At Work: Jess Rago

How did you first become involved in NDT?

I kind of fell into it. I was officiating roller derby and a friend of mine was playing, and she mentioned her husband was having a hard time keeping employees. I asked what they did, and she said they did nondestructive testing [NDT]. At the time, I was raising funds for a nonprofit and felt very inadequate with the amount of funds that were coming into the house. He offered me a job. I fell in love with it and haven’t looked back since.

I saw that you have a degree in English and philosophy; has that informed your current work in any way?

I think so. People like to get on their pulpit and talk about things, which reminds me a lot of philosophy. And then I was an English lit major, but I was never much of a reader as a child—I have dyslexia and I’m a slower reader. But it translated into a real love for digging into code books, which sounds super nerdy, but a good code book on a cold winter night, sitting in front of the fire—that’s my kind of Sunday.

When you started your first job, did you get your training in-house?

Yeah, right away I started in the field as a UT [ultrasonic testing] gauging technician, doing UT thickness and starting to gain hours in the method. It was all on-the-job training. It was kind of like feet to the fire: you’re going to have to learn this to function.

I just remember watching the old hats: they put the gauge on, get a rating, and I’d be like, “Oh, I can’t get it to work. Why is this not working for me?” And then you start to develop your touch, and then you’re teaching the younger people coming up.

About a month in, my employer sent me to the University of Ultrasonics, where I spent a couple of weeks learning about phased array and shear wave.

What certifications do you currently hold?

I currently have my Level III in MT [magnetic particle testing], PT [liquid penetrant testing], UT [ultrasonic testing], and VT [visual testing]. I have my CWI [Certified Welding Inspector credential] and a couple of APIs [American Petroleum Institute certifications]. I have a love for learning and then applying that, as well as teaching anybody who wants to know anything.

Could you describe your current role?

I work for a small inspection company based out of Montana, and we specialize in everything: right now we’re getting into maritime, pipeline, and refineries.

A typical day is essentially: report to work earlier than the sun comes up, get the callouts, and figure out what we’re doing for the day. Make your necessary checklist, have a cup of coffee, then hit the field. Every day is different—that’s what keeps it amazing.

What have been some of your biggest challenges in your NDT career so far?

I didn’t know when I first got into NDT that just being a woman was going to be a challenge. If you don’t have thicker skin, maybe this is not an appropriate field for you to start in; try pipe fitting or welding first. But if you can get your foot in the door and stick it out, it’s a great career path.

Another challenge is that being in Montana, we don’t have the same opportunities as down south—Texas, Louisiana—where the business is booming. We pick up the scraps and make our own way.

What do you see as the big challenges facing the NDT industry as a whole right now?

Our workforce numbers are so small. It’s very challenging to have enough people, and then, on top of that, qualified people. And with in-house certifications, there can be skimping on what’s required before people are sent out into the field, and that’s really scary to me. People can potentially be killed—there’s a heavy burden that we carry as inspectors when we start doing heavy structural fracture mechanics. And when we unleash people into the field and tell them they’re certified and qualified, are they really?

Younger folks learn differently, and we need to reach them if we want to get them interested.

Do you have any personal or professional milestones that you’re working toward?

One thing that I’m working on with our organization is making a training program in collaboration with educators to reach the kids in high school who don’t learn like everybody else (my wife is a special education teacher).

We have the STEM kids—the ones headed to engineering degrees. I see the kids that don’t quite fit in, that really want to have an impact in the world, and they get left behind, and I want to make some kind of program where they can get a foothold and an introduction into NDT and see where it takes them.

Do you have a favorite quote or a motto that inspires you?

Since college, I’ve been inspired by a Mae West quote: “Too much of a good thing can be wonderful.” I try to hold that near and dear, because that’s what I want to convey to people every day. Every day is magic: how many people can say they look inside metal? How many people can say they’ve been to the places that we’ve been to do NDT?