Going for gold
A KIWI EXCELS IN A WORLD-CLASS COMPETITION FOR TRADIES
A Kiwi tradie takes on the world and beats them all
It’s enough of a buzz to have the skills you’ve developed as an apprentice recognized nationally but to win international plaudits launches the thrill level into the stratosphere.
Aircraft engineer Jarrod Wood is familiar with the excitement of having his skills acknowledged after winning both regional and national WorldSkills competitions for aircraft maintenance. He crowned this achievement by winning the gold medal in his field at the recent international WorldSkills competition in Abu Dhabi.
“It was a truly amazing experience,” the Air New Zealand aircraft maintenance engineer says of attending the event. “I was blown away just to be there and wasn’t expecting to win, so that was just the icing on the cake.”
Jarrod says that he still finds it hard to believe he was so successful in the face of such tough competition.
“We had to compete in seven modules over a period of four days. The modules all had allocated time frames of between two to four hours. There were apprentices from 16 countries competing in my category in everything from flight-control rigging to component changes and it was really intense.”
Jarrod says even the size of the venue and the number of spectators was daunting. “I have competed in the regional and national WorldSkills competitions here in New Zealand but the atmosphere in Abu Dhabi was on another level. It’s basically the Olympics for trades. The venue was three to four times the size of the ASB Showgrounds in Auckland and there were more than 125,000 spectators so the scale of the competition was amazing. It was nerve-racking.”
He says that he kept tension at bay by focusing on the task at hand and keeping in mind on the tips given to him by his mentor, Mike Naus, who is the WorldSkills aircraft maintenance deputy chief expert in New Zealand.
“Mike was great — we had reviews about how each day went and how I felt I was tracking, which was really useful to get some perspective. I’ve had so much support from the staff of Air New Zealand all the way through my apprenticeship — you’re always under the pump at work but there’s nothing quite like doing a job under the eyes of judges,” he says laughing.
The 25-year-old from South Auckland always knew an office job was not for him and initially thought that he might train as a car mechanic until he became fascinated by complex aircraft systems. When he left Sancta Maria College he worked as a baggage loader at Air New Zealand for a year before joining the Aviation Institute and starting his apprenticeship in 2013.
Jarrod was among 13 other New Zealanders who flew to Abu Dhabi to compete against 1500 competitors from 76 countries in 51 skill tournaments at the event. As well as the gold medal Jarrod was awarded Best in Nation for scoring the highest points among all competitors from New Zealand.
“New Zealanders really punched above our weight in the competition. We weren’t the underdogs but we don’t have the backing and sponsorship that some of the teams enjoy. For instance, France was sponsored by Adidas. There are international scouts that attend the event who focus on some of the trades and are on the lookout for promising new talent.”
Jarrod says that he has now finished his apprenticeship and his next goal is to share the knowledge he has gained with the next competitor in the event, which is held every two years.
“Competing in WorldSkills has increased my skill level 10-fold and I’m much more confident. Overseas it is well known and enjoys a very high profile. In New Zealand it’s sort of kept under wraps and it deserves more recognition. WorldSkills offers so many opportunities and has great potential so it deserves to be under the spotlight.”