Quality

Name: Brett Inman
Title: Electrician
Company: PBR Australia

Towards the end of Year 12, Brett decided to look for an apprenticeship as he was keen to enter the workforce. Some of Brett's family members are electricians by trade, and a career in this field really appealed to him so when he saw an apprenticeship for an electrician advertised in the newspaper, he applied. After a series of tests and an interview, Brett was offered the position with PBR.

As part of Brett's four year apprenticeship, he spent one day a week at TAFE and the remainder of the week learning on the job. He rotated between different areas of the plant every three months which gave him the opportunity to develop a good understanding of all of the machinery in the East Bentleigh plant. "The great thing about doing an apprenticeship is that you get to meet people at school who share your interests and of course there's always the people at work. I've made some good friends as a result of my apprenticeship. I was one of five apprentices hired at the same time, and I got to know some of them really well, as I was spending one day a week at TAFE with them, and was working with them the rest of the week."

As part of his apprenticeship training, Brett also gained some mechanical experience and undertook studies in machining, welding, and hydraulics. He also underwent safety training which covered topics like working in confined spaces, working at heights, and hot work. More recently, Brett completed Certificate IV in Electrical which enables him to do industrial electrical work such as electronics, working on Variable Speed Drives (VSDs) and Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs).

Brett has commenced his Diploma of Mechanical Engineering this year, which will open up more career options for him. "The Diploma will enable me to move towards drafting or design roles in the future, although I prefer to do more hands on work at the moment." The Diploma of Mechanical Engineering will also be useful for Brett's projects outside of work which include working on and modifying cars. Brett attributes his ability to work on automotive mechanical systems to the knowledge and experience he has picked up at PBR. "I never thought I'd keep studying but I'm actually enjoying it, and it opens up many more career options for me. A lot of the senior managers at PBR started with the company as apprentices."

Brett is enjoying his role as a maintenance electrician. "It offers a wide variety of tasks, and gives me an enjoyable challenge and sense of achievement. One day I could be twenty metres in the air repairing a fume extraction unit. The next, five metres below a furnace servicing a pump, and other times I could be in an air-conditioned office working on testing equipment such as a Dynomometer which measures force of a braking system. The job can be quite pressured at times, especially when a machine is not working and production has stopped but it's very rewarding when you fix the problem. The fact that I am earning more than most of my friends is also a great thing about the job."

Click here to go to PBR's Web site www.pbr.com.au