Students at the Portage Collegiate Institute received presentations today about the different career paths Manitoba Hydro has to offer.

Manitoba Hydro Employment Strategy Coordinator Polly Bergen says while she presents at the school on an annual basis, given the recent storm that hit the region, the work of hydro workers has been especially important of late.

"Everybody has been impacted. There're people who've been without power for a week. Our staff has been out working really long hours, doing everything that they can to get the power turned back on as quickly and safely as possible," says Bergen, explaining this presentation comes at an opportune time. "Now that they've been so visible in Portage, it makes sense to talk to students so that they can prepare themselves so that maybe they can play that roll of hero and pursue a career like powerline technician or power electrician."

Bergen spoke with grade 9 and 10 students this morning about the type of education they'd need to have for a career in the trade.

"Students aren't always big fans of school so they tend to want to get school done as quickly as possible," observes Bergen, "and I find that sometimes they don't sign up for courses that they absolutely need to have for a trade. That tends to be physics and either applied or pre-cal math. So if I can tell them that earlier than later then they have plenty of time to plan for it in their schedule so that by they time that they graduate from high-school they can focus on getting work experience so that by the time we're recruiting they're ready to go."

She adds it's important for students to think about what they like to do and what will bring them a sense of enjoyment.

Grade 12 student Victoria Carignan has attended previous career presentations by Manitoba Hydro and shares why she took an interest in the trade.

"I had a brother who went into the trade and he would come home and talk about it a lot. I actually had to use his equipment, and did some pole climbing, and I found a good interest in it and thought that maybe this is something that I could get into," explains Carignan, adding being able to work knowing people appreciate what you're doing would be pretty cool.

She says presentations like these in schools are important because they give students an idea of what career options are out there so that they can begin researching potential careers before they graduate.