This was my first year entering the NZCB Apprentice Challenge, so I had a good dose of nervous energy and anticipation leading up to the regional event in April. We were tasked with building a picnic table and received the plans a week out from the build day to do some calcs, form a cut list and build sequence. There’s nothing quite like building with a bunch of seasoned builders judging you just mere meters away. There were some impressive tables, but fortunately my table won South of the bridge! Thanks to Hillside ITM for hosting and the $500 ITM voucher – I’d booked my ticket to the national final!
The national final assessed the other skills necessary to be a well-rounded builder. The aim for me in the lead up was to nail my preparation. After submitting a polished CV, cover letter and work portfolio, I turned my efforts to the speech and studying for the trade exam. Public speaking hasn’t typically been my game, so I put a lot of effort into weaving a humorous tale and learning it well. I even presented it in a supremely awkward 1-on-1 setting to my project manager (a part time actor) for some pointers. I was ready for the national final…
We landed in Wellington and within hours were sitting silently in a room for the trade knowledge exam. Next up was the Mitre10 Trade Great Apprentice Race. I was partnered with Courtney Willan, the Auckland-North winner. This year we had to design and build a dog kennel to donate to the SPCA. With a mere 10hrs between the briefing and starting the build the next morning, it was up to us how much of that time we spent planning versus sleeping. Our team committed to a late night of planning…
The next morning, our thorough plan meant we were able to get straight into the build. To add to the excitement, all 20 apprentices had $2500+ of new tools to put to work to build it thanks to Mitre10 Trade and Makita. The atmosphere was a lot less tense than the regional comp and it was fun to see everyone add their own creative flair to their kennels.
In amongst the Apprentice Challenge events we had the opportunity to explore the NZCB Expo stalls. There’s always lots to learn, experts to chat with and plenty of new products and building systems to see.
The final assessment was our presentations to the conference – the topic “What’s my Favorite Carpentry Tool and Why?”. Everyone stifled their nerves and delivered some cracker presentations with plenty of humor peppered in. Between us we covered quite the range of tools – from a pencil to a telehandler, a tape measure to a Ute. For mine, I spoke of my Skill saw relationship history – from my first time in the back yard with a Ryobi through to my current squeeze, the 36V 165mm Hikoki skilly. Roy’s speech on the irreplaceable multi-tool was a stand-out – I wish him the best in his quest for the elusive cheap, fast and high-quality trifecta!
The weekend came to a climax at the Hollywood-themed Gala Dinner. Just to compete at the national final we’d all won a regional event and put a lot of time and effort in – that called for a celebratory drink or three!
The first wave of good news came when our dog kennel won the Best Design Award – a Makita XGT 40V Drop saw each thanks to Mitre10 Trade!
Then an hour later, my name was announced for first overall – an incredible feeling – holding that giant $10,000 cheque thanks to ITM and, of course, hoisting the Ken Read Memorial Trophy!
I owe a massive thank you to NZCB for putting on a fantastic weekend. Flights, transfers, accommodation, meals, uniform – all covered! It was a blast meeting keen apprentices from all around the country, with some real characters in the bunch and lots of laughs shared. To us, the conference was a great insight into what NZCB is all about, and we’ve all become better builders just for being a part of the Apprentice Challenge.
Cheers,
Daniel Smith
2024 NZCB Apprentice Challenge, Sponsored by ITM, Winner.
Daniel is a Managed Apprentice training with Te Pūkenga – Manukau Institute of Technology.
2023, Alex Erickson – Canterbury
If you asked me this time last year about taking part in the 2023 NZCB Apprentice Challenge sponsored by ITM, I would’ve told you that I most likely wouldn’t try again. I had a pretty disastrous first attempt at the Canterbury regional challenge in 2022 which ended in me feeling as if I needed to better myself a lot before I would consider retrying. Well, a lot can happen in a year – a lot of personal and professional growth occurred, which made me feel a bit better about the challenge… However I still wasn’t sold. But after a lot of pep talks with my workmates and also my Ara apprenticeship assessor, Aaron Keech, I figured I would give it a go again.
Since I was familiar with how the regional challenge went, I was able to be a lot more relaxed and focus all of my attention on the build – a playhouse with an elevated floor, climbing wall and pitched roof. It was an intense day but it was all worth it in the end, that $500 prize from ITM was great!
Prior to the national challenge we were given brief details about what to expect and in this time we were tasked with providing a formal covering letter, CV and work portfolio. It was around now that I realised this is the real deal… I was about to be competing against the best of the best apprentices from all over the country.
To ensure there was enough time to prepare, we also had to have our presentations ready – a 2-3 minute speech with the topic “What is my favourite carpentry tool and why?” For a guy who loves to joke around all the time this was a great opportunity to let my humour shine, right? Wrong. My mind went completely blank for a few days while I tried to gather some ideas. Spending the week at work didn’t help as much as I had hoped, either, I wasn’t able to put my finger on just 1 tool that I loved more than the rest. After a lot of deliberation I landed on the trusty orbital sander and the words just started flowing.
Fast-forward to the first official day of the national challenge – I just met the 20 incredible apprentices I was up against and before we even had a chance for small talk we were sat down at desks being told we had 2 hours to finish a written assessment that ‘We would
expect second year apprentices to be able to complete.’ Thanks Nick, no pressure.
After some chatter about how we all thought we did on the assessment, we were taken into the room where the NZCB Conference & Expo was being held and saw the following day’s challenge, but this time it was just for fun and didn’t play a part in our overall score. This was the Great Apprentice Race, brought to us by Mitre 10. We were paired up with our hotel roommates and tasked with building a trike and trailer using limited materials and tools. The rules weren’t specifically that it had to have 3 wheels though, so the 4-wheeled bus that Sam Keenan and I built was perfectly fine!
After the build phase on Friday morning we had some spare time – the race wasn’t until that evening. Most of us spent our spare time walking around the expo, learning about a lot of new products while also gathering a bunch of clothes, pencils and snacks.
Race time came around before we knew it but the bus that Sam and I built was poorly
engineered, resulting in it tipping over and losing a wheel (it’s a trike now!). The creativity of the other groups was astounding, which really got me thinking that I was in trouble when it came to our speeches. I was really hoping I could make my sander sound interesting now. Needless to say, we didn’t win the race, but it was a great experience with nothing but smiles and laughter.
After working myself up about the big, stressful interview I had coming up, the 3 judges actually made it a very calm and relaxing environment. As I was the last interview I could only hope that I left a good impression, surely they were getting bored after 21 interviews. Following the interviews there was a small break that lead into presentation time for our speeches, but with all the support from the other competitors it was more like talking to a group of mates… a very large group of mates, most of which I hadn’t met because there was an increasingly large number of people watching from the expo. It was pretty stressful but 2-3 minutes flew by.
The hard work was then over, we spent the rest of the afternoon getting to know each other better and preparing for the big gala dinner where the winner would be announced. It was clear that, although we had only just met a couple of days prior, there was unconditional care and support for each other. After taking 1st place I would just like to thank everyone who has been a part of this. There are too many people to list and I would hate to miss anyone but none of it would be possible without NZCB and all of the great sponsors. It was a truly unforgettable event and I couldn’t recommend it enough to anyone thinking about giving it a go.
I look forward to seeing you all at the 2024 NZCB Conference & Expo!
Alex Erickson
2023 NZCB Apprentice Challenge, Sponsored by ITM, Winner.
Alex is a Managed Apprentice training with Te Pūkenga – Ara Institute of Canterbury.
2022, Josh Welsh – Whangarei
The NZCB Apprentice Challenge 2022 sponsored by ITM will be ingrained in my memory forever. Although I was extremely nervous the need to stay confident and levelheaded stayed with me the entire weekend. Not only that, but the study and practice that I had put into this point all culminated in me being crowned the NZCB Apprentice Challenge 2022 Winner.
My road to nationals this year was driven by missing out in 2021 by one placing. This year I returned with the drive and willingness to win the regionals & head down to Claudelands Event Centre in Hamilton to compete against some of the country’s best apprentices.
Disrupted by COVID the competition was postponed until November, which didn’t help the nerves. Upon arriving in Hamilton, I was greeted by my fellow competitors as we sat and waited for the impending trade exam, which I was most nervous about as I didn’t quite know what to expect. Up until this moment I has submitted a CV, Work Portfolio and prepared and practiced my presentation.
With the exam out of the way, I could breathe a little, however not for long as Nick Matthews explained the Mitre10 Great Apprentice race which would be taking place bright & early the next morning. It consisted of working in peers & constructing a Rickshaw to race against nine other teams, where I discovered I was paired with Josh Shoebridge from the Tauranga District.
Upon arrival at Claudelands the four hours went by in a flash & ten projects were lined up ready to go. The race wasn’t until 5pm so this gave me a chance to walk around the expo & awe at the multitude of stands. 5pm rolled around and after ten minutes of chaos and only one causality the race was over.
Saturday brought on a very nervous day as I had both my interview with the judges, followed by my speech. I was the last interview & I told myself “Now is your chance to smash it out of the park!”. I found the interview very comfortable and felt I could be myself. This allowed me to speak from the heart & share why I am on this journey. My speech was quickly after which I told myself to remain calm, confident and speak clearly. I personally felt very proud of myself, and with that it was left in the hands of the judges.
We arrived at the Gala, the event was beautifully decorated, and the tensions were high. After dinner & entertainment, we found ourselves front and center stage. Third place was called, then second. At this stage it felt like a moment ‘too good to be true’ so I had assumed that it would never happen to me. When first place was announced, I stood mouth wide open in amazement as all the hard work had paid off. Fighting back tears I delivered my thank you speech and left the stage in what felt like a blur.
I’d like to take the time to thank the New Zealand Certified Builders for giving me the opportunity to showcase my skills & intentions for the future, and the sponsors for making this a truly unforgettable weekend. I am thankful to have met some amazing people & made lifelong friends.
To all the other apprentices, you did a fantastic job & the future of the industry is in great hands.
Kia Ora Koutou Katoa
Joshua Welsh
2022 NZCB Apprentice Challenge, Sponsored by ITM, Winner.
Josh an ITAB Apprentice enrolled with North Tec Tai Tokerau Wananga – Te Pukenga. Josh is 27 and is employed by Whangarei Builders Limited in Whangarei.