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 Matthew Matthew came from a small NSW town out west. His dad delivered him to a caravan park and drove off. This was Matthew's first visit to the big smoke, Sydney. This faceless town seemed cold and threatening to him. Fortunately, he secured an apprenticeship with AGT NSW and he was to be trained in heavy vehicles. His apprenticeship was not as smooth a journey as one would have expected. He experienced loneliness on a daily basis and found the city folk not so caring and friendly as those in his old home town. TAFE came with its challenges and he did not always pass the required subjects when he had to. Along the road he managed to lose his driver's licence and had to revert to public transport to get to work. Fitting his pushbike onto an early morning train was not exactly easy and then having to cycle from central station to Mascot was demanding, yet he did it every workday. The rewards did present themselves when he secured a job in London. He found that the Aussie work ethic stood him in good stead as he excelled at his tasks. During weekends he would travel to every European country. His last visit was to Monaco, where he watched the Grand Prix. Soon he transferred to a second place of work at Heathrow Airport and thoroughly enjoyed this but yearned for a more challenging job. Then that letter came in the post - he had been successful in securing a job with a ship maintenance company in the Cayman Islands! The money was outstanding - 1000 cayman dollars, tax free!!! Tropical climate, blue-green seas and palm trees hung over the beach and....no more trucks to be worked on. His "taxi" was a two-seater Cessna aircraft to take him from job to job, island to island. He returned to Australia two years later, travelling via South America. He arrived in Sydney a changed man. Today he works for a European company, based in Wetherill Park and only performs work on ships. He is often posted to Tasmania, New Zealand, Darwin and, on one occasion, to Finland. His wages are more than he ever thought he would earn....between $85,000 and $100,000 per year.  Michael Michael lived in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney and attended a school from where it is rare for a student to publicly announce that he would like to be an Automotive Apprentice. In his search for an apprenticeship, he approached AGT NSW as this company already employed a few of his mates. His pre-selection exercise was easier than he expected and he was quickly placed in a prestige workshop. He was very pleased with this and was further relieved that a company, that was located fairly close to his home, was training him. Michael's TAFE results were above average, and, therefore, did not stay at this company for the full duration of the four years of his apprenticeship. His training and TAFE performance was so impressive that his host company, and AGT, agreed to allow him to complete his apprenticeship six months in advance. This meant that he completed his apprenticeship in three years and six months instead of the normal four years. Today, Michael is working as a Service Adviser at a North Shore Prestige Dealership and is loving it!  |
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