“If
you’re a female or male considering a non-traditional role, talk to your high
school careers advisor or go and check out your local TAFE, it could be the best
thing you ever do!”
There are lots of people who love Porsches…but how many of us ever get to sit
in one or have the money to get our very own?
Well Amber Sarda doesn’t own her own Porsche…yet, but she does get to tinker
under their hoods all day everyday as part of her automotive apprenticeship.
It wasn’t until a couple of years after completing school that Amber realised
she didn’t want to continue working in the travel industry and that she really
wanted to be a mechanic.
Amber visited the Box Hill Institute of TAFE (BHIT) which is her local campus
and was able to get all of the information she needed from the friendly staff.
“When the people in my life found out that I was going to do an apprenticeship
the response was great! I have a lot of support from friends and family as well
as the teaching and support staff at BHIT. As well as winning some awards, I
have found it really rewarding talking to secondary students about all the
fantastic career options available to them through the TAFE and VET/VCAL
systems.
Amber is now a fourth year automotive mechanic at Porsche Centre Melbourne where
she does everything from a minor service, pulling a gearbox out and fitting a
new one and assembling motors at Porsche headquarters in Stuttgart. “I love the
challenges I get as a ‘fourth year’, it is very rewarding diagnosing the problem
and then fixing it.”
“A trade is something you’ll always have, and an Australian Apprenticeship is a great way
to mix work with study. I think if anyone is going to choose a trade, they
should see their career advisor at secondary school or check out their local
TAFE library. There are heaps on offer. Once you make a decision on what you
want to study, consider trying out a pre-apprenticeship first and see if you
like it. That’s one of the other great things about TAFE, you have lots of
possible career paths.
“Often we are led to believe that success means university, but university isn’t
for everyone and if I could send one message it would be that young people need
to be trusted to make up their own minds about what they think will be right for
them, without the pressure of university being ‘the only way’. One or two of my
family members were not sure that I’d made the right choice, but they trusted me
anyway and the rest is history.”
Amber says the best part about her apprenticeship is “Everything… I’ve found a
job that I’m passionate about and everything about my job I love. The only
downside is not having a company car I guess!” Amber says laughing.
After four years of on the job training Amber has learnt many things that she
might not have learned from a book and is a big fan of Australian Apprenticeships. “If
you’re a female or male considering a non-traditional role, talk to your high
school careers advisor or go and check out your local TAFE, it could be the best
thing you ever do!”
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