Meet Josh - the newest mechanic on the block.
Some of you may remember Josh from when we previously interviewed him. (If not, you can check out the post here). At that time, he was a Year 10 student at NG Central who was loving his Automotive VET training. But even then, Josh told us his eyes were firmly set on an apprenticeship.
Fast forward 6 months and he’s made that ambition a reality! Josh is now several weeks into his full-time apprenticeship with Central Coast Group Training and has been welcomed into the mechanic team at Express Lube, West Gosford.
So, what happened between then and now?
First up, Josh got his P’s! After a lot of hard work, he passed his test with flying colours and even purchased a car. Not only did this bring him the ultimate independence, it meant he got another notch in his job-readiness belt and could seek out work with the advantage of a licence.
In addition, Josh was also supported by NG Central to source a week-long work placement with Tyre Power. This gave him a real insight into the world of mechanics and he has able to use his skills as he changed tyres and assisted with servicing. Josh says "the environment was really friendly” and the experience definitely confirmed that he was keen to find full-time work in the industry.
And keen he was! Josh came into NG Central in the school holidays to work with our VET coordinator Nareeda on his resume and apply for two Automotive positions.
“The first company called me 30 seconds after we applied…I literally walked away from the desk and they rang. CCGT (Central Coast Group Training - the company responsible for the apprenticeship) called me just after I got home too. I ended up having three interviews for that job. The first was with CCGT, the second was with a field-worker and the last was at the Express Lube site. I wasn’t too nervous about interviewing, because I’ve done it a bit when I worked at Kmart, Maccas and Dominos."
Josh is now settling into the apprenticeship, which calls for a 40 hour commitment every week. It’s a combination of 4x days work at Express Lube and 1x day at TAFE Wyong. He’s been enjoying the TAFE component and says it feels very different from school with students of all different ages learning together. Coordinated by Central Coast Group Training, his apprenticeship will involve three years of TAFE, with a final fourth year working full-time in the workshop.
In his new role, he is part of a team of 7 mechanics, including one 3rd year mechanic. Josh’s duties include cleaning the workshop on a daily basis, from sweeping to topping up brake fluids, servicing cars and changing tyres. And from what we heard, he’s also coming for the title of Express Lube barista and can make a mean cappuccino for the team.
“Everyone’s really friendly, it’s so good. Working full-time is definitely tiring, you get less time for yourself, but it’s mad having your own income. I’m able to make way more than I have before. And Express Lube is great because you get so much variety of cars coming in. When you work at a dealership, you’re only seeing one type of vehicle, but here I’m doing hands-on, practical stuff and getting skills working with heaps of different cars."
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