Help Cargen Represent NZ in Abu Dhabi

I chose a career in the Collision Repair Industry for a number of reasons. My love of anything on wheels, the fact that my dad and boss Dane were good mates so I grew up knowing Dane and I was always interested in what he was up to.

I was rapt when Dane offered me a job to begin with and when I had proven myself he offered me my MITO Apprenticeship. As a career I feel it is a great trade with many valuable skills that most people don’t get to see.

Once I have completed my apprenticeship i hope to remain working with the team at Bryant Road Panel & Motor, as I learn something new every day and never stop increasing my skill set. Further down the track I would like to mange a collision repair shop and then go on to owning my own panel workshop. To be able to do that, I will need to further my training through MITO pathways.

Winning the national title day one on the 1st of October 2016 as Friday the day of the competition dawned you could tell from the sense in the air that today had a lot of meaning. That the reward from many years of practice and hard work was about to be on show for an assortment of judges, across all the trades.

Personally, I was ready after a sweet sleep at St Pauls hostel and a huge feed of Weetbix and peaches both mind and body were ready to go.

By 8.30am me and my world skills N2 Expert skill Gary McCormick arrived at Rotokari campus Wintec Hamilton, we went straight through to the collision repair area where I was greeted by many other likely minded contenders all keen to get the day underway.

I laid all my tools out nicely on the work bench provided and started flicking through my objective work sheet that had the day’s workload listed:

- Strip out Hyundai Santa Fe 2014 – Front end, Air Bag Modual, Seat Belt pretensioner

- Plastic bumper repair x2

- Weld up sill section

- Hammer and file door skin

As I was told to pick an order to do the jobs in, I felt it was fitting to knock them off in prearranged order, starting with stripping out the Hyundai. I was given a deadline of 1.5 hours to complete the strip and refit of the front end (which included bonnet, front bumper and the two front guards) and after 45 minutes the Santa Fe was back together and ready to roll out the door. Next, I took note of how badly damaged one of the plastic bumpers to the left of me was only to be told it had been run over by a forklift not once but three times, so you can imagine it was looking pretty munted. With this in mind, I knew that my skills were going to be tested but with the skill set I have, a positive mind set I knew it was in the bag.

I am over the moon, having the opportunity to compete with the best in the world in UAE Abu Dhabi in 2017. I am proud to represent New Zealand my employer/trainer, my family, and myself.

As a typical Kiwi kid, I grew up with a dream of becoming an All Black. Being a Tool Black is the ultimate buzz and I am going for GOLD!