Graeme's building a career

VIV TROUNSON

Graeme Mager says an apprenticeship is a great way to enter an industry.

He could also add that coming second in the national Third Year ITaB Apprentice Challenge in Queenstown is a great way to gain industry contacts and career opportunities.

"It got my name out there in the industry and hopefully put Dargaville on the map."

ITaB is the national industry training association for certified builders.

Graeme, who is in his third year of a carpentry apprenticeship, works for Vuletich Construction in Dargaville.

He won the right to represent Northland as one of seven national finalists by winning the Northland Region Third Year Apprentice Challenge at NorthTec last December, which required him to build a model of a house to strict specifications.

Circumstances saw him juggling the competition with trying to get to the birth of his first child – which he did.

As well as giving him his first chance to visit the South Island, the national contest produced some challenges, like being interviewed by a panel asking unrehearsed questions and also spending two minutes introducing a celebrity speaker to an audience of several hundred.

He took well organised portfolios of his work and had prepared his introductory speech but found presenting it hard going.

"It was certainly something I don't do every day and was a bit of a challenge," he says.

"I guess the idea is to put you outside your comfort zone."

For his second place, Graeme received a framed certificate and a $500 ITM voucher.

Graeme grew up in Dargaville and initially worked in a meatworks before spending a year in Warkworth with an uncle who was a very experienced builder.

"That's when I realised building was for me."

After another spell at the Dargaville meatworks he moved to a Whangarei company constructing steel buildings up to aircraft hangar size.

"But I really wanted to do an apprenticeship and they were hard to come by, but John Vuletich of Vuletich Construction offered to help.

"Once I started I never looked back."

He expects to complete his apprenticeship by the end of the year but beyond that has no firm plans except that eventually he would like to go out on his own.

Graeme says apprenticeships are an excellent way to enter a trade.

"I would definitely recommend it because you get taught the right way of doing things and of meeting all the safety standards," he says.

Now aged 27, he began his apprenticeship later than many but feels this had advantages.

"It meant knowing that's what I wanted to do and my previous experience helped me understand the theory side of things."

Vuletich Construction owner John Vuletich says he and his partner Annette have been proud to support Graeme's efforts.

"He is a really good employee who thinks outside the square. When he comes up against a problem he can think creatively and solve it.

"We are 100 percent behind what he's doing."

- © Fairfax NZ News