Dawsons' Stories

Karen Borzi - Apprentice Boilermaker

"I didn’t want a boring job for the rest of my life. I wanted something different. After a long time looking at what type of apprenticeships were on offer, metal work was the one that got me interested and thinking of my future." Says Karen Borzi, Apprentice Boilermaker.

"I was reading the paper and saw a TAFE ad about an information night for the pre-vocational trades they were offering in the coming year. I went to it and signed up the next day for Metal Fabrication."

Being a boilermaker involves Fabricating mostly heavy metal into whatever the customer wants. It involves reading a plan, cutting sections of metal into exact sizes, preparing the pieces and putting them together with welds.

"I want to finish my time as an apprentice as soon as possible and become a decent welder." Says Karen. "So far ever day is providing great achievements because I learn something new to try to master."

The best part of the job, Karen shares, is having something different to do nearly every day.

However, the job isn’t without it’s challenges, especially being a female in the industry. "It is challenging having older generations look at you as though you shouldn’t be there. I am not really sure about the rewards yet, we’ll see in the future." But then, mentioning the other challenges of the job, she adds: "Working out how to get the piece of metal you want out from the bottom of the pile."

What personal qualities do you think are needed for the job?

You have to have passion and determination and also not mind getting a bit dirty.

Advice?

Do the Pre-voc course at TAFE. It definitely helps if you sort of know what you are doing.