Women in Trades expo in Inglewood opening unexpected career opportunities

Dozens of Taranaki teenagers have jumped behind the controls of heavy equipment at an event designed to encourage young women to consider trades careers.

Organisers of the 'Women in Trades' showcase in Inglewood say women are valued employees, but many are missing out on six-figure salaries by not considering a life on the tools.

It might not be as intimidating as some think, with one young potential recruit comparing working a digger to gaming.

Tiama Hill has just handled a digger - and she's fizzing.

"The digger driving it was amazing," she said. "It was actually really fun.

"It was really confusing [at first], because everything was back-forth-left-right, but it was usually really basic kind of once you get it."

She compared it to working a gaming console.

"With the gaming console, obviously you're using the same movements and that's exactly what you're going up there."

The Year 13 student at Te Paepae O Aotea in Hāwera successfully transferred a scoop full of mulch from one concrete container to another.

Hill had received the memo about potential earnings in the trades.

"It is one of my plans to be in a trade [because] of the money. I've heard that, if you do the right , you can earn a lot of money.

"Like, at Fonterra, you get a lot of money in engineering [roles]."

Taranaki Women in Trades chair Katrina Mayo said the Inglewood event was designed to open the eyes of young women to the opportunities in trades.

"Today's about giving girls a chance to get on the tools and have a try," she said. "Quite often, they feel a bit shy, when you go to events and there's a lot of guys around, and they don't want to try things out.

"This is a chance when it's just the girls, and they can jump on a digger, grab a nail gun and actually have a go on the tools, and see what it feels like and talk to people who are actually in the trades, and hear what it is actually like in the industry."

She said women were an under-utilised resource in the sector.

"You are always looking for talent, you're always looking to bring people into the industry and why only focus on 50 percent of the population.

"There's really untapped potential in bringing women into the trades workforce, where they haven't traditionally been, and the employers love them. They're really good on the tools, and great with health and safety."

Mayo said, on a recent school visit, the teachers underestimated the six-figure plus salary of a scaffolding project manager by more than half.

Fulton Hogan apprentice Saffron Quita-Caldwell came up via the Gateway programme at Inglewood High School and hasn't looked back.

"I did that for about eight months, and I did a range of different crews and everything. I did earthworks, did a little bit of roading and drainage, and I did carpentry.

"I definitely fell in love with doing carpentry and I've just started in the last month my carpentry apprenticeship, to be a civil carpenter."

The 17-year-old reckoned the career prospects were endless.

"You can end up like my boss [division manager] Kimberly [de Vries], who started young and is now our big boss.

"Once you upskill, and get different qualifications and licences, the pay rises are just coming in."

She had no regrets about not taking a more academic route.

"Nah, apprenticeship is the way to go, earn as you learn."

Safety manager at the Mt Messenger Bypass Project Te Ara o Te Ata, Elaine Aorangi, was keynote speaker at the event.

"My takeaway for the girls out there is to find something you are passionate about and don't be scared - this environment is limitless. There's no such thing as male-only jobs any more."

Aorangi trained as a youth worker, before deciding that couldn't offer her what she wanted in life.

"I got so far and realised I wanted more. In trades, it opened up so many different industries for me.

"I was able to travel the world and see things I'd never seen before, and make good money doing it."

Aorangi said the trades were far more inviting to women now than they had been when she made the shift 20 years ago.

About 25 percent of the staff at the Mt Messenger project were women.

Site engineer Emily Kang came to the role via circuitous route, which included a polytech carpentry course and a concreting apprenticeship.

"They [the concreting company] kind of picked up that I had potential to go more the engineering route, so that was a real compliment. The opportunity to do engineering I didn't fall into it as such - they saw my hard work, and because of that, they signed me up for a cadetship."

The 25-year-old, who studied alongside working full-time for four years, reckoned taking the trades route had paid off for her.

Fonterra milk tanker driver Jessica Davis was showing youngsters through her big rig.

She transferred from the manufacturing division at the Whareroa plant to the driving team, financing part of the retraining herself.

"What got me into driving was I always wanted to do something for Fonterra that was different.

"You know, you can do the packing or the manufacturing, but driving sort of scared me, so I wanted to do something that excited me everyday.

"The other thing is I wanted to be able to show my sons that girls could actually do things that boys did."

Sitting behind the wheel, Inglewood High School student Emily Munroe could imagine a life on the road.

"Just the nature of it, being able to travel around New Zealand, and do driving and stuff.

"I feel very safe in a truck, very enclosed, and having that view and seeing the plantations around New Zealand appeals."

She wasn't worried about it being considered a male job.

"Nope."

According to the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment, women made up about 15 percent of construction-sector jobs, but only about 3 percent of 'on-the-tools' tradespeople in New Zealand were women.

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