Page 14 - Climate Control News June 2021

World Refrigeration Day
DREAM JOB
Growing up Stephanie Peters was a conscientious student who was encouraged to pursue a university pathway in the hope of finding her dream job and building a lifelong career.
Peters went on to study both arts and law subjects at university and even tried her hand at working in an office. But she wasn’t satisfied until she discovered a career in refrigeration and air conditioning.
“In high school it was really drilled into us that university was the only pathway and because of that I didn’t really know what I wanted to,” Peter said.
Peter’s father is a trade qualified boiler maker and her two brothers both completed apprenticeships.
“I thought that a trade might be something that I should look at. It had all the things I
wanted; paid study, being outside and the ability to move around. I thought it would be a very different work environment,” Peters said.
“I needed a trade that had heaps of different aspects and air conditioning and refrigeration has all of these things, so I took a shot and have loved it ever since.”
Peters landed a job as the first female apprentice at the Brisbane-based branch of Broadcast Services Australia (BSA).
BSA HVAC manager for South East Queensland, Tim Edwards, said Peters has excelled in all aspect of her apprenticeship.
“The team at BSA look forward to seeing her continue to kick goals throughout her apprenticeship and grow into the exceptional tradesperson we all know she will become,” Edwards said.
Stephanie Peters is the first female apprentice at the Brisbane-based branch of Broadcast Services Australia (BSA).
14
Inspiring female technicians
LEFT: Woolworths apprentice, Katie Hammill- Lovett is proud to be breaking the mould.
“The tradesmen I work with don’t care about gender at all, they just want me to get in there and have a go. They just want to pass on their knowledge and teach me the skills they have ac- quired over the years. They think having a female on the team is awesome.”
“THE TRADESMEN I WORK WITH DON’T CARE ABOUT GENDER AT ALL, THEY JUST WANT ME TO GET IN THERE AND HAVE A GO”
Woolworths Group apprenticeship program manager, Caroline Fitzgerald said that during the recruitment process one of the main aims was to have a gender-balanced number of short- listed candidates.
“At Woolworths we believe our customers should see in our people a reflection of them- selves and their communities,” Fitzgerald said.
She said that once Hammill-Lovett completes her trade qualification there will be many oppor- tunities available for her and other apprentices to progress further to take on more senior roles within the organisation.
“There is a whole raft of different career op- portunities available within Woolworths. If she chooses to become a project manager or even the next state manager, the opportunities are there,” she said.
WITH CAREERS THE key focus of this year’s WRD celebrations, there is a particular emphasis on engaging women and inspiring the next gen- eration of female technicians. CCN profiles two women who are just starting out as apprentices.
In a traditionally male dominated industry where females make up only one per cent of the workforce, Katie Hammill-Lovett is proud to be breaking the mould as she begins her trade ca- reer with the Woolworths Group.
Hammill-Lovett, 19, is one of 15 new apprentices to secure a job with Woolworths in the past year.
She is one of only four female apprentices to be selected from nearly 500 applicants.
After just six short months, Hammill-Lovett is thriving in her new trade career and said her ex- perience so far has been amazing.
“When I started I didn’t even know any other female tradies, so I had no idea what it was going to be like stepping into a traditionally male dom- inated industry,” she said.
“Going into it was a bit stressful at first but I’m being supported so much and learning new things all of the time – every single day is different.
CLIMATECONTROLNEWS.COM.AU