Roberta Giroux - Iron & Earth Mentor

One such mentor is Roberta Giroux, who brings a wealth of experience and professional contacts as a journeywoman electrician, employment coordinator and renewable energy skills trainer. Like all our mentors, Roberta is passionate about sharing advice, as well as training and work opportunities.

With experience in staff recruitment, Roberta helps her mentees to tailor their resume to specific jobs, improve their interview skills, and practice mock interviews. She also provides a wealth of knowledge on what it takes to become an electrician and work in the renewable energy field. “If anyone is interested in learning more about renewable energy before pursuing a career in that field, or if they're hitting brick walls and not getting interview callbacks or need help with interview skills, then it's a great reason to reach out to a mentor,” she says.

Roberta finds mentees get a confidence boost from mentorship, since they typically downplay their skills and abilities instead of  “humbly stating” their accomplishments, during job interviews. “Often people will have their “aha” moments when they hear their skills are valuable and how they can be highlighted for specific positions for resumes and interviews,” she says. “It’s always a good idea to take notes in any discussion with a mentor, since that can be a great help down the road, when crafting resumes and doing interviews.”

Born in Edmonton, Roberta is Métis, with roots in Sandy Lake, AB. Despite hating math, she started her career in finance, working in payroll departments, banks and construction before deciding to take a Pre-Apprenticeship training program with Women Building Futures. While it wasn’t easy, she persevered, and enjoyed a 15-year career as an electrician on a variety of projects, including renewable energy. She strongly believes in taking advantage of any opportunities that arise, and being a lifelong student, such as when she took a solar skills course early in her career that led to multiple job offers with solar companies.

Now she is the Indigenous Employment Coordinator for a construction company with a strong track record of hiring Indigenous staff and also working at reducing its carbon emissions. She assists with Indigenous engagement, by building relationships with Indigenous and Métis groups, as well as doing presentations to high schools about her company, and its job and apprenticeship opportunities.

Her favourite part of her job is engaging with all the different people she meets. She is proud of her company and the amount of opportunity they've provided for Indigenous people, which for some, has been life-changing. One of her company’s projects involves building a road on a First Nation reserve that had close to 100% Indigenous craft, while some of their other projects involve 85% Indigenous craft.

Recently, Roberta was the instructor for our solar power training program on behalf of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band -  the largest First Nation in Saskatchewan, and one of the ten largest in Canada. There, Roberta instructed thirteen Band members on an introduction to solar skills, assembling an Electrical Circuit Board, testing and energizing it, as well as building a working solar oven from a pizza box. The next step is to hold a longer training program that will teach participants in more depth about solar power, and how to install small-scale solar PV infrastructure on a Band building. This will provide participants with hands-on experience, aiming to support the longer-term plan of the Band to get funding and install various other solar PV installations across the six communities of the Band, while contributing to local capacity-building.

“It's been great being an Iron & Earth mentor.  I enjoy helping people from a variety of backgrounds with resources, tips and ideas to help advance their clean energy careers,” Roberta says. “Transitioning to a renewable energy career isn’t always easy and things like location and salary can be key factors to consider. If I can plant seeds with people, help them identify and promote their skill set and keep their morale high, then I’m happy.”

Book a free session with a mentor of your choosing, whose background and skill set aligns with your interests. Best of all, mentorship sessions are free and can be done at your convenience, and there are no limits on how many sessions you can book.

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Iron & Earth’s training programs are funded in part by the Government of Canada's Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program.

The opinions and interpretations in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Government of Canada.