Two-Year Degree Has Served Alumna Well in Manufacturing Environment

CONTACT: LISA GARRETT, EXT. 2315

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 3/24/2000
(By Lisa Garrett)

PENDLETON -- In 1979 Tami Mealor Lamb was the first female troubleshooter hired at Michelin.

Being the lone female on a crew of several troubleshooters in the Sandy Springs' plant's NZB department didn't seem unusual to the Liberty High School graduate who had been the only female in her high school vocational classes and later the sole female graduate in Tri-County's Industrial Electronics Technology Department.

Today, as the only female technical recruiter for Michelin, she is eager to let males and females know the tremendous technical opportunities available to them in the workforce. She will travel across the United States, Mexico and Canada as a technical recruiter for 23 Michelin North America plants.

"Persons graduating with a two-year technical degree can get good paying jobs with excellent benefits," said Lamb. "There is a shortage of electrical/electronics skilled associates, so the demand for technical personnel is very high." Michelin is hiring entry-level associates at almost $16 per hour, she added

"My two-year degree has served me well at jobs in two major manufacturing companies," said Lamb, who also worked at BMW for four years as a member of the engineering staff in the company's paint shop.

Michelin made her a job offer, and she went to work as an electrical troubleshooter the day after graduating. "Tri-County really prepared me for that first job," said Lamb. "I was prepared for Michelin's entrance test (an all-day session)." She stayed in that position for a decade working swing shifts. During those ten years, she went back to Tri-County, taking Electronics Engineering Technology classes.

"Michelin wanted dual-skilled employees. My primary skills were in electrical, and my secondary skills in electronics. I took the classes on my own, and I learned a lot," said Lamb, who is a few credits shy of her second degree.

After 10 years, she took a job on day shift as an electronics specialist in the electronics shop. She stayed five more years with Michelin and moved to her BMW position.

She took a year-and-a-half off work after having a baby and went back to work at Michelin -- this time as a technical recruiter. "I had done my duty as a troubleshooter and had progressed. I wanted to be an asset to the company, and there was an opening in technical recruiting and I took it."

She's also involved as a team member in the Upstate Training Alliance. "Michelin and other Upstate industries can't find enough skilled employees. With the help of Greenville Technical College, we are conducting a recruiting campaign and will do our own training. This training would consist of 40 hours of weekly classroom sessions, in addition to time in the manufacturing facility, for 10 months. Candidates would take a test, and if they were successful and there was a job opening at the time, Michelin possibly would make him or her a job offer in the electrical/electronics or mechanical areas."

She tells groups everyone she talks to that strengths in math and physics, in addition to being mechanically inclined, are pluses when pursuing jobs in the technical field.

"I encourage high school students to enter the electronics engineering and industrial electronics curricula at colleges like Tri-County. I know from personal experience that there are really good jobs out there," she said.
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