MAINTENANCE MANAGER 51 52 4. Maintenance Managers Ensure Health and Safety Maintenance managers are responsible for ensuring the health and safety of their employees. They lead by example and implement programs for hazard identification, incident prevention, training, and audits. If they observe unsafe working conditions, they take corrective action, communicate with appropriate resources, and ensure that their employees are well-trained. Given their work in food facilities, they also ensure that all maintenance aspects of equipment meet food safety standards and adhere to HACCP plans and SQF requirements. 5. Maintenance Managers Help to Prevent Accidents It’s better to prevent an equipment breakdown than repair it afterward. Therefore, maintenance managers are keen on performing preventative maintenance because it improves the performance and safety of equipment. Preventive care requires careful long-term planning to avoid interfering with production schedules. Maintenance managers regularly inspect equipment, machinery and facilities to identify any maintenance need or potential issues and develop appropriate repair or replacement strategies. 6. Maintenance Managers Must Help Keep Their Workshops Clean A common term used in the field of maintenance is 5S. 5S is a general term that describes keeping things clean and tidy around a plant shop and eliminating waste. It encompasses five Japanese terms—Seiri (Sort), Seiton (Set in order), Seiso (Shine), Seiketsu (Standardize), and Shitsuke (Sustain). Maintenance managers lead by example and encourage their shops to be cleaned and appropriately organized. For example, a maintenance manager in a food manufacturing facility might create a bin system to store all the nuts and bolts used for a packaging equipment. They will organize the placement of production machinery and specific materials in designated locations. 5S also enhances the facilities’ production efficiency for a safer, more hygienic and highly productive environment. 7. Maintenance Managers Implement New Technologies and Processes Maintenance managers are responsible for continuously improving the maintenance department by implementing new technologies and processes. They keep themselves updated with the latest advancements in the industry and evaluate their feasibility for the facility. They also collaborate with other departments to identify areas of improvement and implement solutions to optimize maintenance operations. By implementing new technologies and processes, maintenance managers can improve equipment reliability, reduce downtime, and ultimately increase production efficiency. Being a maintenance manager requires many skills. However, there are a few which are essential. These skills include: • Adaptability – Food processing facilities are fast-paced and sometimes unpredictable environments. Maintenance managers must navigate changing equipment, seasonal demand fluctuations and the unpredictability of equipment. Staying adaptable requires strong decision-making skills and flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances. • Communication - Despite having a job requiring many complex manual skills, maintenance managers also need strong communication skills. They must communicate with diverse individuals including production teams, upper management, equipment suppliers and regulatory authorities. Maintenance managers must know how to adjust their communication style to the individuals they speak with. • Computer literacy – Maintenance managers must be proficient with standard computer technologies such as Microsoft Office and other business systems such as SAP. Typically, maintenance managers will need to use computerized maintenance management systems that centralize maintenance information and facilitate maintenance operations. Nicole Gallace & Veronica Hislop, FoodGrads YOU DID IT! Your perfectly tailored resume landed you a scheduled interview at your dream employer. Now the only thing standing in your way is the interview. Success, especially when it comes to your job search, is about being able to get the details right. For many, a co-op position or internship is a first-time job filled with many unknowns. An interview for a co-op position or internship is like other types of interviews, such as those for full-time or part-time work. All these interviews generally follow the same format where the interviewer will ask you information based questions about your background and behavioral questions to gauge your skills and problem-solving abilities. They may even present hypothetical scenarios to evaluate your approach to various situations. As a student, you will unlikely have a wealth of job experience. Hence, you must lean on your academic and volunteer experiences and explain the potential benefits you could bring to the company. Remember that most organizations will recognize that as a student completing their degree, you have limited work experience. Also, you likely won’t have the direct skills you’ll perform on the job. Therefore, your goal for the interview is not to show employers what you have done but the potential of what you can get done for the organization. It is about demonstrating your potential for the role—how you will grow into the role and benefit the company. INTERVIEW QUESTIONS When asked, “Tell me a little about yourself,” the best way to make a lasting impression is to avoid your education and work background because the employer already knows this through your resume. Instead, talk about yourself, what motivates you, and how you work in a team environment. Make connections to the job description and company when answering the question. Interviewers may ask you directly what you know about the company; this is where your preparation for the interview comes in handy. If so, keep it brief but relevant. Practice what you will say in advance if you are asked this question during the interview. Understanding a company’s values and current projects can better help you decide on your interview answers. For example, if you know about the company’s involvement in multiple environmental initiatives, you could also speak about how that motivates you in your work. You can also use the information you picked up and incorporate it into other responses. Use LinkedIn, the company website, news websites, and other relevant sources for your research. In almost any interview, employers will also expect you to speak about how you have dealt with situations in the past. For example, they may ask, “Tell me about a time you worked on a team and things didn’t go so well. What did you do?” When asked about a past situation you’ve dealt with, employers are looking or you to explain in detail a problem you faced and the steps you took to overcome it. Your explanation gives them a snapshot of how you would act if you encountered similar situations during your co-op position and your problemsolving ability. To prepare for this question before the interview, brainstorm two or three relevant instances where you solved a problem. Knowing the story’s key points is sufficient to avoid appearing robotic to the interviewer. Additionally, ensure you can explain the situation through the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, and Result). INTERVIEW PREP Overall, interviews can be nervewracking no matter what stage you are in for your career. Remember that nervousness is normal, and preparation is the key to doing well in an interview. Lean on your Co-op department for assistance and use resources available at your school. Almost all of them offer workshops to conduct mock interviews. Good luck out there! Find more tips and resources in the “Interviewing” category of the AgCareers.com Career Success Library at www.AgCareers.com. Photo by PaeGAG/stock.adobe.com How to Rock a Co-op Term Interview Photo by cottonbro studio/pexels.com
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