Richard Brant came to PSI in September, 2011 interested in starting a new career in life as a motorcycle technician. Motorcycles were his passion and we wanted to help make that happen.
“I did some research of different motorcycle training schools that I wanted to attend and there was a lot of good feedback from the students that attended PSI. There is a dealership in my home town that I went and talked to about a job as a technician and they mentioned that I should go to a motorcycle mechanics school and that I should check out PSI, a motorcycle repair school in Ohio. They had a graduate from PSI who worked there for a long time and had done very well,” says Brant.
“After I started at PSI, Career Services approached me with a job opening and surprisingly it was the same shop that I stopped in to get a job originally, Northstar Power Sports in Hermitage, PA. Now I am a technician there. By attending PSI, I gained a lot of the basic skills that I did not have before. I am confident with the skills I have gained and feel comfortable with the tasks that I do.”
Richard came back to PSI in February 2013 for Polaris Silver ORV Class, He passed with flying colors, and shortly after graduating from PSI he became a Polaris Silver Certified Technician.
We asked Richard now that he is a graduate, if he missed coming to school, if he enjoyed the experience while attending PSI and is there any “words of wisdom” he may have for other students who are thinking about attending?
“The most important thing that you need to do is everything in the program”, he laughed. “There were days that I would be doing a task and say, when am I ever going to do this in a shop, and now they come into play every day. I am really glad that I practiced staying neat and keeping everything organized while I am doing a task. Also electrical troubleshooting is huge. I do those kinds of tasks every day in the shop and it is a necessity if you are going to be a technician. There is so much you can learn if you go into class thinking, I can do this, just one step at a time.”
Richard is now back for his third round of training at PSI for the August 2014, Polaris Gold ORV Class where he became a “Golden” Technician.
After recently transferring dealerships and now working as a technician for Johnny K’s Powersports in Niles, OH, he will start his training to obtain his certifications through Victory, Indian, Can-Am and Sea-Doo.
“I feel like I moved up in the industry a lot quicker than I expected but from the beginning everyone at PSI was incredibly helpful and it was easier for me to put more effort into learning when it was an awesome environment to learn in. The best part about coming back to school once you are in the industry is continuing to learn and knowledge is yours, no one can take it away from you.”
Now that Richard has experienced being a student at PSI, working in a dealership as a technician and has a complete understanding of what opportunities are out there we asked him what he would look for if he were going to hire a graduate from PSI?
According to Brant, “I would look for technicians who have good attendance and are not just book smart but technically smart, too. I would also want someone who took advantage of all the manufacturer recognition that is available at PSI because that would show me that they want to work in this industry, they want to be the best technician that they can, they are hard workers and they are not afraid to learn.”
Richard has been a part of the PSI Alumni family for nearly three years and every time he comes back to school at PSI we are pleased to see how he is moving forward in his career.
Congratulations Richard Brant, we wish you the best and look forward to seeing you back at PSI for Victory training and Indian training programs!