Soldier, tailor, tinker, nailer | Auckland Lifestyle News | Health, Fashion, Food and Wine in Auckland

The image of an apprentice is that of a fresh-faced youngster just out of school anxious to learn a trade and get on with a successful career. Not Shane Thompson.

He is a confident 41-year-old, a former soldier, a father of a 7-year-old daughter, and he can't wait to take up a management (foreman) position in the building industry.

Mr Thompson, who works for Mastercraft Kitchens in Tauranga, last year became the Joinery Industry Training Organisation's (JITO) most promising apprentice of the year, winning the Ernie Jelinek Cup. He was certainly the oldest ever.

"At my last (Waikato Institute of Technology) course, there was 20 years' difference between me and the next oldest student. It was funny. They treated me like a father figure and looked to me for a lot of the answers," he said.

Mr Thompson followed up last year's success with two more awards announced at the recent JITO conference in Rotorua. Among all master joiners, he won the Best Fitment (0 to 4000 hours) category and was presented with the People's Choice Award.

"You are never too old to start something new. Don't be afraid, and if you are driven, then you will get to where you want to go," said Mr Thompson.

"I've got a few more years left in the industry and I'm not finished with what I want to achieve. I would like to take over as a foreman but, like everything, you've got to start from the bottom."

Mr Thompson's winning fitment was a large entertainment unit, made out of Australian ash imported by the owners for their home in Pauanui. The unit, designed around the ornaments, television and stereo, took up two walls floor to ceiling.

"There were no screw holes; everything was done by hand with clamps and glue, and I spent a week sanding it. It seemed like it would never end, the unit was so big. But I learned so many skills."

He spent 120 hours working on the unit and it was taken from the workshop in a truckload of pieces and fitted together at the house.

Mr Thompson had worked for six years as a timber machinist and, after joining the Modern Apprenticeship programme, he had his first year, representing 3000 hours' experience, cross-credited.

He then completed 5500 hours, and two study courses, at Mastercraft to become a qualified joiner in kitchens and bathrooms.

Now he wants to complete the final 4000 hours and specialised courses in stairs, doors and windows, and call himself a master joiner/craftsman. But, to do that, he needs to change jobs and get wider experience - and he's looking for a new opportunity.

"We are flat out here (at Mastercraft). Some of the smaller businesses have closed in the recession and we've taken over their work. But I've reached the stage where it's time to move on," said Mr Thompson.

There is a shortage of apprentice joiners but JITO is struggling to convince employers to take on apprentices because of the downturn in the building industry.

The emphasis has been on getting product out the door rather than on teaching.

"But qualified guys are going overseas and there will be a void in the industry. Few are being trained up to replace them and, in three to four years' time, they will be screaming out for apprentices. So the cycle begins all over again," Mr Thompson said.

He believes plenty of school leavers are interested in joinery.

Under the Modern Apprenticeship scheme, Mr Thompson's study courses have been subsidised by the Government. But he believes there should be more incentives for businesses to take on apprentices.

"The Government can assist employers by helping to pay the apprentice's wage and to get him qualified - say a subsidy of $2 an hour," he said.

Educated at Melville High School, in Hamilton, Mr Thompson followed his father, brother and two brothers-in-law into the army. He entered the Linton camp near Palmerston North at the same time as Corporal Doug Grant, the Special Air Service (SAS) commando who was killed recently in Afghanistan. "He was a career soldier and you have to be extremely professional to get to the SAS. You train for every eventuality and it's just [bad] luck if a stray round gets you," Mr Thompson said.

He joined the army to become a carpenter but they wanted foot soldiers. He was promoted to Lance Corporal, then Corporal, but didn't see any action. Instead, he went on exercises in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Solomon Islands and in the desert near Darwin in Australia.

His first jungle exercise in Malaysia in 1990 was memorable. He had a run-in with red ants, sat on a scorpion and got stung, and stared down a large snake.

To cap it off, one of his colleagues suffered acute heat exhaustion and each of the 30-strong unit took turns to carry him to the nearest vehicle - a 12-hour trudge through the jungle.

Mr Thompson also worked with the Gurkhas on riot training prior to the handover of Hong Kong to the Chinese and paraded at the 50th anniversary of the Crete battle in 1991 - his father having fought there.

After 10 years in the army, Mr Thompson decided to return to civvy street and moved to Tauranga, first working for Paul Baxter Concreting. He then became a timber machinist at Fletcher Forests' mouldings plant at Mount Maunganui, staying there six years until it closed.

The plant provided a lot of product for the United States' market and the strong dollar cut into the profits.

After spending a year as a house husband, Mr Thompson joined Euro Style Kitchens and then Mastercraft in 2008. At the age of 38, he started his apprenticeship and followed his long-held dream of becoming a qualified carpenter/jointer.

"I've always tinkered with timber and it just took a while to switch across. I see age as no barrier and I just wanted to fulfil my dream."