Education & Work Proud Mummy Moment

Discussion in 'Living Room' started by skater, 2nd Mar, 2016.

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  1. skater

    skater Well-Known Member

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    My eldest daughter was disillusioned with her working life. Caught up in dead end office work with lots of office politics. She had a hard time relating to other women on the job, never seemed to be happy, and always on low pay.

    She quit her job to take time out, and work out what she really wanted to do with her life. She contemplated going to Uni, but still didn't know what she wanted to do. She didn't want to spend four years of her life studying only to end up back in an office. Sure, probably on a higher wage, but the same old scenario.

    We encouraged her to try new things, and she enjoyed helping her father doing some odd jobs around the house. Dad asked her if she'd thought of doing a trade.

    She went and enrolled in a pre-apprenticeship course, and really enjoyed it. She found it challenging and rewarding, knowing that she was creating something useful. Both her teachers and us, encouraged her, as she was a little nervous, being a very short woman entering a traditionally male domain.

    Anyway, it took her some time, but she got herself an apprenticeship as a Shop Fitter. She's now halfway through her second year, loving it all the way, and well respected by her peers. Gone are the petty office jibes, which seems to come mainly from the women, and she is thriving and doing extremely well. In fact, so well that she has just topped her her Year One TAFE course.

    We went to the ceremony last night & met her bosses, and her TAFE teachers, who all had only good things to say about her and her work ethic. It was quite funny seeing her stand up in a dress & high heels, next to the other award winners, who were all young men, and each & every one of them towered above her.

    Who knew that my prissy and very girly girl would find fulfillment working in a trade? But she has! She loves it, loves getting in and doing the tough jobs and being 'one of the boys', and is the happiest we've ever seen her.
     
  2. Depreciator

    Depreciator Well-Known Member

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    That's great, Skater. I have told my two daughters that if one of them became a plumber and the other a sparkie it would be good for me. They're not convinced. Girls make such good tradies.
     
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  3. skater

    skater Well-Known Member

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    The funny thing is.....growing up, Lil (very much a tom-boy) was always there willing to give a hand with any building works, and our older daughter was always the 'girl'. She never wanted to get dirty or wear clothing that wasn't 'pretty'. She was always going to work in a job where she could wear corporate wear, and would prefer that any 'boyfriend' would also be groomed for white collar work. Tradies are so 'bogan', you know?

    And now.....well, you just wouldn't recognise her. And she's so happy, which, of course, makes me happy too. This has really turned her life around.
     
  4. Tonibell

    Tonibell Well-Known Member

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    Great to hear - both for your daughter and also that the trades have "evolved" so much.

    What are the employment prospects like for a Shop Fitter ? Not that it matters if she is learning new skills and is happy.

    Every reason to be very proud.
     
  5. skater

    skater Well-Known Member

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    Shop Fitters are very much in demand. There are only two TAFEs in NSW that offer the course, and they are booked solid with (multiple) classes every day. There are two women in her workplace and, I think three or four at her TAFE. Shop Fitters work on Shopping Centres, Uni's, Hospitals, Airports, Pubs, Clubs, lots of places.
     
  6. Xenia

    Xenia Well-Known Member

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    some of the best shop fitters, developers, builders are women.

    Like law and medicine where it is now very much a female area, more women now getting into trades.

    My best friend is a builder / commercial fit out specialist, she wins large contracts over male competitors because people love to work with women. Especially other women.
     
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  7. D.T.

    D.T. Specialist Property Manager Business Member

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    That's awesome skater. Always proud of young people putting in the yards to find what works for them. Inherited that trait from her parents no doubt.
     
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  8. Jacque

    Jacque Jacque Parker Premium Member

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    Well done Deb to you and your daughter- great role models for parents also help and you've both done an awesome job obviously :)
     
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  9. JenW

    JenW Well-Known Member

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    Fantastic news. The fact that your kids are happy in what they do is just the best thing a parent could hear :)
     
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  10. Depreciator

    Depreciator Well-Known Member

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    One especially good thing that shop fitters learn is speed. They are always under a lot of pressure to get a job done quickly so a shop/café/restaurant/office can open. They end up with a broader range of skills than people who work on houses, too. And they are familiar with a much greater array of materials. They can make a lot of money.
     
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  11. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    A shop I know well in was forced into a refit (as they generally all are in big centres, whether they need it or not). It cost a LOT and took four weeks. I was gobsmacked because it was just one room, and we renovated a whole house in the same time it took this crowd to do one shop, and for one tenth the cost.

    Shoplifters certainly charge like wounded bulls (but I only know for sure the cost of two shop reforms - both cost more than a whole house build... OUCH!!!).
     
  12. Lizzie

    Lizzie Well-Known Member

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    Fantastic to hear Debs ... I too found office politics really hard to deal with and thrilled that eldest is finally enjoying her working life. Love to see more women in the trades as they have both the ability to multi-skill and a view things aesthetically
     
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  13. Depreciator

    Depreciator Well-Known Member

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    Yep. It's easy to spend a lot of money on a fitout. Around the corner from our office is a big space that has had three fitouts in four years. Most recently it was some sort of Chinese drink place. Before that it was a chocolate cafe. Each fitout would have been $300K. It gets stripped back to bare walls each time and everything goes to the tip.
     
  14. inertia

    inertia Well-Known Member

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    When I was working in retail back in the day, I helped out the shop fitters for a bit that were doing the refurbs all around the country (I was working at Harvey Norman). I found it incredibly interesting and seriously considered pursuing it, but was half way through a degree at the time.

    It is certainly interesting work, with massive scope. All the best to her!

    Cheers,
    Inertia.
     
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  15. DaveM

    DaveM Well-Known Member

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    She inherited that from you too :D
     
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  16. skater

    skater Well-Known Member

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    Yes, that is true.
     
  17. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    That is a cheap fit out, compared to the two I personally know of... :eek:
     
  18. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

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    Shopfitting isn't cheap. Even importing a standard design (your architect on a large chainstore style rollout) is not cheap. It may cost next to nothing to make in China but by the time you add your project manager (who will supervise the manufacture, customs requirements, packaging for transport to OS, customs clearance, quality control/QA etc it all adds up quickly.

    Been there, done that.
     
  19. Lambo

    Lambo Well-Known Member

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    She won't regret it. Doing a trade was the best thing I ever did. It's a shame more women don't consider it really.
     
  20. Ted Varrick

    Ted Varrick Well-Known Member

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    Well done to her.

    Now, get her to start her own company, and specialise in the Westfield and Vicinity refits (dont get to close to one customer) and she will be well on her way to some nice coin.

    Alternatively, there's this buy houses for cheap thing, and then do them up....
     
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