Judges applaud young builder talent

Judging 21 of the finest young builders in New Zealand is a humbling experience for those of us privileged to have been asked. It’s a responsibility we don’t take lightly as we’re aware of the level of commitment the apprentices and bosses have made to get to the finals.

This year was no exception, and my fellow judges Jason McClintock, last year’s winner Joshua Welsh and I had our work cut out for us when we reviewed the quality of the pre-work submitted. The finals consisted of four components with varying weightings: an interview, a presentation to an audience, a threehour trade exam, and a covering letter, CV, and portfolio of work. Except for the Trade Exam, marked by Industry Training Association Builder (ITAB) tutors, the judges independently score the other components based on specific criteria. Those scores are then combined, and winners are determined from the weighted total.

Having proven themselves more than capable from a practical perspective, all entrants were pushed outside their comfort zone when it came to talking about themselves, what they do, and their training and future aspirations, not to mention presenting to a large audience on a predetermined topic. There were a number of standouts over the two days, but some of the most inspiring came from those who overcame their fears and with support from their peers, delivered awesome presentations. The Trade Exam was, like most years, quite difficult and some further tweaking of format, including creating optional sections based on where the apprentices are in their training, will need to be made. In saying that, those who prepared well, did well.

Aside from the quality of work delivered, there were a few other consistent themes worth noting. The quality of mullet gets better every year, and the amount of care and attention to them rivals that of their craft. On a more serious note though, every candidate had a great appreciation for their employer and the opportunities given to them. The level of maturity in the responses to questions was impressive, as well as the opinions on industry issues, which given that most of them hadn’t networked outside their business or region was interesting. There were four candidates this year that also made the finals last year, it was great to see them improve on last year’s performance. Lastly, the camaraderie and support for each other developed over the few days was great to see. The network they have built, coupled with the experiences and learnings from conference, will no doubt carry them well into the future.

A special thank you to Jason McClintock and Joshua Welsh for putting aside their valuable time to prepare for and judge over the two days. Having a previous winner as a judge gave a different perspective, which was helpful. We’d also like to thank and farewell Brian Dillon, for his time and commitment to the judging panel over the past few years, who is now tackling new challenges at Te Pūkenga.

Bring on next year!

Derek Heard NZ Building Industry Federation Chair