First Days on the Job.

May 29, 2015 10:16 am Published by Ryan Wilkie 1 Comment

Hey Everyone. Right! So, my name is Ryan Wilkie and I’m currently attending Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, taking the Honours Conservation & Planning and Management program. I’ve just finished my third year at LU, Lakehead University and will be returning in the fall for my fourth and final year of my undergrad. Holy crap, where did the time go?

This year I started my job hunt early, pretty much as soon as I was done my job last summer, early. I kept an eye on the job banks run by the university and postings from alumni and applied right away to anything that caught my eye. I figured if I just kept at it at an easy pace I could have my job sorted out for this summer fairly early in the school year and that would be one less distraction nagging at me. And it worked! West Fraser Timber Company started doing interviews across the country at forestry prospective ‘hotspots’ looking for new hires and came to Thunder Bay to do the interview. They called me a couple weeks in advance to establish a good time, which gave me time to prepare. I think that was what really helped me, it gave me time to research the company a bit, the job, and allowed me to go in with self-assurance. I walked in knowing that I could answer almost any question the two lovely ladies threw at me about myself or the job. It probably helped that I brought in a notebook as well (just as black, but not as big as theirs), with just as many questions for them written in it, which I think both surprised and impressed them. That would be my tip for anyone looking at doing an interview, go in prepared; prepared to answer their questions but also with questions of your own. It shows that you’re serious, and shows self-confidence.

Two weeks later I had the job. Bam! Middle of December and I had my next summer job lined up. Merry Christmas to me.

It’s now May and I’m working in Slave Lake Alberta, with Alberta Plywood which is a subdivision of West Fraser as a Silviculture Assistant. All a new experience for me. I’ve driven through Alberta and visited a couple places, but never really spent a lot of time in any one area. I think that this is a great opportunity with a well-respected company and I expect to learn a lot over the next four months. My contract runs from May 1st until the end of August, so I’m sure I’ll have lots of adventures to report on. Photos and videos are sure to follow. So far we’ve done the usual first-days-on-the-job kind of stuff. Paper work. We toured both the veneer plant which is like the head office for the whole management area up here, and the pulp mill. Everyone working here are friendly, inviting and the atmosphere in the office is light and fun. Everyone there came to say hi and introduce themselves to us shiny new prospects and find out about us. Where we’re from, where we’re going to school, life aspirations, you know, life story stuff. It was very welcoming and interesting to hear where seasoned foresters and managers grew up and went to school. It gives a good idea of where one could be working after school.

Throughout the whole the introductory period everyone that I’ve met so far are very accommodating and interested in myself and the other summer students. Any questions that we had, our supervisor Murray, was there with an answer and assurances. If he wasn’t sure himself, he would go find someone who did, and then drag them back to us so that they could respond to our questions. All of the employees here take their jobs seriously and are very safety conscious, but with real world expectations. No crazy, unrealistic timelines which is a nice change from some of the jobs I’ve worked before. They seem to have the same mentality that I’ve developed; do it right the first time, even if it means taking a little extra in the beginning. Another great thing I’ve noticed within the office here, is that everyone talks to everyone. There’s no gauntlet that one has to push through to find and speak with people and I haven’t seen one office door closed off. Don’t get me wrong, people are definitely busy. A lot of running into the office in the morning, then out to the field to check on different particulars, then back again. And I can’t wait to actually start do some field work myself. And lastly, the woodlands division, where we are working, had their monthly staff meeting and we were brought in and suffered along with everyone else from the office which acted as like a bonding experience for us newbies. It also made us feel privileged at the same time, that we were allowed to sit at the same table as the RPF’s, division supervisors and the general manager and have discussions about the mill and all the components of running it. We weren’t babied or told to sit in the back and watch. First week in and we’re rubbing elbows with the bosses of the plant and having actual input. As grueling as it was to read through dozens of procedures and stacks of papers, it was rewarding that we were showed respect and on the same level as everyone else.

If this is any indication as to how the rest of the summer is going to be, it’s going to be a blast! I’m definitely looking forward to writing and bragging about the adventures that will ensue. I’ll be posting lots of pictures and videos along with these blog posts to show you all just how awesome my summer is going to be; I have two cameras and a GoPro with me to capture everything for your viewing pleasure.

Below, is Moi being all dashing in Croatia during our field school trip last fall. Honestly, I didn’t know that I was being photographed otherwise it would have most likely turned out a lot worse. Photo credit to Alaina Vandervoot.

And below that, is Logan (left), myself (middle-left), Adam (middle-right) and Taylor. We are the four summer students for West Fraser in Slave Lake. In this, we had just finished our survival training and are standing by our creations, looking pretty awesome if I do say so myself.

I hope every one of you has a fun and safe summer and I look forward to seeing you in two weeks,

Cheers.

Ryan.