Metro Transit helps students explore transit careers
Metro Transit offers a variety of career opportunities – and the agency wants good people to work for it.
Bob Boyle, electrical/mechanical technician foreperson, talks with students at the light-rail vehicle maintenance facility in Minneapolis.
Those were among the messages students from south Minneapolis heard several days in August when they had a behind-the-scenes look at Metro Transit’s operations. Their visit was made possible through a partnership with the summer youth workforce development program called EMERGE StreetWerks.
As part of the partnership, Metro Transit and Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1005 hosted a career day for 36 students ages 14-18 and four staff supervisors from EMERGE StreetWerks.
The following week, students gained work experience, helping with landscaping projects for three days near the 46th Street and 38th Street light-rail stations.
Getting wide exposure to transit jobs
The group’s introduction to Metro Transit on the first day of the partnership included welcomes by ATU #1005 President Michelle Sommers and Assistant Director of Garage Operations Steve McLaird. Both emphasized the number of positions at the agency, including bus or rail operators, technical or professional careers, and management positions.
Later, students boarded a bus and toured several of Metro Transit’s facilities. They were met at each location by a union/management staff team, who provided additional background about transit careers. Students also received training about safety on the Hiawatha Line.
Students roll up their sleeves
The partnership gave the students a chance to work alongside Metro Transit Rail Facilities Technicians Bob Little and Jim Graham. The two staff members provided students context about the skills they use on their jobs and emphasized that hard work and education go hand in hand. StreetWerks students were paid an hourly wage through a state grant.
“It was important to show the wide range of skills we use – such as algebra and computers and communication skills – and how they are applied to the work we do every day,” Little said.
Students could take satisfaction in the work they did to beautify their neighborhood, he said. “The Hiawatha Line is a community resource – the students helped with keeping a part of their community clean and could take pride in that.”