The 25-year-old Canadian plays a unique part in ABB’s history as he is the first ever participant in the recently launched global Hoisting Young Engineer Exchange Program, aimed at bridging the burgeoning skills gap in the global mining industry by finding and developing the next generation of talents.
While participating in the international, two-year program, he will work closely with the local engineering team and have the opportunity to go on two overseas rotations in some of ABB’s key hoisting markets features, namely Canada, Australia, Poland, South Africa, Sweden or China.
“I started my journey at ABB as an intern in 2022, working with the mining sales team”, says Julien. “During my time there I got familiar with the basics of what ABB do in hoisting. I had a great time and learned a lot from the team, but I also noticed that there’s a big gap between the more experienced people and the young ones coming in. As a young engineer, I believe it’s incredibly valuable to get to know the business at an early age.”
Based in Montreal, Canada, Julien graduated as a Power Engineer at Montreal university and subsequently applied to join ABB’s Discovery trainee program.
“I applied for the Discovery program but had trouble deciding which part of the business I wanted to work with. My contact at HR informed me about the exchange program and I actually decided to go with that program instead. I’ve always wanted to travel, and you constantly get told to travel while you’re young. But when you’re young you also need to save money. This program poses a great opportunity to work abroad, have new experiences and experiences different cultures.”
A program tailored to the individual
In the first part of the program, Julien is working closely with the local engineering team to gather the necessary experience, including working at customers sites, before going on his first global assignment.
“For my first rotation, I have my target set on Sweden. What’s great about the program is that it’s tailored to the individual, meaning that you can spend a varied amount of time with the local team, based on your initial knowledge. Then the exchange periods can vary between 4-6 months.”
“Working with the local team is a very rewarding relationship. I have a main mentor who supports me a lot, but I also work as a bit of a freelance between the different engineers to help out and get experience wherever possible.”
Working with a sense of purpose
As a young engineer, going into the mining industry isn’t always an obvious choice. For Julien, it was however an easy one.
“What made me attracted to this program is the sense of purpose that it provides. Mining will play a huge part in the energy transition, providing the necessary metals and minerals to manufacture batteries, solar panels and improve technological advancements. In the hoisting business, you get to work with really advanced technology and be part of a team who really are working make the green transformation a reality.”
“If you want to work with groundbreaking technology, have a sense of purpose and find a good pathway for career advancement, I highly recommend you to take the opportunity and apply for the program.”
About ABB Hoisting Young Engineer Exchange Program
ABB’s international, two-year program features time spent in the participants’ local engineering teams, followed by a couple of overseas rotations in ABB’s key hoisting markets, namely Canada, Australia, Poland, South Africa, Sweden or China.
Within each rotation, graduates will learn about the latest industry technology and have the chance to apply it directly on ABB’s customer sites. Unlike many traditional training programs, ABB’s new program has an individually tailored schedule and involves direct customer work.
Unlike other trainee programs, the Hoisting Young Engineer Exchange Program does not have a set registration period, rather interested candidates can apply via the posted job ads on the dedicated landing page.
ABB in Hoisting
ABB has been a leader in developing world-class hoisting solutions for over 130 years. Powered by electricity with the possibility to run off renewable energy sources, hoists are a future-forward solution. To date, ABB has delivered over 1,000 hoisting solutions globally. As the sole supplier of complete mine hoist systems, customers can benefit from low lifecycle cost, high reliability and system availability, short project execution time, and a single source of supply for complete systems, including service and spare parts.
