A REVOLUTION IN STEEL

Josh Payne

Cold Mill Electrician Lead, Nucor Steel Arkansas

Hometown: Senath, Missouri

Age: 39

Years with Nucor: 11 years

BLUEPRINT: Growing up, did you have a good idea of what you wanted to do?

JOSH PAYNE: My story is a little different than many of my teammates. I went to college to study early childhood education. But after I graduated with a bachelor’s degree, I realized education was not really what I wanted to do. I wanted to come to work for Nucor. They offered me an electrical apprenticeship; it’s a two-year program, and I finished it in eight months.

BP: What did that program entail?

JP: In the electrical apprenticeship program, they put me to work, and they moved me around to different departments. I worked in the cold mill, then the metal shop, the caster deck, and then with the electrical team. They were training me and teaching me on the job at the same time I was taking college classes that Nucor paid for.

BP: What was that like?

JP: I worked areas that were completely foreign to me. It was all new. The guys I worked with were all veteran electricians, and they were able to help me pick up on things and learn the electrical aspects of it.

BP: What advice do you have for a young person who doesn’t have a plan for what they want to do?

JP: I did the same thing. I got here having process knowledge that I could apply enabling me to troubleshoot things, because I knew what the equipment was supposed to do. I use my background in the education field every day to train people, to talk to people and to help people understand.

BP: Why would you recommend Nucor?

Discover The Opportunities

JP: Coming into Nucor, you have the opportunity to move in any direction you want. If you want to do something at Nucor, everything is laid out and it’s there for you to go and get it.

LEARN YOUR TRADE

• MAKE THE TEAM

• BUILD YOUR CAREER

NUCOR: A REVOLUTION IN STEEL

NUCOR: A REVOLUTION IN STEEL