One grad nails down a great career with a premier home builder.

Spencer Collin found the perfect career while in high school. The 19-year-old New Franken native first heard about Fox Valley Technical College’s Residential Building Construction program while attending Luxemburg-Casco High School. “I always liked building things,” he says. “After hearing about the program, I thought it would be cool to make a living out of building houses.”

Today, Collin works full-time for Van’s Lumber & Custom Builders, Inc., one of Wisconsin’s premier home builders. “Right now, I’m working on a framing crew—doing measurements and putting up walls,” he says. “One day I hope to be a crew supervisor.”

Collin credits the program with giving him the necessary skills for a rewarding career. “We worked two days a week on a job site and two days in class learning how to take precise measurements as well as how to safely operate power equipment,” he says. “We finished building a home in Greenville and framed a house in Neenah for the next class to finish.”

Collin loves working outside and seeing the immediate results of his efforts. “When I need to measure or build something, I know exactly how to do it thanks to Fox Valley Tech,” he says. “Now I’m working on simply gaining more experience, and my parents are very proud of me. I have a full-time job with a great salary just one year out of high school.”

Building Supervisors

FVTC’s Construction Management Technology program offers a supervisory pathway in the field. This program, along with the Residential Building Construction program, both represent growth in the construction sector.

- 91% graduate employment in the Construction Management Technology program
- 100% graduate employment in the Residential Building Construction program
- 95 full-time career postings for skilled residential builders
- 54 full-time career postings for construction managers in the region over one year

Fox Valley Technical College Graduate Employment Research Report, 2015