Childhood Excitement Turned Hands-on Career | Tabitha Hardy’s Story
"I liked how they get you in, you didn’t spend a whole lot of time in the classroom. You got to actually go out into the lab and do everything hands-on which was super fun."
Greasy hands, complex machines and a passion for solving problems. These are the building blocks of trade school graduate and Crown Lift Truck’s Mechanic, Tabitha Hardy.
Her journey to become a skilled technician began a long time ago when she was a toddler and discovered her passion for working with her hands. One might say she was born with the need to fix things, as her grandpa was also a mechanic. “I used to go with him and work on things,” she reflects on her childhood.
Knowing that she wanted to work in a similar field, but needed to develop her skills, she enrolled in the 16-month Energy Technology program. Here she trained to turn her hobby into a career, learned from caring instructors with real-world experience and graduated with an associates of applied science.1
The Impact of Education
“The education I got means a lot to me,” she says. “You got to actually go out into the lab and do everything hands-on, which was super fun.”
The courses are designed with the insight and help of employers in the industry to ensure that students are training the way the field does. “Their programs are related to what I’m doing in the field,” explains Tabitha.
But it’s not just the course material that helps students prepare for the industry, it’s the caring instructors encouraging them along the way.
Our programs are taught by instructors with years of real-world experience and passion that matches their students’. Tabitha talks about the role her instructors played in her learning, stating, “The teachers there are just so helpful there with everything. They really just want to see you succeed.” She continues, “They even stay in touch after you graduate to make sure you’re comfortable with everything you’re doing.”
Life in the Field
With resources like career fairs, Tabitha was able to find her future employer while she was still in training. Not long after the job fair, Tabitha interviewed with Crown Lift Trucks and was hired.1 “They saw that I was doing a lot of electrical and hydraulics which is a lot of what our Hi-Los are now,” she shares.
For those of you not familiar with mechanical terminology, a Hi-Lo is more commonly referred to as a forklift. A typical day on the job for Tabitha is a lot of problem solving with this equipment. “I test drive it to see what’s going on with it and then inspect it from there and fix whatever is needing repaired,” she states.
And you want to know her favorite part about the industry? “I just love getting greasy and digging my hands into things,” she says. That and “when you get a broken down truck and you have to figure out what’s wrong with it. Then getting to see how you fixed it and watching it drive away in the end knowing that you were the one to fix that.”
The Road Ahead
As a woman in the industry, Tabitha finds her work to be exciting. "Don't be afraid to get dirty and put all your might into it," she advises other women interested in the field.
She also stresses the importance of staying up to date on technology. “The way we keep our skills up to date with technology at Crown is we go back into training,” she explains. In fact, she strongly recommends training, especially a trade school education for those who are looking into pursuing a similar hands-on field.
When she thinks about her future, she’s dedicated to seeing how she can progress with where she’s at. “Looking at my future I would like to get further into Crown and see how I can go up and benefit Crown and myself,” she shares.
If you’re interested in training for a career that would allow you to work with your hands every day and solve problems, our Energy Technology program could help set you up for your own journey. Contact us to learn more.