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ECANZ Challenge (EC) |
| | Nathan, thanks for taking some time to catch up with us, It’s been approximately 8 years since you won the Industrial section of the ECANZ Challenge; what are you doing nowadays? |
| Nathan Howe (NH) |
| | Still based in Invercargill, working as a Technical Operations Manager at Bremca Southland. |
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| EC | What do you enjoy most about your current role? |
| NH | Problem solving, dealing with customers and training staff. |
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| EC | How did you get into this position? Did you serve your apprenticeship with this company? |
| NH | Started apprenticeship at Bremca Southland and worked through the ranks to become a shareholder and Director. |
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| EC | Why did you enter the Challenge in back in 2003? |
| NH | Was encouraged to by my boss, also as I have a competitive nature which meant I wasn’t shy to give it a go. |
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| EC | Has entering the Challenge influenced your career? How so? What about winning the finals? |
| NH | Yes, it gave me increased confidence and the opportunity to meet industry people, and making it to the finals allowed me to further develop these relationships. |
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| EC | From your perspective, what benefits does the ECANZ Challenge offer to the industry, the employer and the apprentice? |
| NH | Industry – highlights the current state of skills and industry training.
Employer – it provides a catalyst to lift the game in terms of workplace productivity of the apprentices.
Apprentice – opportunity for apprentices to compare themselves against their fellow competitors. |
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| EC | We hear that as an employer you strongly encourage your apprentices to enter? |
| NH | Definitely, since I have been a director we have had four apprentices enter the preliminaries with two of them making it through to the national finals. It creates rivalry amongst the apprentices as well as employers and helps showcase the quality of our training to the wider industry. |
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| EC | Thankfully for the Challenge competition you are still involved – currently as a preliminary judge – why is that? |
| NH | I enjoy it, and it allows me to give something back (to the industry). |
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| EC | Finally, do you have any advice for apprentices who are considering entering? |
| NH | Do it! You have got nothing to lose; it’s a good experience and provides a chance to meet industry representatives. |
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| EC | Nathan, thanks for taking the time to talk with us. It sounds like you are pretty well sorted these days and we are looking forward to having you on the national judging team in the future. |
| NH | No worries, am keen to be involved. |