Nikki Noble, a welding co-ordinator and professor at Lambton College in Sarnia, Ont., said the best advice she can give to high school students interested in a career in welding and the trades is to be confident.
“You honestly need that confidence coming into this,” said Noble. “This is where education is so important because you need to have that knowledge behind your back, you need to do your studying. Welding, yes, it’s a hands on job but there is a lot of theory behind it to understand why you are doing what you are doing, how to set up the equipment, how to read blueprints, how to be your own boss.”
Noble was one of the many women who spoke at the Empowered Women event, hosted by Junior Achievement South Western Ontario, held virtually March 3. High school students were invited to attend sessions hosted by women in a variety of careers and were able to ask questions.
Whether you are working for someone else or yourself it’s really important to have that confidence, Noble said.
“I’m not cocky, I’m confident about what I do because I’ve done my education, I have my ticketing, I have my certification,” Noble said. “Know what your worth is. Know that you are new at it if you start out somewhere and you have to learn somehow.
“At the beginning of every job they are always going to make you push the broom. They are always going to try to push your boundaries to see how far it will take to break you,” she added. “Know that you are going to step up. Whatever job you end up doing, you are always going to get better the next time. The more experience and education you get, the better you are going to get.”
Welding is a good skill to have whether you want to do it as a full-time career or just want to learn the tools of the trade.
“Any type of trade you are thinking of there is some type of welding involved with it,” said Noble.
She started welding in 2001.
“How I started was not even planned,” Noble recalled. “My boyfriend at the time was doing a frame off restoration and he wanted help and I said, ‘I’ll try it’ and then I got hooked immediately.
“Why I got into welding was that I fell in love right away,” she added. “Another thing was I’m good at it. I was great at monkey see, monkey do and that’s the main form of how I teach as well. I’ll give you examples and then see how you do and we customize it from there.”
One of the students asked Noble how she deals with gender barriers in the industry.
“Thick skin is a really good way of going about it and it does not mean at all that the people who are saying what they are saying have the right to say what they say,” she said. “I am very stubborn, and I am very thick skinned.
“If they say something, you can either walk away from it and say nothing, just pretend you didn’t hear it at all or say ‘pardon me, what did you say?’ And don’t say it in a mad way, just say it like you did not hear them. A lot of times if they have to repeat that rude comment back they realize they are in deep trouble.”
She has had to face many challenges throughout her career, she told the students.
“I have always been challenged as a female as well as a new person on the job,” she said. “When I started 20 years ago…there were always a couple females around but I was one of very few. Every single place I’ve ever worked I’ve always been the only female. Even here I am the only female teacher.”
Mandy Rennehan, CEO of Freshco and the “Blue Collar CEO,” was one of the speakers on a panel at the event. She also spoke about the importance of confidence.
“There is a lot of peer pressure on everyone and especially on young ladies today to really be something quickly,” she said. “The one thing I would say if I had to give you advice or myself back then is that confidence happens in stages and that you don’t have to be what you see everywhere right away. And the second thing I would tell you is, and it’s not documented in a textbook, nobody is going to tell you this, but I can tell you that personality comes in all shapes, forms and sizes and whoever you are and whatever you are know that it made me a millionaire.”
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