Ricky Smith
Job Title: Lead Electrician
Company: Hill Electric
Location: Anderson, S.C.
Age: 27
Years on the Job: 7
Interests: Hanging out with his five-year-old son, who loves baseball, and going fishing
Back in 2013, the job Ricky Smith was working at was eliminated, and his friends encouraged him to apply for a position at Hill Electric. Smith, a high-school graduate with hands-on training, took their advice and called the company to explore opportunities.
Hill Electric, an industrial electrical contractor, gave Smith the chance to learn on the job as a helper. In five years, he worked his way up to an electrician. He says it’s challenging to sit in a classroom and learn, and he obtained much of his knowledge by watching others on the job.
“The company is great at providing training and keeping us up to date on all the continuous learning opportunities,” he says. “I have great bosses at Hill Electric who have helped me to grow my industrial electrical knowledge and encouraged my advancement.”
He never considers his workdays stressful because he enjoys his job and the people. His favorite task is to run conduit.
“At times, when we have big projects with tight schedules, I am the lead point man,” he says. “For me, the most challenging is control work. These are the types of areas I seek out help from my team leader.”
The contractor specializes in process machinery, auxiliary equipment, and facility power systems for manufacturers in upstate South Carolina. For the last year, Smith has been assisting a long-standing customer that had a tornado hit its facility.
“We immediately jumped in to help, cleaning the site and then switching machines on busways,” he says. “We are currently redoing all the data hubs and replacing the wiring.”
As a 27-year-old electrician, he hopes to become a superintendent in five years at Hill Electric.
“I plan to do this by continuing to learn from my peers, many of whom have decades of experience at the company,” he says.
