technical College is all about getting students into jobs doing things they love. All courses are geared toward teaching you what you’ll need to be a productive worker in whatever industry you want. All classes are taught with skills and competencies that employers are looking for right now. If you’re in the Advanced Manufacturing course, you’ll be trained to be an entry-level machinist or manufacturing specialist. Someday, you might be both. And in the Advanced Manufacturing course, you’ll have the chance to utilize the many resources in front of you to earn that first position and grow into a career you’ll love.

The Job Shop

If you haven’t taken an Advanced Manufacturing course at Pickens yet, you may not know about the Job Shop. The Job Shop provides you a chance to work on real projects commissioned by real paying customers, essentially setting you up to gain experience by working while you’re in school. You’ll work together with other students and instructors Michael Townsend and Sean Hennessy on the design and production of actual customer projects.

Obviously, the Job Shop gives you the chance to work in a real machine shop and solve real problems for real customers. It also lets you see what it’s really like to work in a machine shop filling orders for customers. Being in that environment is often a key qualification that machine shops look for even in recent graduates.

Career Services

The Career Services desk is available to all students. Current students, prospective students, graduates, and even employers looking for capable people to hire all connect at the Career Services office on PTC’s campus. Employers often actively use PTC’s Career Services desk to find talented students like you to fill their positions. By working with the Career Services staff and making yourself available to connect with potential employers, combined with your hands-on experience in the Job Shop, you could end up on the shortlist for promising opportunities after graduation.

Pickens’ Career Services office also functions as a job board for current students and alumni. You can create an online profile, upload your resume, and search for jobs in your field. The employers available in the Pickens database are all connected with the school, so they’re looking for applicants from Pickens who want to work for them.

Using These Resources

The Job Shop is a part of the Advanced Manufacturing curriculum, but you should make the most of your time there. Challenge yourself to take on more projects and iron out any issues you have with certain tasks there. The more real projects you work on during your time at Pickens, the more completed projects you can show potential employers when they ask about your experience and what types of orders you’ve worked on. The Career Services desk is always there for Pickens students. All you have to do is make a visit or sign up online to get started in jump-starting your career.