Matt Corcoran didn’t plan on landing a job at Procter & Gamble, but thanks to a little help from Southern State Community College, he is now a packaging engineer for the multinational cleaning goods company.
After graduating from Western Brown High School, Corcoran struggled to find a direction for his studies.
“Right out of high school, I tried college,” he said, “and I just wasn’t ready to start school then. So, I came back home and got a job at a factory.”
After a while, Corcoran decided he wanted to make more money.
“I figured to do that, the easiest route was to get an engineering degree,” he said. “With Southern State being so close to home, it worked out with my schedule to be working during the day and then being able to have classes at night.”
While still working at the factory, Corcoran said he was able to apply what he was learning at SSCC at his job every day.
“Rather than learning something and then waiting two or three years to be in the workforce and start using that knowledge… I was able to implement what I was learning immediately,” he said.
Shortly before graduating in 2018, Corcoran began applying for jobs and came across an opening at P&G, the multinational cleaning goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati.
“I applied and I got it,” he said.
After a lengthy application and approval process, Corcoran began as a packaging engineer, a position he has held for four years now.
Corcoran said he still uses skills and knowledge he learned at SSCC every day. Particularly, he said, technical report writing and strength of material classes he took at SSCC are integral to his job today.
“It’s one-on-one a lot at SSCC,” he said. “You get a lot of time with the professor, and that was really helpful for me.”
SSCC offers a variety of study options within the engineering program, including associate degrees in Mechanical Design Technology and Electro-Mechanical Technology, and several aviation engineering certificates.
SSCC Engineering Professor Jim Barnett said engineering “can take you as far as your imagination will allow.”
“We cover electrical, electronics, mechanical, computer assisted design, and our program is versatile to the industry demands and the changing profession,” he said. “Southern State is a great place to begin your engineering career. Classes are convenient, close to home, and you have the option to move on to a four-year degree from Miami University or another partnering four-year college or university while attending classes at Southern State.”
Corcoran said there’s no time like the present to begin an educational journey.
“If you’re thinking about going to school, I would do it now,” Corcoran said. “It took me four years to get my two-year degree, but where it has put me now in my career, I’ve come leaps and bounds from where I was before.”
For more information on SSCC’s engineering program, go to www.sscc.edu or email engineering professor Jim Barnett at [email protected] today. Classes begin Aug. 22.
Information for this story was provided by Southern State Community College.
