Apprenticeships are back
It’s been about 10 years since Port Otago trained apprentices, but a couple of stand-out candidates prompted that to change last year.
Rawiri (Ra) Wikaira (pictured right) has worked at Port Otago for 11 years, while Robbie Sneddon was last year’s onsite work experience student through Otago Polytechnic.
GM Marine & Infrastructure Grant Bicknell says reintroducing apprenticeships aligns with the company’s approach of identifying talent and steering the right people
into the right job. “A lot of our best employees have started as apprentices; they have organisational citizenship.
“For years, we’ve had a low turnover of staff in our trades, so we haven’t had the ability to offer apprentices a job at the end of their time. But we have an ageing workforce and now is the time to start pulling people through.”
Robbie Sneddon – Apprentice Electrician
Robbie got a taste of life at Port Otago, when he began working each Thursday as a workplace experience student last year, while completing his Otago Polytechnic one-year electrical pre-trade course. He saw first hand, how much scope industrial electricians had within their role. “At that point, I was hoping for an apprenticeship out of it.”
Robbie went to South Otago High School and was drawn to the science and maths subjects, including physics and calculus. After school, he picked up a temporary contract in the cheese plant at Fonterra Stirling, where his father works. “If something went wrong with the machines, it was the electricians who’d come in and fix them. This sparked my interest in becoming an electrician.”
Robbie is a big fan of Port Otago’s experienced Electrician Graham Innes and Control Systems Engineer Braedon Solin. “Graham has a vast knowledge of almost every machine at Port, and Braedon is amazing with the computer side. Ideally, I’ll be able to learn both of these skills from them and expand on them through further learning at polytech, like Braedon has done.”
The 20-year-old was so determined to work for Port Otago that he turned down two other apprenticeship opportunities and hung out to apply for the port role.
Rawiri (Ra) Wikaira – Apprentice Heavy Plant Diesel Mechanic
Ra started at Port Otago 11 years ago, as a Forklift Operator packing containers in D Shed. He had moved to Dunedin from Perth, where he’d worked at Fremantle Ports’ Container Terminal 8. After three years, he became a Cargo Handler and was four years on the terminal. With a young family to spend time with, Ra sought out a role with more predictable weekday hours and that’s when he joined the Maintenance team as a Trade Assistant. For the next couple of years, he supported the mechanics – refuelling, housekeeping, completing minor jobs – before starting his apprenticeship.
Ra says he’d been hinting to Matt that he would be up for an apprenticeship. “It started with wee conversations. I may have mentioned it a few times… and it came through.”
Ra grew up with cars and motorbikes, changing the oil and tyres, but no more than that. “To actually fix something and send it back out into the workplace is quite satisfying. I’m enjoying getting into the fundamentals of how things work. It’s interesting to me. I don’t like missing a day at work. I love it.”
