Dawsons' Stories

Nathan McDonnell - High Flyer (and poster boy)

Nathan McDonnell has been at it again. He is fast turning in to the face of Dawsons Engineering.

Last year, TAFE and Department of State Development approached Dawsons to provide a couple of success stories from within our ranks of apprentices. Along with Paul De Rose and Lloyd Everist, Nathan was profiled and took part in some "glamour photography" to be featured in promotional material for DSD and TAFE.

Following on from the success of those campaigns, TAFE have approached Dawsons to feature Nathan again - see the editorial to be featured below.
And the "glamour shots" were so good, that we’ve picked them up for use in our company promotional material, so you’ll be seeing a lot more of Nathan around.

Nathan McDonnell is going places - literally. At just 21, Nathan is enjoying the travel that goes with his job as a boilermaker at Dawsons Engineering and has already been sent to jobs on site in Central and Southern Queensland.

Not traditionally associated with working as a boilermaker, travel opportunities are increasingly one of the many benefits offered to people taking up a trade. A company like Dawsons is able to offer jobs Australia wide, and Nathan is only starting his career.

Dated views of the trades have people stuck in a workshop doing boring and lowly paid work and that’s just not the case anymore. Nathan also listed other benefits of his job such as the variety of work, great money, meeting new people and learning new skills.

Not sure of which direction he wanted to take, Nathan completed the PreVocational Course at Cairns TAFE before gaining an apprenticeship with Dawsons Engineering. He has strong views of the head start the Prevocational course gave him, "When you start an apprenticeship, you’re not starting from scratch, you have a few skills already and you get your apprenticeship done faster." He also acknowledged the high standard of the instructors at TAFE , "They were all very helpful and knowledgeable teachers who are keen to pass on their skills.", explained Nathan.

Dawsons Engineerings’ supervisors and clients all have high praise for Nathan, and his future looks bright, with opportunities in supervision, management, engineering and maintenance planning all a real possibility. "Not for a while responds Nathan, I’m really happy doing what I’m doing for a few years yet."

Asked if he had any advice for people in Year 10 and considering their options, Nathan was wholehearted and direct with his response - "Leave school at Year 10 and do Prevoc."