From mucking around with cars to working on trucks via EIT – Wiremu Raihania with Williams & Wilshier service supervisor Hanan Stevens.

Study at EIT gave Wiremu Raihania the knowledge to start his career as a diesel mechanic and being keen did the rest, says Williams & Wilshier service supervisor Hanan Stevens.

“Wiremu has worked here full-time since just before Christmas. He worked one day a week initially to learn, then Saturdays and then holidays. He was keen and he wanted to get into it, and that’s what we look for.”

Williams & Wilshier, a Rotorua-based forestry trucking company has 26 trucks and 10 owner-drivers on the East Coast region alone, and there is a huge demand for diesel mechanics, says Hanan.

With a history of “mucking around with cars” at home in Tokomaru Bay, Wiremu (27) came to talk to EIT tutors about turning his hobby into a career and so he enrolled in the National Certificate in Motor Industry (level 3).

“The programme definitely got me ready to work, and reduced my apprenticeship time by 30 percent. The tutors have great contacts in the industry so they helped me get the job. I went straight from the course to here – the job’s good, the pay’s good.”