Prairie State Generating Company is excited to welcome Justin Carmen as a mining intern for the summer of 2017.
Carmen is a senior at Southern Illinois University – Carbondale studying mining engineering. Carmen is a native of Golconda, Illinois and is from a family with a long history in the mining industry. His grandfather was a lead miner in Missouri for nearly 40 years. Both of his uncles worked in mines in southern Illinois and his father is a millwright who works with conveyer belts at mines. Carmen has already had one internship in the mining industry, and wants to carry on the family tradition.
Much appealed to Carmen about Prairie State during his internship search. He said PSGC’s mine’s reputation when it comes to safety, longevity and compensation made it stand out from other mines. A previous PSGC mining intern at Prairie State and one of Carmen’s classmates at SIU, Dan McManus, talked up the internship program to Carmen as well.
“I like everything about it here,” he said. “I like the people I work with and the hours and compensation are very competitive. The people here are knowledgeable and aren’t afraid to help you. They don’t look down at you for being new or not knowing how to do something. They’re really good people and I felt really welcome.”
Carmen is one of the three mining interns from SIU. He said they all knew each other to an extent before the internship, but since starting at Prairie State, the three have grown a lot closer and have an extra sense of camaraderie that comes from attending the same university.
Carmen will graduate from SIU in May and will look for a job in the coal mining industry. He said if he could pick his place to work however, it would be Prairie State.