Sarah's forging a strong career

Sarah Gibbs, 19, is a second year boilermaking apprentice forging a strong career in specialty manufacturing, employed by East Coast Apprenticeships with host employer Frontline Manufacturing, completing her training at TAFE Queensland’s Acacia Ridge campus.

An outstanding talent, Sarah first discovered a passion for the engineering industry after welding a chassis together for her high school’s race team. Sarah has gone on to work at Frontline Manufacturing, and is very proud to work at the only Queensland business capable of executing and testing welds required for working on tank armour plates, a testing process which ensures that in an explosion, the armoured plate will fail before Sarah’s welds.

She has ambitions beyond a regular trade qualification, hoping to undertake a rare and elite welding certification in armour plate welding (a qualification currently held by only three people in Australia) which is critical to sovereign defence manufacturing.

“It’s a lot of pressure to make sure my welds are perfect for the test, but also to maintain that standard in all my welds for the project. It motivates me knowing that my welds contribute to the safety of the people in those vehicles, and my work could be sent anywhere across the world,” Ms Gibbs said.

Sarah also has advice for anybody considering a trade career or weighing up their options for their future:

“Just do it. It is so rewarding and the best thing you can do, you get to work with your hands, create things, and do something different every day. I wouldn’t do anything else,” she said.

Sarah loves her trade.

Regional Manager at East Coast Apprenticeships, Gavin Moore, said Sarah receives fantastic feedback from her host employer, who do everything in their power to keep her in their workforce.

Sarah’s TAFE Queensland teacher Clayton Dunne said she was a standout performer in her training  blocks, “she delivers very high quality work and is eager to learn everything she can, she is consistently at the top of her class,” he said.

Sarah is already embracing opportunities as a spokesperson and leader, having presented to TAFE Queensland’s CEO and Board about her training and career experience, and presenting to a broader group of TAFE Queensland executives on perceptions of the apprenticeship model from within.