Jamie Lenkeit is the MTA Institute Apprentice of the Month award winner for October 2020.
At just 19 years old, Jamie is already closing in on completing his Outdoor Power Equipment apprenticeship, and according to his employers at Waldo’s Mobile Mower Doctor in Bundaberg, his skills, ability, and work ethic have made him ‘a huge asset to our business’, who ‘deserves the recognition for all his hard work’.
The outdoor power equipment apprenticeship comprises training to diagnose, repair and service outdoor power engines, engine components, cooling and petrol fuel systems, clutch assemblies and drive management systems for lawn mowers, chainsaws, brush cutters, generators and other such equipment, and while Jamie works on many of these items, he has also had the opportunity to work on motorcycles and, in his spare time, on rebuilding cars.
“I really enjoy my work. All aspects of it. There isn’t one thing I enjoy more than any other. It’s all good,” he said. “But I do like working on cars too, and I helped my dad build his car – an LJ Torana. It had a lot of rust and we built it just about from scratch. It is pretty nice now!”
Jamie has been working at Waldo’s for about three years and started with the business while he was still at school. A driven young student, he went looking for experience in the mechanical sector and was willing to put in the time to earn a spot in the workshop and an apprenticeship.
“I would come in after school, and did that for about six months,” he said. “When school finished, I started working here a couple of days a week and then started full time, and I was here for about six months before I started my apprenticeship through MTA Institute.”
That apprenticeship education with the Institute and his trainer Ross Wilson has, Jamie said, been just right for him.
“Training with the MTA Institute has been very good,” he said. “The one-on-one aspect of it works really well for me. I respond well to it as it allows me to really focus and I don’t have to leave the shop either.”
Having rocketed through his apprenticeship and now closing in on completing his qualification, Jamie is fairly relaxed about what his next steps might be, but his loyalty to the employers who took him on and gave him a chance is laudable.
“I would like to stay here and help my boss out and see what happens,” he said. “I think I would like to start working on a few of cars, building them up and selling them on – that is something I really enjoy doing. So, I would like to do some more car mechanic work, but I don’t want to work for anyone but my boss here.”
Source: Motor Trader e-Magazine (December 2020/January 2021)
15 December 2020
