Janelle DeJan

Master Electrician & Building Trades Industry Partnerships Manager at New Orleans Career Center

Education:

McDonogh 35 Senior High School

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
Local Union 130

FEATURE IMAGE: Janelle DeJan is working on one of the electrical constant current regulator cabinets used to control the functions of the runway lighting system at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, where she has worked as an airport technician specialist-electrician for six years.

Professional Journey:

I stumbled into the building trades. My father was a carpenter who worked on residential projects—general household repairs, additions, renovations, upgrades—but I didn’t know about the highly skilled, highly trained career paths in the skilled trades and had never thought about everything involved in new construction.

When I was 20 years old and enrolled in college, I worked as a laborer sweeping floors at Harrah’s Casino. I met a lot of electricians and learned about the union and apprenticeship. I saw the possibility for structure and access to an apprenticeship that teaches you everything to progress from novice to journeyman level. The opportunity to earn and learn appealed to me. I was at Xavier University, then switched to engineering at UNO, but I still needed a job. It felt like it was going to take too long before I would start seeing any financial benefit to support myself in engineering, and I really needed income to support myself.

I applied for an apprenticeship with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and did five years of apprenticeship. Then Katrina hit, but I was able to finish my apprenticeship in 2006. I became a statewide licensed contractor in 2008. I spent many years working for contractors across the city, lots of commercial work—schools, clinics, office buildings, hospitals, all different kinds of sites. The VA hospital was the last construction project I worked on.

Alternative Career:

I was on track to follow in the footsteps of my mom who was a high school teacher and daycare center owner. I wanted to be an elementary school teacher because I liked teaching my nieces and nephews.

Janelle DeJan teaches real-world skills to Building Trades trainees at the New Orleans Career Center. Photo courtesy of New Orleans Career Center.

Typical Workday:

We often work on multiple jobsites throughout the week. Sometimes weather, labor force, or other logistics can make our workday change with short notice. No matter what happens, we are always working toward completion, to turn over a project to a customer. In this field, we have to work alongside other trades workers, work in teams within our company, and may interact with customers, vendors, and visitors.

Janelle DeJan is testing and repairing lamps and ballasts at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport from the basket of an aerial lift about 80 feet in the air.

Must-have Skills:

Speaking from my experience as an electrician, being excellent at your job results from thousands of hours of on-the-job learning in various sectors of our industry. In those thousands of hours, electricians build skills and practices that allow us to produce quality results consistently and safely. Adaptability, people skills, and being able to communicate clearly are essential skills. As a tradesperson, our work environment and who we work with is constantly changing.

Most Challenging:

I like the least that I can’t always pick what project I get to work on. In this field, we often look forward to working on specific projects, working for certain contractors, or doing certain tasks. Sometimes, the luck of the draw doesn’t work out that way. Unfavorable weather conditions are also a not-so-fun part of my work; it’s the thing we have the least control over. We learn how to be strategic in dealing with rainouts (when our work gets shut down due to weather) and rain muddying up or flooding out our worksite. Any days with extreme heat or cold make me appreciate those mild and dry days with a nice breeze.

Impetus, a local general contractor, hosted a jobsite walk on Oretha Castle Haley Blvd. for a Women in Construction Week event hosted by the New Orleans chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC).

Common Misconception:

Being an electrician is rough and dirty and hard work all the time (“I’ll break my nails!”). Electrical work is more physically grueling than technical work. All electrical work is in new construction. Electricians work on power lines. Electricians regularly work with live wires… The truth is that it all depends on what you specialize in and what types of projects you work on. Electrical work is more complex and multifaceted than most people think.

Advice:

Find a woman in the trades to be your mentor. With the number of questions that you’ll have in any trade, it’s beneficial to have a resource you can keep going back to who understands your personal circumstances and can help you navigate any challenges you might encounter as a woman in the trades. Organizations like the National Taskforce on Tradeswomen’s Issues, NOLA Women in Skilled Trades and Manufacturing Careers, and NAWIC are all valuable resources for getting access to female mentors and learning more about industry pathways.

Did You Know?

• Women still earn less overall than men, and the gender wage gap is especially wide for women of color.
• Women’s underrepresentation in construction, manufacturing, and transportation—in jobs that often pay family-sustaining wages without the need for a four-year college degree—is a major cause of the gender wage gap in the New Orleans area.
• Women are just 6.3 percent of apprentices in the trades in the region.
• Earn-as-you-learn apprenticeships provide a cost-free route to becoming a skilled tradesperson.
• Major local employers that provide many well-paying skilled trade and technical jobs include NASA’s Michoud “rocket factory,” Boeing, and the Port of New Orleans.

Source: “Building a Better Future for Women in New Orleans Post-COVID 19: Opportunities for Women in Skilled Trade and Technical Jobs,” Institute for Women’s Policy Research, 2021.

We hope to help you all figure out what you want to be when you grow up. Find out about different career paths from amazingly talented and successful NOLA women in every issue of Geaux Girl! and get inspired.

A shout-out to Geaux Girl! Teen Advisory Council member Ella Densen for leading the interview with Ms. DeJan.