Work experience sparks interest in the plumbing industry

WORK experience for a local plumber in year 11 sparked the interest for Aaron Hammersley to get into the plumbing industry.

“I always thought I’d do some sort of trade. I became interested when I did work experience in year 11 and now I couldn’t imagine doing anything else,” he said.

Aaron completed a VTP program through school before gaining an apprenticeship at the age of 18 and starting his training at SWTAFE.

“TAFE was great, the teachers were so helpful and they taught us everything we needed to know,” he said.

Aaron now has his own plumbing business and employs four staff, also sending his apprentices to train at SWTAFE.

He said he loved being his own boss and while it meant longer hours and a lot of hard work, it had all been worthwhile.

“I really enjoy running the business side of things now and it’s great to be able to gain experience managing people.

“It’s meant I’ve been able to step into different roles and improve my communication, time management and people skills,” he said.

Aaron said his business started out small scale but it had just continued to grow.

“When I was at TAFE I never thought I’d eventually own my own business. It has just evolved and through hard work it’s steadily built,” he said.

Aaron said he would recommend plumbing and apprenticeships in general to anyone.

“There are so many aspects of plumbing – you could be installing a roof, to laying pipes in trenches or fitting out a house inside – the sky’s the limit when you have a trade behind you.”