Competition highlights future stars of the culinary world.
The Havelock Mussel and Seafood Festival is “such a great opportunity”.
Building futures in the construction industry.
Aryel Draijer, Imogen Coleman-Mason and Brodie Collins are three recent graduates of the Carpentry Pre-Trade Certificate, building their diverse futures from strong foundations.
The programme offered them a great introduction to what construction might be like and now all three ākonga are looking at careers in the building industry.
Aryel and Brodie will be using the connections they made throughout the programme to secure an apprenticeship next year, attending Te Pūkenga NMIT block courses whilst working full-time.
Imogen will look at working as a hammer hand over the summer to earn some money before she heads overseas to Europe next year.
“Building is something I’ve always been interested in but didn’t want to go straight into an apprenticeship,” Imogen said. “I wanted to give it a go to see whether I liked it before I committed.”
Imogen enjoyed the course as she was able to build her up her confidence in a relaxed environment.
“I will never regret the skills I have learned,” she said.
For Brodie, it was a last-minute decision to join the course and he has loved every minute.
“The course has been brilliant, with laughs along the way.”
Brodie found being taught by professionals from the industry was advantageous.
“It’s good all the tutors were builders before and have a range of experience,” he said. “They also have connections in the industry.”
“The tutors have been great,” Aryel said. “For a few of them, it has been their first-year teaching and there has been lots of learning from everyone.”
Aryel was home-schooled and her mum was not shy of DIY.
“So, I was always playing around with tools when I was young,” she said.
Aryel went to Trades Academy at UCOL before signing up to this course.
“I love seeing the progression with building,” she said. “It’s so satisfying.”
“I now have the skills to build a shed confidently. We all have the skills from this course to potentially build our own place.”
Enrolment is open for the next intake of the New Zealand Certificate in Construction Trade Skills(external link), with strands in either carpentry or joinery. Apply now to start in February 2023.
