Careers in the Canadian Equipment Industry

Real Time Experiences

"I always wanted to be a Mechanic..." Victoria Bergsma "My mother always said that grease gets under the nails and into the DNA." That's part of Victoria Bergsma's explanation for why she always wanted to be a mechanic. Growing up with an auto mechanic father, she was always hanging around, "getting the 9/16th, or whatever," and enjoyed the auto tech course best in high school. She's quick to point out, though, that "I wasn't a tomboy."

After graduating at the top of her class of 99 in the 36-week Transportation Equipment Service and Repair course at Centennial College, she found a job at Matthews Equipment Ltd. in Toronto as a trainee under a senior heavy duty mechanic, learning how to fix scissor lifts and boom lifts. However, "even if it had been a struggle for me to find a job, I still would have gone into the same field."

Why does she like it? "I like the attitude of the people I work with ... there's not so many pretences, like in the business world; you can be yourself and you can see results. I fix something and I can say, 'I fixed that'."

Victoria looks forward to the constant challenge of changing technology; that's an important part of the career's attraction. "It's an ever-changing industry. Every day there's new technology, and my company's very interested in technician training, so it's not like somewhere you're going to stagnate."

She suggests that a pre-employment course is helpful in bolstering your knowledge so job-hunting will be easier. Though she's the first woman hired to be a heavy-duty mechanic at her branch of the company, she gets along well with her co-workers. "It all depends on who you are." Male or female, if you like mechanics, "go for it."

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