Jose Landeros was one of those people who didn’t know what he wanted to be when he grew up.
Now a service manager with Ag-Power Inc. in Terrell, TX, eight years ago he was was working as a shift manager in a factory. But he was bored with his job.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” Landeros says. “But I knew it wasn’t working in a factory.”
Landeros was looking for a career, not a job. He wanted to work with his hands, but he needed to use his head as well. He was investigating his options when he heard about the TECH Program at Navarro College in Corsicana, TX. That’s where his green dream began.
“I wasn’t your typical TECH student,” Landeros says. “I didn’t have a background in agriculture. I didn’t grow up tinkering with John Deere equipment.” And at 36, he was a few years older than the other students in the program. What he did have was curiosity and a mechanical ability that could be shaped into a top-notch service technician. “Once I figured out what a John Deere service technician did, I knew that it was a career that would take me places,” he says.
The instructors at Navarro were vital to his development. “They were all excellent,” he says. “They recognized that I had some natural mechanical talent, and then they worked with me to develop it. They really focused my instincts. And if you don’t have the instructors to show you how and explain why, you won’t learn.”
Landeros says the most important skill he learned at the TECH Program was the process of diagnosing a problem and then fixing it — quickly and correctly. “My customer wants his equipment back ready to go. The TECH Program really honed my diagnostic skills and that keeps my customers satisfied.”
After graduating in 2004, he worked as a service technician. By 2009, he was ready to move up, and Ag-Power was looking for a service manager.
“The TECH Program was definitely what caught their eye on my resume,” Landeros says. “Ag-Power is a huge supporter of the TECH Program, so they knew the importance of a TECH Program degree.”
Although he now spends more time in his office than the shop, Landeros says his education continues. “I won’t ever be done learning new things. I now have a career that challenges me every day.”
And he still supports the TECH Program. Currently there are two TECH graduates in his shop with another joining them in May.
“In the TECH Program, I developed the skills that got me where I am today, and I use those skills every day,” Landeros says. “The TECH Program develops more than your mechanical skills. It’s more than just getting your hands on a wrench. It’s more than diagnosing and fixing problems. TECH Program graduates have the confidence that they are going to do the job well and get it right the first time.”