Boyne Smelters Limited (BSL) welcomed several future ‘tradies’ to the fold last week.

The smelter employed 14 new apprentices in its 2014 apprentice intake, including 10 school leavers and four adult apprentices from employee applicants.

BSL’s excellent apprentice training program and job opportunities resulted in the roles being hotly contested, with more than 350 applications received from external applicants and more than 30 employee applicants seeking adult apprenticeships.

New electrical apprentice Jess Grey is really pleased to have secured an adult apprenticeship after working as a process technician on site for three years.

“Since high school I knew I wanted to do an electrical trade but it’s very competitive. After school, I thought I should get some industry experience and hoped I could get an apprenticeship down the track, so it’s really great to be successful this year,” Jess said.

Previous Tannum Sands State High School student Mitch Vickers is looking forward to his career after he secured a fitting and turning apprenticeship at BSL.

“I think with an apprenticeship at BSL I’ll be able to get a lot of experience and have really good job opportunities,” he said.

Previous Tannum Sands State High School student Jacob Jones said he was fortunate to be able to start learning his electrical trade at BSL.

“The apprentice training program and the lifestyle it offers, especially the rosters and being close to home, really stood out for me,” he said.

The 2014 apprentice intake includes trades of six electrical, five fitter and turning, two boilermaking and one diesel fitting.

The apprentices now enter eight weeks of trade training, including theory and hands on work in the site’s apprentice training workshop. From 31 March, the apprentices will be separated and commence work alongside tradespeople in various parts of the plant, before they are rotated to a different part of the plant in six months’ time.