We met Sterling earlier this year when he kicked off his solar career as an intern through GRID’s Installation Basics Training Program. After working hard and completing his internship, Sterling found employment through GRID’s SolarCorps Fellowship program. We talked to Sterling about his past and present experiences, how the two differ and the advice he has for incoming interns.
\u201cMy experience as an IBT intern almost didn’t happen. Originally I was going in to be a welder but I met Tommy [Workforce Development Supervisor for GRID North Valley], he informed me about the IBT internship and it worked out perfectly. I grew up on the roof–my godfather is a roofer so I was already exposed to this type of work. So it just kind of naturally fit. I got on the roof with GRID and I really like being up there. GRID trained me and showed me everything I needed to do so I took the knowledge I learned and ran with it.\u201d
When asked about the difference between his IBT internship and being a SolarCorp Sterling stated, \u201cI feel like the IBT internship is more hands-on and with the knowledge I gained I now get to help train others. GRID staff trusts me to help other trainees, volunteers and even other SolarCorps Fellows. I help walk them through processes that I\u2019m familiar with and if I don\u2019t know something it helps me learn at the same time. I can call over Steve or Gary [GRID Solar Installation Supervisors] and they are able to provide help when I need it.”<\/p>\n
Sterling had this advice for the next class of IBT interns, “Get in there and learn everything you can. Follow everything that’s on the IBT checklist and take the time to go over it with Steve and Gary. Pay attention in the classroom and on the roof because safety really comes first. Go hard for what you want because the opportunity is available.”<\/p>\n
Special thanks to Wells Fargo for supporting our workforce development efforts in California!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We met Sterling earlier this year when he kicked off his solar career as an intern through GRID’s Installation Basics Training Program. After working hard and completing his internship, Sterling found employment through GRID’s SolarCorps Fellowship program. We talked to Sterling about his past and present experiences, how the two differ and the advice he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4422,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[],"audience":[],"content-type":[12],"focus-area":[20,25,73],"region":[],"series":[],"content-author":[],"class_list":["post-4421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-workforce-education","content-type-news","focus-area-job-training","focus-area-solarcorps","focus-area-workforce-development"],"acf":{"hero_media_type":"image","hero_media_image":null,"hero_media_url":"","hero_media_poster":null,"hero_video_play":"inline","related_stories":null,"pattern_override":null,"story_callouts":null,"media":null,"featured_blog_post":null,"featured_event":null,"pdf_download":null,"blockquote":null,"author":null,"notice":null,"social_embed":null,"contact_card":null,"meta_details":null,"faq":null,"table":null},"yoast_head":"\n