It's not Santa's workshop, but it's the next best thing.
Engineering student Mollie Jameson used persistence and sheer dumb luck to become the first Canadian with a co-op job at Fisher-Price, the New York-based toy creator behind Thomas the Tank Engine and many other popular toys.
Jameson, who started her work term at the Fisher-Price offices on Monday, says it's everything she imagined it would be.
"It's exactly what I pictured," "It's super colourful and there's toys everywhere."
Jameson secured the gig after blindly calling up Fisher-Price and getting in touch with one of their top executives, whose name she guessed.
The fourth-year mechanical engineering student says she knew early on that she wanted to complete her Memorial University co-op placement at Fisher-Price. She submitted a resume and cover letter online, but one day after that, she felt she still hadn't done enough to get the job.
"I kind of always go for what I want, and when I'm committed to get something, I don't stop until I get it," she said.
So she called the Fisher-Price switchboard and worked her way through the automated phone system to the company directory. A recorded voice prompted her to say a name, so she guessed two common male first names.
"I just guessed the two first names that came to my head,"
The phone rang, and the vice president of Fisher-Price's engineering division in New York answered. After a brief conversation, Jameson forwarded her resume to him, secured an interview and, eventually, won the job.
Now, the girl from St. John's, N.L. is in New York and working as the first Canadian co-op student ever employed at the toy company.
But it's not all kid's stuff. Jameson is there to practice her mechanical engineering skills, and she hopes to turn the temporary job into something more long-lasting.
