Hands on and a leg up: Students gain an advantage working in technology
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Ethan Jackson stuffed yellow plugs into his ears before he slipped condoms onto air nozzles in eight test chambers. Steady pressure inflated the condoms to about 10 times their original size, then caused them to burst in a sequence of loud pop, pop, pops. Jackson checked the air pressure gauge on each chamber and logged measurements into a book and computer. Then he circled to other test stations in the laboratory. Testing condoms for flaws is Jackson’s job at Family Health International in Durham. Jackson, a 35-year-old former Marine, studies applied science and industrial pharmaceutical technology at Wake Technical Community College and is scheduled to graduate in the spring. To get ahead of the job-seeking pack, he carries a full load of classes and works full time in the laboratory. Doubling up has cost him sleep. But the hands-on training taught him lessons he would never have learned in the classroom. “In class, we don’t practice mistakes. Here we have to correct them,” Jackson said. Hands-on training is not a requisite for college graduates to get a job in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. Fewer than one-third of the resumes that local recruiters receive include the one year of industry Source : accessmylibrary.com |