Graduate Connections – Meet Jermaine James

Jermaine, 33, is a Phoenix, Arizona, native who completed the Electro-Mechanical Technologies (EMT) program at RSI in January 2024. 

Thanks for your time, Jermaine; what did you do before coming to RSI? 

I graduated high school in 2009 and I went straight into the military at 18. I served in the United States Army for three years as a tank driver & gunner. My first duty station was Korea, then I ended up in Texas, and I deployed to Iraq and Kuwait. After I got out in 2012, I went to school to become a medical assistant. I worked in that field for three years, but I realized that it wasn’t really where I wanted to be. 

Thank you for your service. What did you do next?

I went back to school for dental assisting. That was during Covid, so when I finished the program, nobody was hiring. I like learning, so I started a psychology program at Mesa Community College with a view to transferring to ASU after I’d done the pre-requisites. I was single back then and I wasn’t really focused, I was kind of just living, so I never finished. Later, I started working for Amazon as a delivery driver. I did that for two years. When my wife and I had our second child a couple of years ago, I decided I needed a real job. I’m not saying delivery driving isn’t a real job, but with kids I needed a better paying career with more opportunities. We now have three kids under the age of four – they keep us busy! 

How did you discover RSI?

I just started looking around at trade schools and I saw RSI. I thought HVAC in Arizona where it’s hot nine months out of the year if not more, would be a good opportunity. I know that AC units go down all the time. 

Very logical choice. Why did you choose the EMT program?

Honestly, I didn’t know too much about the program when I joined. I picked the longer nine-month Electro-Mechanical Technologies program that covers more fields – electrical, HVAC, Solar – so I could have a better range of jobs to pick from.

What did you enjoy most about your time at RSI?

I enjoyed the more hands-on portion of the program. I also enjoyed getting to meet different people. I love people, that’s why I wanted to do psychology years ago. I like helping and getting to know people. So, for me, meeting people is a really big thing. I still have a lot of good friends from the school, and a lot of the guidance counselors and teachers are pretty cool. 

Is that why you chose this program…because you like working with your hands?

Yes, it was important to me, but I also like learning, I just don’t like paperwork. I’d rather be tinkering with my hands than sat at a desk writing a paper. It is just not for me; I need to be hands-on doing something!  

Did you find the program easy, or did you have frustrations?

Learning anything new is hard at first. In the first phase there’s all these components, and I hadn’t heard of half this stuff! So, it was a little difficult and a little jarring at first, but you push through and if you work hard, you can get through it. The program is definitely like building blocks. They give you this piece here, and then the next day or the next week you’ll get another piece, and you learn how they connect, and you’ll say, “This makes sense now!” The program is definitely a cram session. That’s why you have to show up every day.  If you miss a day, you’re definitely grasping, “What did I miss? What are we doing here?”

Did you put your hand up with questions?

My theory is I don’t know everything. Especially coming into a new trade, I really don’t know anything. So, I tried to get as much knowledge as I could out of the experience because I wanted to be successful when I got out. I didn’t want to go back to another trade school or go back to Amazon. I wanted this to be it. I’ve got three kids, I’ve got a wife, I’m trying to do this for the long haul, for my kids, so I asked lots of questions.

That’s awesome. So, where are you working?

I’ve got hired on as an HVAC Technician with CMC Steel Mill in Mesa, AZ. It’s a pretty big company with sites all around the U.S., and all over the world. I start on March 4th; I think it’s a really good job. One of their buildings has 92 air conditioners, and the other has 103. I’ll be servicing those, and I believe they also have a chiller that I’ll be working on as well. 

Did Career Services help you get the job?

Cooper in Career Services really helped me a lot. When RSI had a job fair, I’d talked to a bunch of people, but I hadn’t got a call from any of them. I was apprehensive because I wanted to get a job as soon as possible to start providing for my family. A week after I finished class, I got a call out of the blue from CMC – they hadn’t even come to the career fair. Cooper had sent them my résumé and had spoken very highly of me. Thank you for coming through and actually doing what you said you’d do, Cooper. I really appreciated that. 

That’s great. Are you happy with the money you’ll be starting on?

I am. I was making $19.75 at Amazon, and I’ll be making about $5 more. It’s definitely a big boost, and it will help a lot. I’m very excited to be the best I can be and grow to become more useful to the company. They have performance-based pay, so if you’re doing good, they’re not afraid to pay you. This is just the beginning for me. If I’m doing my job well, if I’m knocking it out of the park, they might give me a raise in six months. 

Are you part of a team?

They were looking for people because they’ve only had two HVAC guys for all those air conditioners. So, I’m one of the first people they reached out to. I’ll be reporting to another guy, but it is a tight knit team. They know I went to RSI, and they want to build upon what I already know and teach me more. They’re not afraid to teach me, so there’s another learning curve expectation. It’s good that they’re not going to throw me in the water and if I can’t swim, I’m done. The guy I’m going to be working with is happy to teach me, he wants to teach me. So, I’m confident in working there because I’m not working with a guy that’s like, “Oh my God, now I have to teach this guy.” I’ve got someone who wants to continually pass on his knowledge.

What’s your career plan from here? 

I’ve decided to take it a little slow. It’s hard to make long-term plans. In five years, I may still be working at CMC depending on what I’m taught and what I’ve learned. If I can gain knowledge quickly and better myself, my goal is always to be better. Not just for me, but for my family. So, that’s a big push for me. I can’t say what I’ll be doing in 10 or 20 years, because if an opportunity comes knocking, we’ll see what happens. And that opportunity could be within CMC, or elsewhere.

What do you enjoy most about this trade?

It’s just a different experience. Because I’ve never worked in the field, they walked me through it all during the interview and it looked really cool. I also asked if there’s a chance for cross training. If I could learn some of this other stuff they do, maybe that would be more interesting to me in time. I’m guessing just having the opportunity that they’re giving me is the most exciting thing.

Were you the oldest student in your class or was it a good mix? 

It was a pretty good mix. I wouldn’t say the oldest, but I was one of the oldest for sure! We had a kid that was straight out of high school and that was great because I could help teach the youth as an RSI Ambassador, I like to be a mentor if I can. And I could also learn from those older than me; we had some people who were already in the trade who came back to get a couple certifications. I learned some things from them. 

What advice do you have for new students to be successful at RSI? 

Don’t give up and definitely do the homework! Don’t give up because it’s just a small hurdle before the big victory. You’ve got to keep pushing yourself; accept the things you don’t know and learn from them. Ask for as much help as possible. Don’t be afraid to ask. You’re only hurting yourself in the end if you don’t.

If you’re an RSI graduate and would like to share your success and be an inspiration to others, please email [email protected] to be considered for a Graduate Connection interview. Please include details such as your graduation date (month/year) and program.