Gearing Up for a Hot Career

Demands for area machinists continue to create high-tech opportunities for skilled workers.

As a single mother with two young children, Erin Wyngaard knew going back to school at age 34 would be a struggle. Discovering that she was the only woman enrolled in Fox Valley Technical College’s Machine Tool Technician program didn’t discourage her either. “I’ve always been mechanically inclined and like working with my hands,” she says. “However, the real reason for choosing this program had a lot more to do with its career outlook.”

Wyngaard is familiar with manufacturing from having previously worked on an assembly line at a plastic extrusion plant. “When I decided to go back to work full-time, I started applying for similar positions,” she recalls. “I soon discovered that there were only a few of those jobs available, and for every opening there were hundreds of applicants.”