Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Timmins woman highlighted in skilled trades book

Mining jobs are getting a higher profile in the annual SKILLS WORK! book sent out to high schools across Ontario.
This book profiles 54 career options in the skilled trades and for the first time mining positions hold a prominent position in it, with no less than six specific technical mining jobs defined. The book also has a feature article on a young Timmins woman who now works in the mining industry.
The target audience for the Skills Canada Ontario book is high school and predominantly Grade 10 students, who have career studies as a half course in the Ontario curriculum.
The 98-page SKILLS WORK! book features profiles of career paths such as production miner, mine technologist, instrumentation and remote control technician, health and safety technician, geological technician and environmental technician. Each job profile describes the nature of the work, where people with these skills are employed, the type of education, training and experience needed to gain the position and salary expectations. Much of the information in these profiles was prepared by the Ontario Mining Association´s Education and Outreach Committee, which has broad representation from mining industry employers.
Skills Canada Ontario, which opened its doors in 1989, is a not-for-profit organization with a mandate to promote careers in skilled trades and technologies as viable, first-choice job employment options for young people in Ontario.
In the introduction to the 2008 edition of the SKILLS WORK! book, the organization´s Executive Director Gail Smyth credits the OMA as one of the groups which made the publication possible. Along with the mining career paths featured, the book also contains a profile of the OMA, an Ontario mine map and an article on Amy Laforge, a 24-year-old geological technologist, who works for Xstrata Copper at the Kidd Creek Mine in Timmins. Laforge is one of eight young people profiled in the book who have opted for employment in the technology and skilled trades areas.
"If someone is outgoing and is interested in the hands-on aspects of geology and has a sense of adventure, I would encourage them to try this work," said Laforge in her article. "The mining industry needs skilled employees and this is the type of work that literally can take you anywhere in the world."
The OMA is pleased to support Skills Canada Ontario in its efforts to let young people know the facts about the exciting opportunities that exist in the skilled trades and technology fields.

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