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FAA extends welcome mat to AVC electronics student

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Contributed by: Steven Standerfer on 7/10/2008

After a seven-year stint with the Army - including a one-year tour in Iraq - Leonar Colindres was ready to spend more time with his wife and children.

He was faced with the issue of how his skills as an infantry staff sergeant would help him get a civilian job.

Like thousands of soldiers before him, he turned to college to acquire job skills.

"I really didn't know what to do. My counselors said 'Why don't you try electronics?'" Colindres said.

With that, he enrolled in electronics technology courses at Antelope Valley College in spring 2006. Today, thanks to a cooperative program between the college and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Colindres just started a full-time job with the FAA in Palmdale.

Four other AVC electronics students have been offered internships that could eventually lead to full-time job offers from the FAA.

"I think over the last 10 years we've actually hired 18 students from (AVC's) program," said Elmore Wigfall, FAA technical operations manager for the Los Angeles District. "Some of the best techs over here came from the program."

The venture is the Collegiate Training Initiative, a nationwide program between select colleges and the FAA that enables electronics students to get internships and, potentially, full-time jobs with the agency.

"Since the FAA systems are actively involved in air traffic control operations, the reliability of those systems is critical," said Maggie Drake, AVC dean of technical education.

Drake has firsthand experience working as a technician with the FAA during the early part of her career.

"They have very high standards for the technicians that they hire. It is a credit to the quality of our program that we have so many former students succeeding with this agency," Drake said.

"We usually take three students a year and we give them at least one year of on-the-job training," said Wigfall. The training consists of computer-based instruction and hands-on experience.

Interns gain exposure to the multi-faceted electronics needs of the FAA, including communications, surveillance, navigational aid for aircraft, engineering support and automation systems.

"After that one-year of internship, they're eligible for direct hire right into the FAA," said Wigfall.

For anyone familiar with the involved process of acquiring civil service jobs, the CTI approach provides an attractive option.

"They're easy to hire and they're good techs as well. (AVC) seems to get a mature group of people who are really looking for jobs," Wigfall said.

Wigfall noted the additional benefit to both the FAA and prospective employee in getting to see if the interns are a good match for the agency and vice versa.

"I think the program as an outreach between the FAA and the community is an excellent one," said Wigfall. "It gives us the opportunity to go and recruit to bring in good people who will stay in the area."

For interns, it's the potential to get a job that has a minimum starting pay (which includes locality pay) of $41,461 a year. Experienced technicians with several years experience at FAA can move up the merit pay system ladder to earn in excess of $100,000 annually.

But the money is a secondary consideration to Colindres.

"My whole goal in life is not to make money, it's to be happy. They've got a whole bunch of things you can move around into," Colindres said.

Even as a high school student, Colindres had a desire to "be involved with things going to outer space." Providing support to air traffic is not far from the mark.

Among the four students invited to take part in the internship program is Nathan Bode, who is spending his summer alternating between taking an electronics course at the college and working as an intern at the FAA in Palmdale.

Bode has been interested in electronics since he was a child.

"My grandfather was an electronics technician and an electrical engineer. My dad was an electronics radio communication technician in the Navy," Bode said.

So when Wigfall and his FAA associates came to AVC to discuss the internship program, Bode jumped at the chance.

"It's a great opportunity and anyone who has the opportunity ... should take it," Bode said.

Wigfall said there are no guarantees of a job for Bode or the other three interns. Yet he is quick to add that he's "been successful about 98 percent of the time" in hiring interns for full-time jobs.

The FAA manager went on to explain that Palmdale is a challenging location to recruit employees. People outside of the area are not interested in moving here, he said. Thus the internships take on even greater significance for staffing in the district Wigfall oversees, which includes facilities at Boron and Dagget.

"What we try to do is get people interested in electronics and we place them in our disciplines as needed," Wigfall said.

Rick Motawakel, AVC's full-time electronics technology instructor, said the success of students in the FAA program and elsewhere is helping revive an instructional program that lacked significant enrollment.

In addition, the need for technicians and high salaries are getting the attention of students. Plus, the traditionally male-dominated field is attracting women as well.

Motawakel said about a third of his students are women. The profession offers a clean environment and is considered more a "white-collar" job, according to Motawakel.

"Right now, there's a lot of need for electronic technicians out there," Motawakel said. He explained part of that demand is created by retirements.

Furthermore, Motawakel said an engineering major graduating from a university would be hard-pressed to find an entry-level position that pays as much as some of the electronic technicians can earn with just a two-year degree.

That reality isn't lost on Bode in his internship.

"I'm five classes away from getting an A.S. (associate in science degree)" And that will put him in line for possibly getting a job with the FAA.

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