Hard at work: Solar on Electrical’s fourth-year apprentice, Mitch Lake.
Photo by
Steve Huntley
Mitch Lake, a fourth-year apprentice for Solar on Electrical said he always wanted to be an electrician when he was growing up.
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“I didn't really feel that fulfilled with school. I wanted to get out and try and find something more hands-on and practical that I could get myself qualified in,” Mr Lake said.
Leaving school before his final year just made sense for Mr Lake, who said it meant that he could become qualified earlier and, therefore, begin to earn a fully qualified wage earlier.
Apprentice Mitch Lake.
Photo by
Steve Huntley
During COVID-19, the government offered incentives to people who were looking to make their way into the workforce, such as free TAFE courses for apprentices.
Being a fourth-year apprentice meant that Mitch started just prior to the pandemic broke out and was, as a result, not offered any of these incentives.
In terms of the pandemic, Mr Lake said he had not been too affected by it, because he had been able to work throughout.
“We’ve been pretty fortunate, in that, we haven’t stopped working at all,” he said.
As to how he was finding the apprenticeship so far, Mr Lake said: “it’s been pretty good.”
“It definitely helps that I have a good boss whose been flexible with my life outside of work in terms of footy and stuff like that.”
Mr Lake, who is now on his final year of the apprenticeship, said upon finishing his apprenticeship, he would eventually like to move to Melbourne to work there.
He said it was not something that he would think of doing until the end of the year.
In the meantime, Mr Lake will finish off his apprenticeship with the Solar on Electrical team which, he said, had been “really good” to him by “looking out for him”.
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