Falling for a Stranger
Love at first sight can happen with jobs as well as people. Signwriting apprentice Lauren Berry found that, at a careers expo in the Hawke's Bay at the end of her sixth form year. An innovative display on signwriting sparked a blaze in the artistic teenager.
Lauren, 18, says even though she didn't know a thing about signwriting, she decided she'd give it a go. Now entering her second year as a Modern Apprentice signwriter, she says she's never regretted her choice for a moment. "I love it. I don?t wake up in the morning and think, 'I've got to go into work'."
At the expo, Lauren was inspired by Havelock North signwriter Willy Ransfield's presentation. She says his "into it" attitude was very motivational, and his signwriting display was artistic.
Lauren got a list of local signwriting firms from Willy and went to check them out in person, something she says impressed her employers, CSM Signs. "I finished Sixth Form and got all my artwork. I did art at school and took my CV and references around all the signwriting places in the Hawke's Bay, and asked them to give me an apprenticeship."
Brent Cullen and Ian Clarke of CSM signs liked her attitude enough to try her out. "They said, 'you came to us, you were prepared to come in and put the effort in.'
"Because I didn't really know that much about it, I thought 'if I just go into the workplace and see what they do, then I'll see if this is what I really want.' And they weren't sure they wanted to take anyone on either."
In less than a week, Lauren knew this was the career for her. CSM took her on trial and after a couple of months they signed her up for the apprenticeship. Lauren is amazed more women don't take to signwriting as a career. Although she needs to be quite strong and have a head for heights when she's climbing scaffolding or holding a sign in place, Lauren doesn't think that is a problem.
"There's no reason for females not to do it. In some ways we're more artsy than males, and pretty particular and exact with measurements."
Lauren thinks the job would be very accommodating of family demands. "I work 8 am to 4:30 pm and I never do overtime or weekends. And that's what all the boys do. I suppose you could do whatever you wanted, but it's just convenient for clients and it's convenient for us."
Since starting her apprenticeship she's met another female fully qualified signwriter, Melissa Watts, who does contract work for CSM signs and another firm in Napier. Melissa is able to fit her work around her two children. It?s a career that lasts, too. CSM's oldest worker is 90, and all the other signwriters Lauren knows have done it their whole lives and say they're never bored. "If you like the arts and you like getting outdoors and you like people, then you'll love it."
Lauren's signwriting apprenticeship will take her around five years, or 10,000 hours of on-the-job training. She will attend three three-week block courses in Wellington, during which the skills she has learned on the job will be assessed, and further training undertaken. The course covers aspects of design as well as showing her how to make and install signs, prepare different surfaces, handle different kinds of paints and tools, and techniques to safely handle and store the chemicals she uses. Apprentices all learn the art and craft of signmaking then select one, two or all three strands such as advanced hand lettering, computer graphics or electric signmaking. Lauren's starting rate as an apprentice was $8.50 an hour but this is reviewed every six months. After 18 months working with her company, she is on $9.50 an hour. Although she says she "hadn't a clue" what signwriters made when she signed up for training, she is now aware that she could own her own business, and make good money. A trained signwriter working for a firm can expect to make between $15 and $20 per hour depending on experience. Signwriting apprenticeships are administered by the Signwriting Industry Training Organisation, which is part of the Painting Contractors Association of Industry Training Organisation (PDITO). http://www.paintingito.co.nz/home.htm