A Step Ahead
Christchurch joinery manager Stuart Cowan doesn't have time for outdated ideas around the business, so when the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology recommended a female Modern Apprentice to him, he didn't hesitate. "We had trouble getting boys with the right attitude in the past few years. To be honest, what did we have to lose?" Stuart says.
In fact the company, J.B. Joinery, had a lot to gain by employing Claire Symonds. Not only is she "very keen" but her presence in the workshop apparently pushes the other apprentices to do their best, he says.
"Whether she's male or female, the fact that she's reasonably good, means they don't want to be beaten. You've got that environment on the shop floor where they're all trying to be one step ahead of the other. As long as you're hiring good ones, they're pushing the person above to improve themselves."
The joinery, which employs around 35 people, usually has four or five apprentices. Asked whether employers are missing out on an opportunity if they don't look at hiring women, he says, "Very much so."
"Everybody's desperate for good staff these days. Unfortunately a lot of the joiners around the Christchurch area don't like apprentices. They think it's extra cost, extra hassle."
But Stuart says the Modern Apprenticeships scheme has made a big difference. "I don't have to worry about paperwork."
Benefits for the company flow on into the future, as most of the trainees stay on for at least a year or two after their apprenticeship. "We like to think we retain what we start."
Stuart says Claire "hired herself" from her attitude when she arrived. What counts is personality, enthusiasm and determination, not gender, he says.
But because of the scepticism from the other tradesmen when she walked in the door, he was careful at first about who she worked with until he could see what she was like. "To be honest she's pretty broad-minded ... the male working environment is not what it was 30 years ago, but that doesn't mean it's perfect either. There's a lot of stereotyping still to be sorted out."
Stuart says joiners tend to have a mentality that anything new is "a load of rubbish" until they've tried it. "It doesn't matter what it is, if it's change, it's negative until they see the positive.
"But then I was having the other tradesmen - who I'd expected to get the grief from - saying 'she's pretty good, you want to make sure you don't lose her'."
Claire is starting the second year of her apprenticeship with J.B. Joinery, a firm of around 35 employees doing mainly commercial work around Christchurch. She was taken on after a three week trial period that was extended to six weeks. J.B. Joinery paid for the first set of tools, which Claire pays back out of her tool allowance. The company also pays a percentage of her fees at Polytech and her wages while she is there. When she finishes, she expects to make between $31,000 and $52,000 a year.