Trent Jones is the MTA Institute Apprentice of the Month for August 2024. The 34-year-old has just completed his light vehicle apprenticeship at Bob Parkes Automotive in Townsville – a business owned by Robert Parkes that offers specialist services in fabrication and bespoke exhaust work as well as general maintenance and repair services.
An outstanding member of the team and a diligent student, Trent is currently in his second stint as an employee at the business having initially joined straight out of school in 2008.
The chance to take on a Boilermaker apprenticeship would subsequently present itself and see Trent leave Bob Parkes, establish himself in that trade and gain significant experience in it.
“I was here at Bob Parkes for about four-and-a-half years from 2008, and I was doing exhaust fitting and stuff like that as a trades assistant,” said Trent. “I left to go and work at Rydweld – which manufactures trays, bull-bars, and truck bodies – and I did my boilermaker apprenticeship there. I was there for about 8 years.”
While Trent enjoyed the work of a boilermaker, he had always been interested in cars and the mechanical side of things, and the call of the mechanical workshop was always there. When the opportunity arose to take the step back into it, he took it.
It was not the easiest decision to make, however. It was a big call financially to go from being an experienced worker in one trade to drop back and be an apprentice in another. And to add to the complexity of that decision was that Trent is married with a young family. The desire to become a mechanic was strong enough that, with the support of his family and Rob Parkes, he was able to make the move.
“Me and my wife had lots of conversations over what we could do and what we could afford to do,” said Trent. “So, I had a few good chats with her and a few chats with Rob and we came to an agreement. It was still quite a substantial pay gap from what I was on, but we got through it and came out on the good side of it now.”
Bob Parkes Automotive has been around for more than 50 years and its reputation for excellence extends to the custom design and fitting of exhaust systems. The skills Trent built over his years as a boilermaker have proven very useful and he now finds himself as dual-qualified tradesman able to do a vast variety of jobs that come through the shop.
“Part of my role here is to do all the custom exhaust systems and stuff like that,” he said.
One thing that anyone working in the automotive industry will know is that no matter which sector you are in, you never stop learning. With the transition to electrification underway, even a dual-qualified tradesman such as Trent recognises that he’ll be back in training mode soon.
“We see quite a lot of the hybrids but not many fully electric cars. It would be nice to get involved in the training and be qualified to do that,” he said. “I feel that if you don’t do that extra bit of training now it’s going to come back on you later. You’ll need to do it anyway so better to get a jumpstart on it.”
That training lies sometime in the near future and along with it, Trent said he would be looking to cement himself in his new career, work hard and provide for his family.
“I’m not looking too far ahead but keeping it in the now with my young kids. Future-wise I’d like to stay in the business – maybe get to the point where I’m in a foreman role or something like that. That’s where I am looking.”
Source: Motor Trader e-Magazine (September 2024)
11 September 2025
