MEET SHANNON: BUILDERS ACADEMY GRADUATE AND SITE SUPERVISOR

Name: Shannon Beasley

Age: 23

Job: Construction supervisor with Simonds Homes

Training: Completed the CPC40120 Certificate IV Building and Construction (Building)

“I started as an apprentice in carpentry. I actually did a school-based apprenticeship and from there I worked for myself for a little bit.

“It was good working for myself but I didn’t like chasing money. I also thought I was a bit young to be running my own business but I still enjoyed it—it was a good learning experience for me. I ran into a builder that I worked for when I was an apprentice and he offered me a job, so I started doing carpentry for him.

“The reason I signed up for the Builders Academy course is because my Poppa goes, ‘You should do a course and be an estimator or something in OH&S, something along those lines.’ I didn’t want to be an estimator so I just called up and I ended up signing up for this course.

“I did a Cert IV in Building and Construction while I was working. I did night school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I had the practical experience but I didn’t have, I guess you could call it, the office experience. There’s a different way of speaking. When you’re speaking to guys on site, to trades, and then going to speak to a client on the phone—it’s different. “

“The course was good, I am glad I had the background and experience as a chippy, I enjoyed that, and the course filled in a lot of the blank spaces, things that I didn’t have before.

“Obviously I knew a lot about chippy work and framing, and the plumbing side and electrical that brought everything together, but it was good to learn the other things like applying for permits and stuff like that, which I never really did. It was good to learn that sort of stuff.

“My teacher Hafiz got an email asking if any guys were looking for work. It was originally a cadetship position. I put my name down, sent him the resume, I got a call for the interview. Then the cadetship turned into the full supervisor role really quickly. I’m glad I went for it.”

“My day-to-day work for Simonds involves a lot of running around. Mainly, the first thing I do is visit my areas across Bacchus Marsh, Melton and a little bit of Rockbank. I make a chart for myself so I’m going from job to job and not zig-zagging all over the place. So I’ll work in one area, do all the jobs there, and then move on. I’ll get there, open up the computer and see what needs being done on that day—and make sure everyone that is supposed to be there on that day is.

“If not I give them a call and find out where they are and what’s going on. If things need to be pushed back I’ll push it back, or bring things forward, and if anything has gone wrong I’ll try and fix that as quickly as possible.”

“Staying organised is key. A lot of people have drilled into me that as long as you are organised, your phone won’t ring and you won’t get too many emails. It’s the little things, the one-percenters that help.

“Keeping ahead of everything. Calling the clients: you don’t wait for them to call, you call them. It saves them wondering what’s going on. If something has happened you let them know straight away. They are grateful for being told. You can tell them that this is getting done this week. Always keep them up-to-date and follow up with the information in an email. Whenever you’ve organised something over the phone always just send an email to say what we’ve discussed. It’s a good reminder.”

“Simonds has always been known to turn-out some really good supervisors so it’s a good experience and fast learning. I’ve pretty much been put on the ball straight away. The guys have been really good to work with, they help you out heaps. If you need a hand, it’s just an email or call.

“I like being off the tools. I like being in charge or the point of call, I guess. It probably sounds stressful and weird but I’ve always liked people calling and asking ‘how do we go about that?’ As an apprentice I saw the calls going to the boss but I like being in charge, I guess.”

“I’d like to build my own house eventually one day and maybe do units or something like that—but for now I’d like to stay at Simonds and see how far I can go. At Simonds you can progress. When I was a chippy I had nowhere to go because that’s where it ends.

“Supervisor, construction manager, project manager, there’s so many things you can do. Simonds have so many different things they do on top of just building so there’s room to move. As long as I’m going up, I’m happy.”

Thanks Shannon. Legend!

If you’re interested in skilling up outside work hours with a certificate or diploma qualification from Builders Academy, find out more about our Virtual Classroom here. 

 

If you’ve got course questions, or need info on the state or federal government funding that may be available, give the guys a call on 1300 534 363.