Last week the carpentry team from our School of Trades and Services, led by Lecturer Chris Stoddard, provided this year’s graduating NZ Certificate in Construction Trades students with an opportunity to hear first-hand from five visiting Alumni. Their focus was on how to move forward to secure and enjoy success, and thrive within a carpentry apprenticeship.
Lecturer Chris Stoddard with the Alumni panel (from back left): Chris, Clement Richer, Vladimir Titoff, Charles Seneviratne, Fritz Gabriel and (front) Vjeko Jukic
The “transitioning into the workplace event” was designed for our students completing their pre–trade experience, providing them with the opportunity to meet and hear from fully qualified builders – our Alumni. A wide range of topics were covered, with a focus on how to embrace what lies ahead in a demanding industry and how to strive for successful outcomes in the early months and years of their career.
This event was part of a series of sessions developed by our Careers team, designed to support our graduating students with securing a job and to reduce uncertainties and anxiety around moving into full time employment. Earlier sessions initiated by the team included CV writing, interview techniques, and industry networking.
The Alumni guests spoke with enthusiasm about their early careers as carpenters and builders, including being able to see the concrete results of their daily efforts which they said was very satisfying. They also spoke the importance of a healthy lifestyle, keeping fit, mind and body, while they “earned a living”.
One of the Alumni guests, Clement Richer, was the 2016 Apprentice of the Year 2016 winner (from the left): School of Trades and Service Lecturer Leni Fifita, Clement Richer – winner, and Adam Johnson – 3rd place and Unitec grad
Two of these Alumni competed in the National finals of the annual Apprentice of the Year competition 2016 (organised by Certified Builders NZ), and one of the Alumni guests, Clement Richer, was the winner. Clement is now on the national committee for Certified Builders NZ.
The Alumni discussion with students started with the critical attributes needed to secure a building apprenticeship. They talked real world expectations of “the boss”, and “turn up on time!” was a message repeated more than once by the Alumni. Tips on how to get noticed (in a positive way) on site were shared, including how important showing initiative is. They also provided advice on managing a work-study balance – this was particularly valuable for students to hear from the Alumni, and not from their lecturers for a change!
Valuable insights were also shared on surviving your first day at work and succeeding in your first year, which really hit the spot for our 2020 students. Things like jumping in and cleaning up rubbish whenever they ran out of work, and making sure they knew what was involved with the job they were doing on site (reading the building plans for themselves), and having the correct tools on hand for each job, and how to get “stuck in and work hard” as a given. Also discussed was the importance of taking photos of their onsite learning as this really saves time when they get home and and are compiling their study requirements. Staying on top of your study demands was a another important theme that came through from the Alumni.
The students remained focused and engaged throughout the session, and lapped up their advice, helped by knowing that the exact same path had been trodden by the speakers just a few years ago. Chris Stoddard says that the student’s Unitec house build has essentially remained the same for many years now, so they all had shared this same experience here on campus, over a 32-week long programme.
The feedback from the Alumni was really positive and Chris says he was really pleased with their generous response including their commitment to “giving back” by speaking to our next intake. They felt it was a great opportunity to pay back some goodwill to Unitec, and are also keen to share some ideas on how we can grow our industry relationships for both apprentices and employers.
There are plans to make these type of informative sessions into an annual event, and as Chris says, collaboration and learning from each other is one of the “keys for success”.
Great Job