Shaun’s outlook that knowledge is power is reflected in his career development journey. His story is a great example of the endless opportunities to develop your career at SKYCITY.
Before joining our Auckland business, Shaun worked on his uncle’s dairy farm in Te Puke after his family moved to Australia. As a 17 year old, working on the farm and having limited free time was difficult and, after a few months, he realised farming wasn’t for him.
Keen for work over the summer, Shaun got a job as a waiter at Fortuna in 2006. After the summer, SKYCITY kept Shaun on as a Waiter and Team Leader at 24/7 where he remained for two years. Shaun didn’t set out to pursue a trade but opportunities to study and work soon began opening up.
In 2008 he was offered an Electrical Apprenticeship with SKYCITY. “The transition [from waiter to trade] was a big learning curve but I knew I wanted to learn a trade and was quite keen on getting qualified. Having qualifications is valuable in this industry.”
It took Shaun nearly four years to become a registered Trade Electrician, then he had to complete three years in practise before becoming a Registered Electrical Inspector. I took a lot of hard work and hours, attending night classes at MIT for six months and completing a lot of assignments.
“I became confident in a year after getting my head around things. I definitely loved getting out and learning new things in trade. All the trades were helpful. For my apprenticeship, I shadowed a sparkie but, after the first year, they get you to do jobs you’re confident in.”
But the learning didn’t stop there. In 2012, Shaun was offered a Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Apprenticeship which took another three years of work and study. By 2015, he was fully qualified in two trades at the age of 27! “By the time I did my RA, I was already qualified as a tradesman so I was treated as a ‘professional’ tradesman almost immediately.”
Shaun has worked around the business maintaining, repairing and checking systems. He’s never been short of electrical issues and what he loves most is learning new things from others.
In 2016, his supervisor at the time, Richard Makoa, created a new role for Shaun as a Supervisor in HVAC which he held for seven months. Shaun’s now been with SKYCITY for 10 years and is moving on from us to pursue opportunities with Downers NZ.
His hard-work and determination to succeed is reflected in his ability to win the Quest for the Best Award not once but twice! The first time was when he was Waiter at 24/7 and his second award was as an Electrical Apprentice.
As someone who never thought he’d find a use for geometry, Shaun’s now very knowledgeable in anything and everything engineering and electrical. He recalls his most memorable time with SKYCITY when he volunteered to climb half-way up the mast of the tower to establish why a weather station had lost its power connection. Shaun wasn’t scared of heights and he was always keen to reach the top of the tower, so naturally, he negotiated the terms of the job so he could climb to the top of the tower! After sorting the fault, they took the must-have photo which Shaun keeps to date!
But working and studying at SKYCITY didn’t consume his whole life over the past 10 years. Shaun loves to go fishing, wake-boarding, snowboarding and having a beer with the boys. Although Shaun’s moving on, he doesn’t rule out a future of working with SKYCITY again. He aspires to start his own business in electrical or refrigeration but that’s work in progress.
From the team at SKYCITY, we wish Shaun all the best on his endeavours.
