I have read a lot of apprentice applications. Most look the same. A school report, a list of hobbies and a line about being hardworking. The ones that get picked look different, and it is rarely about marks. Here is what I am actually looking for.
Will you turn up?
This is the biggest question with any apprentice. You are signing up for three or four years. I want to see that you finish what you start and you show up when you said you would. A part-time job you have held for a year tells me more than any certificate. So does a sport you have played every season, or a volunteer role you stuck with. Put it near the top.
Will you be safe?
Apprentices are new on site, and new people get hurt. I want to see that you take it seriously. A White Card and a first aid certificate before you apply say a lot. So does one honest line about a time you did something the safe way when it was easier not to. If you get to interview, expect a safety question. The interview questions I ask.
Do you actually want this trade?
“I like working with my hands” is on every application. Tell me what you have done. Fixed a motorbike. Helped a relative build a deck. Pulled apart a lawnmower to see how it works. Did metalwork or automotive at school and kept going after. Real examples of the trade, even small ones, beat any line about passion.
Can you learn?
An apprenticeship is training. I want to see you can take instructions, learn from mistakes and get through the bookwork. Maths and English matter for most trades, so if you have done well in them, say so. If you have not, show me you are working on it.
The mistakes that bin you
- Not reading the ad. If it asks for a driver’s licence or a cover letter, and you do not have one or did not send one, you are out before anything else is read.
- A joke email address. Make a plain one with your name in it.
- A public social media profile you would not show your nan. Yes, someone may look. Do recruiters check your Facebook.
- Missing the closing date. Big intakes close early and do not reopen.
- Not answering the phone. Intakes move fast. If an unknown number rings, answer it politely.
Mature-age applicants
Your life experience is your advantage. Show me the jobs you have held, the responsibilities you have carried, and why you want the trade now. Employers often value reliability and maturity over a school leaver’s marks. Mature-age apprenticeships, from the hiring side.
The top of your application
Name, mobile, email, suburb. Licence. Tickets. Then one or two lines with your strongest evidence that you turn up, work safely and want the trade. If I can see all of that in thirty seconds, you are in the pile that gets a phone call.
Then apply widely: the operators’ intakes, the contractors, the builders and a group training organisation. The Employer Map in the FIFO guide lists them by state, with the official apprenticeship page for each state.
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