Farmer’s Weekly – 09 August 2019

bottom line Technical Training

I servedasa tractortechnician

fora shorttime,thenbecame

aninterninthetraining

departmentforsixmonths,after

whichI wasaninternforsix

monthsinthecustomerproduct

supportdepartment.Here,in

2017,I shadoweda territory

customersupportmanager.

Afterthisinternship,Iwas

offereda jobasa juniorinstructor.

Overthenextfiveyears,I want

toexploreotheropportunities

withinthesector.I’dloveto

becomea technicalterritory

customersupportmanager.

Whatchallengesdid

youhavetofacein

thistraditionally

male-dominated

industry?

Duetothesizeandcomplexity

oftheequipment,thework

is oftenveryphysical,and

requireslonghoursonone’sfeet,

climbing,crouching,andheavy

lifting.Traditionally,thistypeof

workhasbeendonemostlyby

men,andI encounteredsome

clientswhoatfirstdoubted

myabilitytodothework.

It wasdifficulttochange

theperceptionthatIwasn’tas

capableasmymalecolleagues.

WhenI wasstillanapprentice,

I alwayshadtoprovetoour

customersthatI couldservice

theirmachines,andwasable

todiagnosecomplexproblems

andinterprettechnicalmanuals

andschematics.So,bythetime

Istartedmycurrentposition,

myattitudehadalready

changedintermsofwhatto

expectandhowtodealwith

theperceptionsofthoseclients

whostilldoubtmyabilities.

Whatdoesyourjob
atjohndeereentail?
Asanagriculturalequipment
technician,I’mresponsible
fortheset-up,maintenance,
servicing,diagnosing,repairand
reconditioningofagricultural
equipmentattheshoporin
thefield.Theequipmentwe
workonincludestractorsand
combineharvesters,aswell
asa varietyofimplementsfor
agriculturaloperationssuch
astillage,seeding,planting,
harvestingandspraying.
Ourservicesareusedby
equipmentmanufacturers,
dealershipsandindependent
repairshops,andlargefarms.

Anagriculturalequipment
technicianis alsoinvolvedin
teachingclientshowtooperate
newequipment,andconsulting
withthemtopinpointproblems
anddeterminetheirspecific
needs.Goodcommunication
andcustomerserviceskills
arethereforeessential.
Inmycurrentposition,
Itraintechniciansfromour
dealernetworks,including
Afgri,GWKandSenwes.

hoWdidyouendup
folloWingthis
c a r e e rpath?
Inhighschool,I’dalready
developedaninterestinhe
mechanicalfield.In2007,

Imatriculatedfrom

PretoriaTechnical

HighSchool,

whereI majoredin

motormechanics

fromGrade 10 to

Grade12,topursue

a mechanical

engineeringdegree.

Butmymathematics

g radesd id n’t

qualifymetostudy

a degree,soin 2008

I upgradedthe

subjectattheWits

StarSchoolduring

a six-monthprogramme.

I thenregisteredfora mechanical

engineeringcourseatTshwane

SouthTVETCollegeinSeptember

2008;thisis anN6-levelNational

CertificateinEngineering

Studies.I hadonlyonesubject

lefttocompletethecoursewhenI

decidedtolookforaninternship.

In2012,I wasacceptedby

JohnDeeretostarta four-year

apprenticeshipprogramme.

Theminimumrequirement

atthattimewasanN2-or

N3-levelNationalCertificate

inEngineeringStudies.The

applicationprocesswasdone

throughtheArtisanTraining

InstituteinRoodepoort

(ATI).I wasoneofthetop

fivestudentswho’dwritten

assessmentsforacceptance.

ATIworkedlikeanagentfor

companiestogetapprentices

fortraining.I trainedasan

apprenticetractortechnician

atJohnDeereforfouryears,

andthetrainingincludedboth

practicalandtheory.I qualified

asa tractortechnicianinJuly

2015,afterreceivingtheRedSeal

AgriSETA-accreditedcertificate.

LeratoBaloyiis currentlytheonlyfemaleagriculturalequipmenttechnicianemployedby

JohnDeere Sub-SaharanAfrica.SiyandaSishubaspoketo the29-year-oldBaloyiabouther

often-challengingjourneyin thismale-dominatedindustry, andherpassionforhercareer.

‘at first, i had

to prove i was

as capable

as my male

colleagues’

The female tractor technician

who is breaking stereotypes

LERATO BALOYI

siyanda sishuba

32 farmer’sweekly 9 August 2019