Emily Hodda – Apprentice of the Month, January 2022
Emily Hodda is the MTA Institute Apprentice of the Month for January 2022. The 20-year-old works at BMAS Biloela in Central Queensland, has already completed her light vehicle apprenticeship and, at the end of last year, started training for her Heavy Commercial Vehicle qualification.
That’s impressive stuff for someone that age, and it is even more so when considering Emily is also an Approved Examiner, has her automotive air conditioning licence, and has undertaken extensive training in other areas, including in agricultural equipment.
Perhaps it is not surprising Emily is already so skilled, as BMAS Biloela is clearly a good place to learn the automotive trades. The business had one of its team as a finalist for last year’s MTA Queensland Apprentice of the Year award, and with the company offering so many services to its community – in addition to offering regular mechanical services it is a dealership for farm machinery including from companies such as Massey-Ferguson and Deutz – the opportunities to learn are broad and wide-ranging.
Emily’s dedication to the work has seen her take every training opportunity available, and that passion stems from a childhood which saw her grow up around farming equipment.
“I’ve always been interested in the mechanical side of things,” she said. “My parents own a property – doing agricultural work and some farming – and I was always following dad around. Then, for work experience in Year 11, I came here to BMAS and they offered me an apprenticeship. I started a school-based apprenticeship when I was 17 and began full time when I finished school.”
Kicking off with the light vehicle apprenticeship, the plan for Emily has always been to learn more and delve into the broad range of automotive work.
“At BMAS, we cover a wide variety of vehicles – light and heavy, and a lot of farm machinery,” she said. “So I started on the light vehicles and have worked my way up.
“While the Covid situation has made things a little bit hard, there have certainly been a lot of opportunities to give it a crack and learn new things.”
Her apprenticeship training – both light vehicle and heavy commercial – has been delivered by the MTA Institute, and the Institute’s one-on-one, in-the-workshop method of training is, said Emily, one that has been really valuable.
“I find it quite beneficial. If there’s something you don’t understand, especially if it is a module you are doing, you can ask questions and then walk out into the workshop and get hands-on,” she said. “And the trainers have been great.”
As with most young apprentices, Emily recognises that electrified vehicles (EVs) will be an important part of the industry, and that while her interests may be in areas other than road-going passenger vehicles, more training is likely.
“That is where the future is going and we will have to do our best to get on top of the diagnostics and everything else that comes through over the next few years,” she said.
“I do have a huge passion for the agricultural industry, so I think a part of me, in the next 10 years, would like to explore that a bit more, but I’ll certainly still do the mechanical side of things and just keep learning.”
Time is on Emily’s side. She will likely complete her Heavy Commercial in 18 months or so thanks to the recognition of prior learning accomplished through her light vehicle qualification, and will be dual-qualified and have a bundle of other certificates and qualifications to her name by the time she turns 22. With all that to her name, Emily should have no problem finding plenty of work to occupy her time. Her future looks bright . . . and busy.
CLICK HERE to visit the BMAS Biloela website.
Source: Motor Trader e-Magazine (February 2022)
10 February 2022
