b'CAREER PROFILEDEPARTMENTStaying ahead of a dynamic businessWeir Minerals Jerome Rodriguez develops efficient solutions tosupport and optimize processesQ:What is your position and what arein order to respond to the needs of ourglobal financial crisis and the job market your responsibilities? customer base. In short, we need to helpwas tough, to say the least. I started with Iamthedirectorofsalesandbusinessour customers be more efficient than theya smaller OEM, and it was all brand new developmentforourComminutiondivi- were yesterdayso if thats improving thefrom the get-go. As I learned more about sionatWeirMineralsCanada.Ioverseethroughput theyre getting on their equip- the resource industry and the importance thesalesandgrowthofourcomminu- ment, their access to parts, or the hands-onof our role in an economy, while also (liter-tion products (crushing, screen, washing,fieldsupporttheygetfromourserviceally) getting my hands dirty in developing team, we need to always be in a position tomyskillset,Ibecamequiteambitiousin dewatering systems, etc.) into the sand andrespond quickly and effectively. wanting to learn more and grow my career aggregate and hard rock mining marketsinthisfield.Ienjoyboththetechnical across North America. This includes ourQ:Describe your typical day on the joband commercial aspects of looking at an equipment, aftermarket products and engi- and how the work you do contributes toapplication and working closely with our neered-to-order solutions. customers to develop a solution to produce your company.a tangible result.Q:What is it about your job that otherThe best part about my job is that there is people wish they got to do? no typical day. Today I could be workingQ:What sort of education do you have The travel and site visits are certainly thewith our customer service team on a newthat is relevant to your job?most rewarding part of my job. I get to seepricingstrategytohelpdriveourafter- Ihaveamechanicalengineeringdegree our toys in action and work closely withmarketsales;tomorrowmyfocuswillfrom the University of Toronto and an MBA customersonsolutionstosupportandbeworkingwithourproductmanagersfromtheSchulichSchoolofBusinessat optimize their processes. Not to mentionin fine-tuning a project bid package; andYork University. Certainly, having the tech-buildingrelationshipswithclientsinthe following day I could be onsite withnical foundation gave me the ability to grasp variousmarketsandcommunitiesacrossa customer looking at a new opportunityhowstuffworksfrombeingableto the continent. where our products could support a newunderstand the inner workings of our equip-solution for their process. My day-to-dayment to being able to decipher the numbers Q:What do you find most challenging inremains as fluid as the industry we work in,of whats happening in a material processing your work? and it is certainly never boring. I am stillapplication. This gave me a jump-start on Stayingaheadofanextremelydynamiclearning new things all the time. the learning curve early in my career, when industry. As a premium equipment manu- Q:HowdidyougetinterestedinI was very green in this industry.facturerintheaggregateworld,itisthiswork? IfeltlikeIreallyroundedoutthe essential that we remain responsive to thefundamentalswhenIcompletedmy day-to-day needs of our customers, largeInitially, I found myself in this industry just andsmall,whilealsoensuringwehaveby chance. I graduated from my mechan-abusinessthatisconstantlyinnovatingical engineering program during the 2008CONTINUED ON PAGE 26FALL 2020AVENUES 25'