AIRAH News

FROM COUNSELLING TO COOLING

Sharon Roussos left social work to pursue an apprenticeship in refrigeration – and is loving her new career.

Late last year the RMIT School of Vocational Engineering, Health and Sciences held its annual trade awards. In the refrigeration category, awards were handed out for each year, and one special gong went to the outstanding overall student. That was Sharon Roussos, a third-year apprentice doing her apprenticeship with Veolia.

As a mature age student who used to be a social worker, and as a woman, Roussos isn’t your stereotypical fridgie. While the snags were cooking on the rooftop barbie and the sun was shining, we took the opportunity to talk with Roussos about her new life in HVAC&R.

What made you decide to become a fridgie? I was a social worker. I always wanted to do a trade, but I was of the generation where women weren’t encouraged into those non-traditional roles. I saw the job advertised and asked a sparkie I was working with at the time, ‘What is this trade, refrigeration?’ And he said, ‘You have to know everything, it’s kind of like four trades in one. You’ll learn so much.’ He encouraged me.

And it’s blown me away, because what I’ve learnt and what the layperson doesn’t know about HVAC&R is quite incredible.

It’s been a big move! What are some of the major differences? I feel so much happier when I can work with my hands and there’s a tangible outcome at the end. There’s something you fixed – that chiller or that compressor or whatever it might be.

I enjoyed social work, but you didn’t go home at the end of the day feeling like you’d fixed anything. And you do a lot of sitting down, so just being able to move around and be physical and get dirty and not care, I love it, it’s very liberating! I don’t have to worry about what I’m wearing every day. I get a uniform and I just go and just focus on the work and it’s great.

Do you see it as significant for a woman to win this award? Definitely. I don’t see many women in the trade itself, so it can feel a little isolating. I don’t like to generalise around gender, but there’s definitely differences in communication styles, and it’s been a big learning curve for me working with all men, to come from traditionally working with mostly women.

I hope more women get into the trade. There are strengths that women can bring to the industry, especially their communication and organisation skills, that maybe the industry hasn’t recognised as being as important as being able to pick up a tool. But they’re important to being a good tradie and a good fridgie.

Is there anything that might have got you into the trade earlier? More exposure, so having female tradies coming into school and saying “Hey, I do this job, I earn this much, it’s amazing, this is my experience.” Just being able to see someone who’s done it would have really encouraged me.

Outside of school, more publicity around women in trades in general would help, so young girls can see that it’s a viable option for them. There’s just so much they can get from doing a trade.

It’s challenging though. They need the support along the way. The apprenticeship providers and the workplaces, everyone needs to be aware of those challenges and make sure that they walk alongside the female apprentices. Especially young women. I’m very fortunate in that I’m a mature-age apprentice. You’re a bit older and wiser and things sort of wash off your back a bit more. If I was younger it would have been more challenging.

What does the future hold for you? I’m very political and very passionate about the environment. I’m really interested in sustainable energy and how we can use waste and biomass and stuff for heating and cooling. There’s lots of opportunities that are coming up now because of climate change.

But I’m also just looking forward to being on the tools and getting dirty and being a bit more independent and putting the learning into place. ■

REFRIGERATION AWARD RECIPIENTS

◆ Outstanding 1st Year Student Hayden Davis