More women now than ever are giving the boot to customer service and clerical jobs, putting on hard hats, and picking up the tool box. Clerical work can be great, but full time clerical positions with decent wages at the entry level are few and far between. And customer service is an overpopulated industry, with most stores and restaurants, daily receiving more resumes and applications than managers have time to read. This creates a job market flooded with part time minimum wage positions, saving employers money, and costing employees financial security.
The rapidly growing solar industry has so many positions at the entry level, most of which are full time, generally staring out paying higher than minimum wage. We want to encourage women, who might not have considered working in construction to take advantage of these incredible opportunities with our Women in Solar initiative.
If you have any doubts that a woman can excel in the solar construction industry, let Sabrina Morris prove you wrong. This woman is unstoppable! Less than a year ago she signed up to volunteer with GRID and now she is in a supervising position with a solar installation company. After participating on one installation, with only two days of job training and no prior experience, Sabrina was hired as an installer. Within two months of being hired as an installer, she was promoted to Inspections Coordinator/Supervisor!
“I am humbled because the ‘Women in Solar’ initiative has been an inspiration for me. This is an honor to be recognized. This whole experience in solar is still and forever will continue to be such a fulfilling effort. The whole experience with working in this industry has changed my life in such a dramatic way. Challenging but in the best of ways," Sabrina says.
Before she took an interest in the solar industry, Sabrina held positions in the customer service and food service industries. She interviewed for a solar job as a permit runner, but was denied the position because of her lack of experience. She wasn’t going to give up though. She was determined to get the required experience to obtain a position in solar. She signed up with Central Valley Opportunity Center to earn a certificate in Photovoltaic Installation and an OSHA 10 certification. There, she was connected with GRID to gain hands on experience. Through her certifications and installation experience, she was able to find a job she loves where she is advancing rapidly. Sabrina thanks GRID for paving the way to her success!