Does this industry offer a stable base for a personal career, and the growth potential to create even greater opportunity in the future?
Continually arising new frontiers will require increasingly skilled craftsmen trained in mechanical contracting. Here are a few: air pollution control; desalinization of sea water to augment the diminishing fresh water supplies in our state; development and installation of control systems to banish pollution of precious existing fresh water sources; and cryogenics, the science of handling and utilizing extreme cold by means of specially designed systems to serve society in new ways, from fresher frozen foods to biochemical research.
These are among the major opportunities for growth. To meet them successfully the industry must offer growth to its people in their jobs, and even more importantly in their training and development. Gone are the days when an apprentice plumber or steamfitter learned his trade simply by working alongside an experienced journeyman. Today he must have a substantial grasp of mathematics and physics. New techniques of construction management and control call for computers and many other tools of modern technology. And leadership ability is more than ever in demand.
That’s why, in addition to stability and exciting growth prospects, this industry offers still another advantage: personal growth through continuing education and training. Looking to the future, the industry through its organization, the Mechanical Contracting Industry Council of New Jersey (MCIC), is already conducting training courses in advanced leadership and management skills as well as in technical education. MCIC has been a leading pioneer in this field, being the first industry organization in the state to offer free courses in supervisory training for example. MCIC has also been sponsoring a Mechanical Contracting Degree program at Kean College since 1972.
These educational opportunities have been so welcomed by the industry that the number and type of courses available has been continually expanding.