Career Options
Climbing the construction ladderIf you choose just the right person for best man at your wedding, you could find yourself walking down a fantastic career path as well as the aisle. DOROTHEA HELMS |
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 [ 2002-03-20 ] |
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Jeff Schnurr, Mattamy Homes
That's what happened 15 years ago to Jeff Schnurr, a senior builder at Mattamy Homes' at Hawthorne Village South in Milton. His best man worked for Mattamy at the time, and told the then factory worker groom about an opening at the company as a labourer. Jeff applied, got the job and, as he puts it, "... took an interest in everything."
His tremendous work ethic and willingness to learn have served him well. The position of senior builder at Mattamy, Ontario's largest home builder, is similar to the position of construction manager in other companies.
Because of the volume of homes Mattamy builds each year, senior builders are responsible for managing large staffs that include labourers, handymen, site administrators, assistant builders and builders.
Through in-house mentoring, Jeff gained the knowledge and skills to take on the responsibilities he has in Milton.
"There are 30 people on my staff," Schnurr explains. "I manage all aspects of production, planning, organizing, directing and staffing, and deal with the majority of the administrative and community-related issues."
For Schnurr, the beginning of his success was more than simply being in the right place at the right time, and attributes "a great deal of it to hooking up with good supervisors.
The mentors I had were amazing trainers who placed a lot of responsibility on my plate."
From there, it was natural for him to progress to the scheduling aspects of new home communities, plus dealing with tradespeople, suppliers and purchasers.
Continually proving himself with each set of duties in each community, he was promoted to supervisor and spent three years at Avonlea in Mississauga in that capacity. He then moved on to The Orchard in Burlington, his home town.
Mattamy has touched Schnurr's life in a more personal way, as well. He and his family live at The Orchard in the first home constructed there through Mattamy's award-winning co-op education program. This partnership involving government, industry and education enables high school students to earn credits through hands-on construction experience, and adult learners to gain employment skills.
High school students build homes under the supervision of construction technology teachers and Mattamy on-site trade professionals.
His advice to anyone thinking of new home construction as a career includes getting an education, working hard and having patience.
"You don't climb the ladder overnight," he says. "Once you gain the proper construction knowledge, there's a lot of potential for advancement."
(Dorothea Helms is an internationally published writer who can be reached at writer@wsws.ca)
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