Meet Beau: Certificate IV Student with Builders Academy
“Being a chippy for twelve-odd years, I went into this course a little bit cocky, thinking: there’s not much I’m going to learn. I learned heaps.” We caught up with Brisbane-based carpenter Beau Cross, who finished his CPC40120 Certificate IV in Building and Construction (Building) with us this year in the virtual classroom. To find out how online study works, click through for the whole interview.
“My name is Beau, age is 31, and I’m a carpenter. I’ve got my own business, it’s called UR Concept Constructions. We do all sorts of carpentry: renos, decks, a bit of commercial as well.
“My old man is a tradie as well—he’s been a floor sander for twenty-odd years. He has his own business, had guys on the books. He was always busy so I grew up seeing that.
“Half way through year 12 I realised that sitting in a desk with a book in front of me wasn’t really for me. So I went down to All Trades Queensland, in Brisbane, and hit them up for an apprenticeship. I pretty much fell into a carpentry apprenticeship. I didn’t really know at that stage what I wanted to do so I had a chat with one of the guys there and he suggested I try it.”
“Every day is different. I get up at four-thirty in the morning, normally on-site by about five-thirty. The daily tasks can range from a commercial job one day or a deck at someone’s house the next day. You’re never on the same job for too long.
“I like working outdoors and working with my hands. It doesn’t get boring, you’re always meeting new people. I love the fact that I can go and quote a job and the client has got a set of plans there that they’ve had drawn up, and I can turn that into reality. Nine times out of ten the people are stoked, everyone’s like, ‘woah’.”
“I’ve got my Cert III in carpentry and Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) licenses in carpentry as well. I did my Certificate IV through Builders Academy and just finished last week.
“Being a chippy for twelve-odd years, I went into this course a little bit cocky, thinking: there’s not much I’m going to learn. I learned heaps, more than I can explain.
“I did it to open up more doors. These days having qualifications is more important than ever. There was a period in the industry where it was who you knew not what you knew, but these days you need qualifications, so here I am.
“The depth of the course, the curriculum, is quite full-on. It’s not so much the construction side of it because I’ve been doing that long enough to have that down pat. It’s more the paperwork and management side of it, and the rules and regulations.”
“I did the Cert IV online. It worked out better for me because I have a young family and work ten-to-twelve-hour days. Doing it another way, I would have had to drive to class, be there for three hours and not get home ‘til ten or ten-thirty at night.
“I think it’s the best way to go about it because you can do things like sit there and eat your dinner while you’re in class. It suited my lifestyle. Anyone that’s got kids, family, a missus, I think the online way is the better way. It gives you more freedom.
“The teacher I had, Adam, he was great. He explained everything properly. If you have a question or felt like you were lost you can easily ask him ‘what’s going on here,’ he’d explain it, no worries, no drama.”
“At the moment the business is quite fresh. I think the Cert IV opens up more doors — there’s a lot of different avenues that you can take.
“I’m still enjoying my work but within the next five years I’ll be looking at being off the tools or supervising for a company. With the experience I’ve got with my own business I think I’m fairly suited to becoming a supervisor. One hundred percent.”
Legend! Thanks Beau.
Thinking about studying for your certificate IV or diploma in 2017? Give us a call on 1300 534 363 or get in touch here for course advice and info on the relevant government subsidies in your state.
If you think virtual classroom training is right for you, find out more about the classes here.