Raymund Saniel

Last summer, a father came up to me and told me how his son, Raymund, is doing well in his life right now. Raymund Saniel may not strike a chord to some teachers especially that there were scores of good students in his batch.

But for advisers and teachers who got a chance to know this lad, they would agree that this self-starter would go places someday.

Having graduated from CITE in 2001, Raymund applied as a board repair technician in Teradyne Philippines, Inc., the world’s leader in semiconductor test technology. He troubleshoots complex circuitry and works with board modules most of the time.

A persistent electronic technician whose passion is excellence in his job, Raymund was enlisted in a group which was tasked to fully restore a machine with no testing capability into a functional one. The hardwork paid off when he and a group of technicians completed the job before the deadline. The customer was impressed. Delighted by the result, Teradyne lauded Raymund’s group for the feat and sent them to a training overseas for seven months. In December 2003, Raymund set foot on Teradyne Inc. in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Single at 24, Raymund still lives with his parents whom he considers his inspiration for working hard. The money he saved during his training was spent for home improvement and multicab which he now uses for his service. He is also helping his elder brother finish college and pay for the tuition of a relative in high school.

Like a piece of good fortune, another training brought him back to the US in August 2005 to train on Ultra Flex System Modern Machine.

While some of his batchmates have pursued a better career option abroad, what made him stick to Teradyne like a soldering lead to a PCB? “I’m motivated to work. The company is transparent in (its) operation and has a very good benefit package for its employees,” he told me.

In working with some engineers who singled out technicians from them, he advises, “Show what you’ve got. Show them what you can do.”

He admits that his three years of training at CITE has provided him technical know-how that can tally with the skills of other graduates but what made CITE alumni stand out among the rest? “Our attitude towards our work and moral upbringing by our family.”

Raymund is planning to pursue a degree course in Electronics and Communications Engineering at Cebu Institute of Technology. With Teradyne’s offer to help him finish his studies he realized that “we should not be complacent of what we have achieved because there’s always a room to improve especially that technology is changing so fast.”

After working at Teradyne for five years, he said, “Love your work like a precious diamond. If you aim for a higher position, continue improving yourself. If you are earning more, then you can also help more people.”