Igor Do Nascimento is the Apprentice of the Month for September 2020.

The 21-year-old recently completed his Light Vehicle apprenticeship at Mackay Diesel Centre (MDC) – a workshop with which he has a long relationship.

At the age of just 14, and extremely keen to learn as much about cars as he could, Igor approached MDC looking for a chance to get some work experience. What followed was three years of voluntarily spending as much time as possible in the workshop, absorbing as much as he could about everything he saw.

“I really wanted to know everything before taking on an apprenticeship,” said Igor. “I walked in there not really knowing anything, but went in after school every day, and every school holiday I would spend at the workshop annoying all the qualified guys and asking them every question I could think of!”

Igor’s interest in cars does not, as many apprentice stories do, have its roots in his family’s working history. Instead, said Igor, he is the first in his family to look at automotive as a career.

“My family is involved in farming and I just had the feeling that I wanted to do something different,” he said. “Since I was little, I wanted to find out how things function, and I would pull things apart to see how they worked. I went on to become really interested in cars and wanted to learn all I could about them.”

As it happens, Igor’s training with the MTA Institute and working in automotive has had benefits beyond putting him on the path to a long-lasting career. Having moved here from Brazil when he was just six years old and when he did not speak any English, Igor had a bit of a tough time.

“I have had trouble reading since I was little,” he said. “But becoming involved with automotive and mechanical work has helped me a lot and helped me function much better.

“When I was working here while still at school my teachers saw a lot of improvement and it has really helped me not just start my career but to finish Year 12 with really good grades.”

While Igor has qualified as a Light Vehicle mechanic and does that work for MDC, the company specialises in diesels and Igor already has his sights on more training aimed at that side of the business.

“I am really lucky here because although I am a light vehicle mechanic I am going to train as a diesel technician too,” he said. “We do all that work here – rebuilding injectors, fuel pumps and so – and I am really interested in that, as well as all the repairs and servicing we do on other vehicles too.

“There’s always something new to learn, and I do learn something every day working with diesels. I just want to keep on learning.”

Already a light vehicle tradesperson, and with a diesel qualification in his sights, the next few years should be interesting for Igor, and he has a pretty clear idea of how he would like to see his career progress.

“In the next five years I hope to have gained a lot more knowledge and experience and my main goal is to stick with Mackay Diesel Centre,” he said. “They have really helped me a lot and I‘ve become very attached to it and everyone here.

I like to think I could become a supervisor and, hopefully, the company will expand, and I plan to be here to help that happen and see the company grow.”

Source: Motor Trader e-Magazine (November 2020)

11 November 2020