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Plumbing back up becomes career plan for Fayzal
Fayzal switched his career plan from the military to plumbing after hands-on training at TAFE Queensland.
Fayzal Abdi Mohamed enrolled in the Certificate II in Plumbing Services (11054NAT) as a back up plan while he went through the application process to join the military, but a few weeks into his course, a plumbing apprenticeship has quickly taken over as his first choice for a career.
A recent high school graduate, Fayzal had spoken at length with his high school teachers about careers that might suit him, and plumbing was one they thought he might enjoy. After that, he looked into when he could study a pre-apprenticeship at TAFE Queensland and enrolled in the soonest availability to get a firsthand experience of what plumbing involves.
Studying three days per week at TAFE Queensland’s Alexandra Hills campus, Fayzal has enjoyed a mixture of theory and practical learning delivered by industry expert teachers with real world examples.
“I really like that at TAFE we’re taught using actual scenarios we would see as a plumber, not examples that are irrelevant like I found at school,” Mr Abdi Mohamed said.
“When we learn about the Australian Standards and finding the right fall for trenches, we do it by actually getting into the digging pit and setting out a trench and learning how to get the angles right. It makes it so much more interesting.”
“Something else that’s been really good is the focus on safety and how we learn about being safe on a worksite and what hazards might be around as a plumber before we start to be near those dangers, it makes me feel confident when we go to the practical area.”
“Now that I’ve gotten some skills and I know more about what a plumber does and how technical it is, it’s my top choice for a career. After this course I want to get an apprenticeship in plumbing, because the work is enjoyable and I know I’ll never be out of work,” he said.
TAFE Queensland offers pre-apprenticeship training at Alexandra Hills and across the state in a wide range of industries, and these courses offer students like Fayzal a chance to build some skills and confirm which trade they are interested in before applying for apprenticeships – it also makes them a much more attractive candidate to businesses hiring an apprentice.