Role Model Videos: Career Options for Women -- Telecommunications

The “Career Options for Women: Emerging Opportunities” videos introduce your female students to high-wage careers in traditionally male-dominated occupations. Each program reveals the personal experiences and insights of successful women in technology and trades occupations, and sends the all-important message to women and girls that the sky is the limit!

Telecommunications

This 24 minute video features profiles of three women who have embarked on careers in the telecommunications industry.

• Josselin Grebinsky, a telecommunications specialist who maintains institutional systems
• Louise Meilleur, a technical support specialist who designs telecommunications systems for clients
• Mindy Turk, a naval communicator making her way up in the ranks

Additional information from co-workers and supervisors supplements each job profile.

Developed in 2006, the Career Options for Women series is an outstanding resource for schools wanting to attract women and girls to science, technology and trades.

Note: These videos are interspersed with Canadian salary and labor statistics, which are similar to the numbers in the United States. As there is a no-return policy on these publications, please make sure to look at the preview video clip for the DVD(s) you are ordering.

Josselin -- Telecommunications Specialist

Telecommunication specialist Josselin Grebinsky dialed into her career straight out of high school. She took a two-year telecommunications engineering program and finished in the top five of her class. With that kind of track record, she landed a great job with Grant MacEwan College, installing and maintaining the telecommunications systems.

Josselin thinks other women would like her job because it's a very challenging and creative position. In the future, Josselin would like to stay more on the creative side of the industry and get into designing telecommunications systems. “I like that the industry is changing everyday. I learn new things and, when I come into work, anything could happen that day.”

Josselin needs to do a lot of hands on work to ensure the college communications systems are always online. But her job doesn’t stop there. She spends a lot of time in her office making sure everything runs smoothly. It’s all part of her calling.

Louise -- Technical Support Specialist

Louise Meilleur is a technical support specialist for Bell Intrigna. She designs telecommunications systems for her clients.

Louise says you need to understand technology to excel in telecommunications. But even in such a technical industry, Louise says her job allows her to be creative. She enjoys composing something new for a client.

“My job is a constant challenge. There are always opportunities to learn new things. I never get bored.”

Louise's advice to other women considering a career in telecommunications is to get as much technical training as possible, and network. Build your network by going to related seminars and becoming a member of different associations. Then stay in touch with everyone you meet from the industry.

The salary for a position such as Louise’s is great and she works 37.5 hours per week.

Louise got her break in the industry as a customer service rep. She attended night school and worked her way up, learning on the job and taking a variety of courses. Louise has worked hard to earn her position, but still considers herself lucky.

Mindy -- Naval Communicator

Naval communicator Mindy Turk is responsible for internal and external communications on the HMCS Ville de Quebec. Mindy signed up with the Canadian Forces through the encouragement of a friend, who joined right out of high school and said it was a lot of fun. Mindy says, although she may have joined for the fun, she stayed for the financial benefits and the stability. She gives a lot to the military and they give a lot back.

Mindy's future goals include moving up to Master Seaman rank and becoming more familiar with the technical side of naval communications. She is also working hard at becoming fluently bilingual.

Mindy must be able to concentrate under stressful conditions and possess good logical reasoning ability with a memory for detail. She must also be ready to spend some time on the water because 60% of the job is in a ship.

“I like that I do a lot of different things in my trade work. I can be on the bridge, outside or in the busy control room. It's very fast paced.”