News

Thomas Bess finished a Certificate III in Carpentry with Blue Dog Training last year, and recently competed as a finalist for the Harry Hauenschild Apprentice of the Year award, in the North Coast region.

Like most people that go into carpentry, Thomas always loved working with his hands, which led to him toward the apprenticeship pathway.  Working in the construction industry runs in his family, as his mother is a town planner and his father is a civil engineer!

For Thomas, his apprenticeship has been a stepping stone not just towards bigger things in his career, but also more opportunities.  It also sparked a desire in him to pursue studying architecture while he was finishing his apprenticeship.

After gaining experience and confidence, he began quoting for contracts outside of the residential work he was doing with his employer. Since completing his apprenticeship, he now takes on more commercial work as a contractor.  Thomas believes that his training definitely contributed to the values, beliefs and skills that define him as the construction professional he is today.  He is also very passionate about the industry he has chosen to work in, which is reflected in his great attitude and quality craftsmanship.

The first major project that Thomas took on as a contractor was for a rollercoaster platform at Seaworld – an exciting challenge that he definitely didn’t see coming!  Since then he has worked on other large commercial projects, such as Queensland’s first skydiving centre, called IFLY, and supermarket fitouts for large chains. 

He would recommend carpentry as a career path to others, and encourages everyone with an interest to just give it a go!  We couldn’t agree more with Thomas and we look forward to seeing what Thomas does next with his career in construction.