Queenstown carpenter takes out apprentice challenge
HANNAH MCLEOD
Last updated 16:30, April 10 2016
NICOLE JOHNSTONE/FAIRFAXNZ
After eight hours of speedy but careful carpentry, a Queenstown man has taken out the top spot in a Southland apprentice competition.
Certified Builders Southland president Dwayne Stevenson said it was Mark Templeton’s workmanship which saw him named the winner of the Certified Builders Carpentry Apprentice Challenge in Invercargill on Saturday.
Templeton, from Queenstown, along with four other apprentices, were given plans for a play house about a week ago. The five competitors then had eight hours to build their play houses to the set specifications and safety requirements.
Stevenson said while none of the apprentices finished their constructions, all of them had performed to an “extremely high” level. “[Templeton’s] workmanship was near immaculate,” Stevenson said.
Templeton will now travel to Wellington for the apprentice challenge final, to be held at the Certified Builders Annual Conference in Wellington between 26 and 28 May.
There, he will go up against the other 11 regional winners from around New Zealand. Templeton will be assessed on his CV, interview skills, and public speaking, Stevenson said. “It’s about his trade skills as well as his leadership skills,” Stevenson said.
– The Southland Times