LJ-I’m an engineer for a company with plants in Monett, Mt Vernon, and 2 in Carthage, not poultry. I started as a maintenance manager 16 years ago. For the most part our maintenance teams are hired and educated from within. Typically it’s a production worker with some mechanical sense that passed the tests. Then they’ve learned within the shop and got into electronics and PLC programming.
Very few of our shop guys came off the street. The ones that did, any certifications just serve as a flag to get a call as a prospective applicant. Then you’d have to take screening tests for aptitude. Typically a hire off the street is working night shifts. Most of our maintenance departments are 12 hour shifts working 3 on 3 off 2 on 2 off. Repeat.
Refrigeration might be the best job of all. Monitor the systems. Do the paperwork. Generally the work that is involved it’s clean work just with motors/pumps/valves etc. A little ammonia never hurt anybody, warns you by smell if something is wrong and a mask generally filters it out, until an SCBA is needed anyway...
