Dunwoody helps automotive student Amy Lee Hinz find her path

Amy Lee Hinz diagnoses a problem with the cooling system of a Honda vehicle during class.

Automotive student Amy Lee Hinz has big plans for her future. And Dunwoody’s Women in Technical Careers (WITC) scholarship is helping her achieve them.

After graduating from high school in Rush City, a small, rural town in Minnesota, Hinz was ready to see what else the world had to offer.

“I needed to go to bigger, different places,” she explained. So she packed her bags and headed to Minneapolis, planning to pursue a degree in English at a nearby liberal arts college.

It wasn’t long, however, until Hinz discovered that this was not a career path she enjoyed.

“My whole life,” Hinz explained, “My parents, my guidance counselor, my friends — everyone told me I was going to be a writer. I think I was just so young and wasn’t thinking critically for myself yet that I didn’t even consider anything else as an option.”

In an effort to find her passion, Hinz began to work a series of different jobs, ranging from online marketing to logistics to retail operations management. She even pursued a drumming career with an all-girl band.

But after nearly 10 years of trying to find something that spoke to her, Hinz recalls when she knew it was time to make a real change.

“I was climbing this corporate hill, and I realized — it wasn’t a hill I wanted to die on,” she said.

It was also then that she realized just how much she wanted to pursue a hobby that has been with her since the very beginning: fixing cars.

Coming back to Automotive

“Growing up, I would always sit out in the garage with my dad and watch him change oil, help hold the wrench,” she explained. “And, years later, I realized just how much I had grown into the car community. How I’ve done all the work on my own vehicles. How I’ve learned so many things from books and YouTube and people. And how I’ve saved hundreds and hundreds of dollars — and just how much fun it is.”

Hinz also recognized that this knowledge was a gift.

“There is a huge void of women mechanics, queer mechanics, trans mechanics,” Hinz shared. “And I think there are also a lot of people who walk into an auto shop and have a feeling that they are going to get ripped off. And it really bothered me that I had this knowledge that a lot of others didn’t have — and that I don’t have that feeling when I walk into a shop. It shouldn’t be like that. And I thought, well, I could either sit here and let it bother me, or I could become something that I saw wasn’t there.”

So in 2016, Hinz toured Dunwoody to learn more about automotive programs — and quickly discovered this is where she had to be. But paying for the education would be difficult.

“I learned I had just missed the deadline for the Women In Technical Careers scholarship, and being an unconventional, older student, I knew how much I could use that assistance,” she said.

Hinz then made the difficult decision of postponing her plans for another year in hopes she would receive the scholarship in 2017.

Her decision paid off.

WITC makes Dunwoody possible

“Receiving this scholarship means a lot,” Hinz said. “It wouldn’t be possible for me to go here in absence of the scholarship. WITC is a powerful thing. It’s given me a lot of opportunities and connections that I wouldn’t otherwise have.”

Hinz also credits having a point person, members in a cohort, and the Women’s Resource Center as other key contributors to her success.

“It really makes a difference to just know someone and know you have a place to go.”

Following graduation, Hinz has plans to start doing what got her interested in the automotive field from the very beginning: helping others.

“I’d love to develop an auto repair facility that caters to women, trans people, people of color, and then empower them to learn more about their car and how to fix it themselves,” she said.

Hinz is set to graduate from the Honda Professional Automotive Career Training program this spring.

Career Services brings Big Interview software to campus

Students looking to better prepare for a job interview can now find a helpful tool on campus — Career Services launched Big Interview software in August.

Rob Borchardt, Associate Director of Career Services, demonstrates Big Interview, a new technology available to students free of charge which allows them to practice their interview skills.

The new software not only allows students to view more than 100 video lessons on interviewing and negotiating, but also to participate in a mock job interview.

Interview practice boosts response quality, confidence

During the mock interview, an interviewer cycles through more than 1,000 pre-recorded questions, ranging from general interview questions to those that are more specific to students’ respective industries. A built-in tool also helps participants craft responses, should they not know how to best answer a particular question.

Responses are recorded and can be viewed after the interview, helping pinpoint areas of improvement. Students also have the option to send the interview to staff or faculty for further suggestions.

Implementation of Big Interview was coordinated by Associate Director of Career Services Rob Borchardt.

“Students’ biggest fear in finding a job is often the job interview,” Borchardt explained. “It’s natural to feel nervous. Often times it feels like the stakes are very high and that you may only get one shot at interviewing with a certain company. My hope is this software will help them build the confidence they need to knock an interview out of the park.”

Dunwoody helps students become industry’s best

The new software won’t just be staying in Career Services either. Big Interview practice has also been added to the curriculum of a number of Dunwoody classes that focus on career preparation.

“In order to land the job they want, students need to be able to communicate to employers their skills, strengths, and goals,” Borchardt said. “This software will help them identify what they need to communicate, why they need to communicate that, and then be able to do so in a highly professional way.

“We want our students to be the most desired candidates in their industry—and this is another tool they can use to be just that.”

For more information on Big Interview, contact Borchardt at careerservices@dunwoody.edu.

If you have broken a bone, needed a chest X-ray, or required radiation treatment, there is a growing chance that a Dunwoody graduate ran the diagnostic equipment. Since 2009, Dunwoody has awarded 127 Associate of Applied Science Degrees in Radiologic Technology.

Six more students received their graduation pins Thursday, July 12, 2018, and officially graduated from the program earlier this month. The pins are a symbol of a ceremonial tradition dating back to the days when hospitals gave out X-ray pins at the end of training. Dunwoody continues the tradition as a way of celebrating graduates and launching them into the profession.

Dunwoody reputation draws students, employers

Katy Hammond (left)

Katy Hammond of Mounds View started her academic journey pursuing another medical-related career before being drawn to Dunwoody for its course reputation.

“I think it is so interesting to see inside the body and see what happens,” she said.

Potential employers are also attracted to Dunwoody – especially to the level of experience a Dunwoody graduate exhibits.

Their first year of class, students work side-by-side with professionals in local clinics and hospitals, such as Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital and North Memorial Health Hospital. Students work in these settings two days a week, increasing to three days a week their second year.

“Everything we were learning in the classroom, we could literally take it to the clinical site and do it on a real person and not just one of our classmates,” said graduate Andrea Lamour.

David Blake, Radiologic Technology Program Manager, said, “By the time they are done with the program, students will have completed around 1,700 hours [of clinical experience.]”

Andrea Lamour (right)

“They tell us at the beginning that this is a two year interview, so when I am at the site for a year and a half, [I know] they are watching me and I am impressing them. It is very comforting knowing you are going out in the world ready,” said Lamour, who has been hired by North Memorial Health Hospital.

Hammond also credits classroom work and clinical work running simultaneously as the reason she has a job waiting for her at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids.

“We get almost two years of experience, so I feel like I have grown so much. A couple of months ago I interviewed, and the next day they called me two months before I graduated,” Hammond said.

Students interested in becoming a radiologic technician can apply for the August 2019 fall semester.

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