About five years ago, Justin was in a managerial position. It was the career path he’d always expected to retire on. “I had zero construction experience. I didn’t even own a hammer,” Justin tells us. The only way he could advance his current career, however, was to move. As a single father, that wasn’t an option.
Enter a persistent cousin. After graduating from our Transportation Alliance for New Solutions (TrANS) construction course, he wanted to show Justin that joining TrANS was the path to the opportunities he wanted. Justin noticed that his cousin’s life legitimately looked better than ever. His cousin was making changes and reaching his goals. “I decided to enroll in the program,” Justin says. He adds that “it was only eight weeks, what could I have to lose!?”
Five weeks into the class, and Justin had already landed his first construction job. From there, he went from hitting a brick wall to building his own career path. Justin graduated at the top of his TrANS class. Plus his new employer, Lunda Construction, accelerated his career by setting him up with on-the-job trainers and an apprenticeship. He caught on quickly and started “traveling all over the state to help wherever I was needed.”
In the five years since then, construction has enabled Justin to grow personally and professionally. He learned carpentry while helping his uncle with small jobs, enrolled in online school to develop more project management skills, and consistently found work that matched his schedule and career goals. He graduated from school in December 2021 with a 3.96 GPA in Project Management from NWTC and has since put his skills to work managing and running crews.
Today, Justin works as an Assistant Project Manager with Spirit Construction. “They deal a lot with mechanical construction, which I, once again, go into with zero experience. They hired me knowing this – however they also know I’m trainable,” Justin explains. He also vows that, “I will learn everything I need to learn about my new position and become one of the best Project Managers Spirit Construction has ever had.”
You definitely have what it takes, Justin. Congratulations on the new job, and keep in touch!
Learn more about how our TrANS program can help you gain the skills to build the career you’ll love.
