Tommy Coney’s Work Placement at Technical Solutions and Otago Electrical Services.

I have spent two terms doing my work placement, working for electricians under Technical Solutions and Otago Electrical Services. I started going on placement on Mondays and did a total of 14 days with Technical Solutions and two days with Otago Electrical Services. I managed to get a good understanding of what it takes to be an electrician and what the job consists of, from pre-wiring a house to lasering and cutting out. I have really enjoyed the hands-on work but also being able to take notes, for example what each colour wire is for and its purpose. I have really enjoyed learning and working for both companies and I hope to gain an apprenticeship early next year. A really big thank you would have to go to Mason, Regan, Ben and Hugo who have all taught me what to do and how to learn from mistakes and gave me all the tips and tricks on how to make the job easier. This year in Gateway has been so life-changing for me as I had no idea what I wanted to do at the start of Year 12, but now finishing Year 13 I know that I want to get out there and become an electrician.  

Ilisabeta’s Work Placement at Industry Lane Eatery.

I spent a few weeks on work placement with Industry Lane Eatery earlier this year. I would normally start working at 8am in the morning and finish at 3pm. I learnt so much during my work placement, including how to use all of the kitchen equipment and serving up each dish with perfection. I enjoyed every second of this fun, practical experience. The best part was plating the food and seeing each customer leave with satisfaction. I also loved baking cookies. I now know that I want to continue baking and cooking in the future and some day have my own bakery. I would really like to thank Hayely and Jin for giving me the opportunity to work with them and the experience of working in the kitchen. They were great supporters from day one until my last day. My work placement was really fun and incredibly valuable. It has taught me some valuable lessons that I will carry with me in my future career.

Cam Moir’s Work Taster’s at Fulton Hogan and Contact Energy.

This year I have spent six weeks on a work placement at Fulton Hogan. This involved me going out to a site on Wednesday for six weeks in a row. Each week would be different, one week in Luggate, the next at Parkburn Quarry, and the others around Wanaka. I have learnt a lot about what a Site Engineer does at Fulton Hogan and also I learnt about how a site works and what work is done before a site starts. I enjoyed learning this as I was never sure how many roles there are in the civil engineering/contracting field, which I learnt was a lot. I enjoyed getting to learn about something I was interested in outside of school. I now know what role I think would best suit me in the civil field. I would really like to thank Andrew, Colleen, Kat and Alley for their help taking me to the different sites and showing me what there is to learn at Fulton Hogan. The highlight for my Gateway work experience was probably getting to run the foot compactor on one of my days. Gateway work placement has been very valuable at helping me find the best fit for me in the future. It has allowed me to experience different fields and help figure out how I should go about the rest of my schooling.

Also a big thanks to Contact Energy, for a fun day of work experience at the Roxburgh Dam, where I was with Richard doing the monthly measurements inside the dam. It was an interesting experience learning about how much is happening inside dams around this area and all the different measurements that help ensure the safety of the dam.  

Tyler Ridder’s Work Placements at Flooring Xtra and Jackson Smart Roofing.

I have spent two terms on Work Placement with both Flooring Xtra, learning about floor laying, and with Jackson Smart roofing learning roofing skills. This has involved spending Wednesday and Thursday, plus study leave on worksites. I have learnt so much in this time including how to lay down carpet properly, that you can weld the carpet together, that you need to use heat on vinyl before you cut it and before you lay it down. In roofing I have learnt that you can put building paper down first and this is waterproof, that there are lots of parts that are involved in scaffolding and that there are lots of tools used that I hadn’t seen before. I have really enjoyed being outside and the physical work, I like heavy lifting. I now know that I really want to be a roofer because you get to see some really cool places especially when you are on the roof. I would really like to thank Lee and Cyrus at Jackson Smart Roofing and Jai and Bevan at Flooring Xtra for the time and effort they have put into teaching me over the year. I have gained so many skills and have enjoyed being part of the team.

Alex Scott’s Work Placement at AMMC 

I have been lucky enough to spend the last two and a half terms doing work placement at All Mechanical Maintenance Central (AMMC) in Cromwell. This has involved travelling up to spend Wednesdays working at their Engineering Bay. I have learnt so much this year about welding, from different types of welds. ARC, MIG and TIG, I have learnt how to use a plasma cutter and how to fabricate metals using different machines like presses, cut off saws, metal benders, drill presses, grinders all to create different angles, shapes and sizes. I have really enjoyed the practical hands-on learning and the physical nature of the work. I have particularly enjoyed engineering because it is very similar to woodworking in that it requires precision and accuracy and a lot of the tools you use are very similar. I have felt my woodworking skills have definitely transferred over and have significantly benefited my learning of the last couple of terms. I am so very grateful that I have an awesome opportunity like this and to be able to work alongside some great people. I want to give a huge thankyou to Regan who gave up alot of his time during the workday to teach me everything there is to know. His skills and passion for what he does is incredible and inspires me to become a more talented and capable engineer. Also a huge thankyou to Mitchell who gave me this fantastic opportunity. He has committed a lot of time and effort to organise this placement in his very busy schedule. I am also very grateful for being able to get a ride with him to and from work. And to everyone involved in AMMC I can't thank you enough for your support and entertainment during my learning. Just a great bunch of people to be around. My Gateway work placement has been very rewarding. It has allowed me to experience engineering first hand and to ensure it is the right job for me moving forward. I want to give a huge thank you to Ms Kelly for putting so much time and effort into organising my work placement. She has been so amazing to deal with, from communicating with work to organising me and always checking in to see how it is going. I was very fortunate to have Ms Kelly because she got me out into placement very quickly at the start of the year so this has allowed me to have a lot more work placement time and days. I have learnt more than I ever thought I could during placement. Again thanks very very much to everyone involved. I am so so grateful for this experience. 

Cheers Alex Scott