Budding auctioneer ready
Horsham auctioneer Will Schilling, 24, might have less than two years’ experience in the industry, but he’s already qualified to compete in a state competition.
The Driscoll, Mcillree and Dickinson stock agent will be among 10 auctioneers competing in a 2019 Victorian Young Auctioneer Competition at Pakenham’s Victorian Livestock Exchange on September 9.
He secured his position after attending Australian Livestock and Property Agent’s auctioneers training in Echuca in July, where he was selected from 20 competitors.
Mr Schilling, who auctions mutton and lamb at the weekly Horsham Sheep and Lamb Sale, said he started selling about 18 months ago after leaving a seven-year career as a shearer.
Still in the process of building clientele, he said he never would have imagined he’d be competing at the event this early in his career.
“I started at Driscoll, Mcillree Dickinson about 20 months ago, and it wasn’t long after I started that I mentioned to my boss I might be interested in having a go at auctioneering,” he said.
“Pakenham wasn’t something I thought I’d be doing when I first
started, but I think you’ve got to be under age 25 to compete, so if I didn’t do it this time, I wouldn’t have another chance. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do”.
Mr Schilling said the 10 competing auctioneers would sell three lots of cattle at the event, with first and second-place sellers progressing to the next stage as state representatives.
He predicted the winning spots to be in close contention after meeting ‘plenty of good auctioneers’ at the Echuca training.
“There were 20 blokes from all across Victoria at Echuca, some who sell dairy cattle, a couple who sell beef cattle every week. There’s a lot of different young blokes from different backgrounds,” he said.
“There were also a couple of pretty experienced auctioneers and a few speech pathologists who taught us things like breathing and how to take care of your voice.”
Though quick to make his mark in the industry, Mr Schilling said transitioning from being a shearer to an auctioneer was a challenge.
“In the shearing industry you are your own boss essentially, you work for yourself five days a week and then go home,” he said.
“But when you start auctioneering at the markets, you’re working for five to six different fellas. So, I think the biggest thing I’ve learnt and had to adjust to is how to deal with people.
“In this industry you have to go out and call people, express yourself more, and try and build a relationship with your clientele, which I suppose is my main aim at the moment.”
Driscoll, Mcillree and Dickinson administration and finance manager Sally Ison said Mr Schilling would be the company’s second young auctioneer to secure a place at the state event.
She said the company prided itself on developing the skills of young industry members, and Mr Schilling’s quick success would be another great representative.
“Will hasn’t been with us for long, so we are pleased with where he is at the moment,” she said.
“We’re all pretty stoked and pretty proud. He has a real natural auctioneer voice and absolutely loves the industry.
“We’d be over the moon if he were to go all the way. But there are a lot of amazing auctioneers competing, which I think is also great for the industry as a whole.”