Jackson comes full circle with Skill Hire

At 28, Jackson has already built the kind of trades career many people spend decades working towards.

After completing his bricklaying apprenticeship with support from Skill Hire (part of the IntoWork Group), he now runs his own business and is helping the next generation of tradespeople kickstart their own career. His current fourth-year apprentice Mason is on track to completion and keen to follow a similar path.

Jackson’s journey into bricklaying started while he was still at school. Keen to leave the classroom behind, he began exploring trades through TAFE, trying his hand at bricklaying, plastering and tiling before a teacher encouraged him to give bricklaying a proper go. That connection eventually led to work experience and, within two weeks, a job.

“Once I started, I decided that bricklaying’s alright for me. I’m in it now. I’m just going to keep going,” Jackson said.

Skill Hire played an important role throughout his apprenticeship, helping manage issues when they came up and keeping his training on track. When his original host employer could no longer keep him on, Skill Hire quickly found him another placement, allowing him to continue working without losing time on his apprenticeship.

“They were good. They looked after everything, any time I had any issues,” Jackson said. “They found me another host. I didn’t lose any time off work. I didn’t lose any time from my apprenticeship.”

After completion, Jackson stayed on as a tradesman, taking on more responsibility and continuing to develop his skills. He said those years helped him grow from someone still learning the trade into someone trusted to make decisions on site.

His decision to go out on his own was well timed, with a boom in construction providing plenty of ongoing work. Today, he still has a steady stream of jobs and has taken on several apprentices through Skill Hire.

While he acknowledges apprenticeships require time, patience and support, Jackson said there is something rewarding about teaching someone from the beginning and helping them progress through the trade.

“It is satisfying when you can teach them from the start and get them through to the end,” he said.

That support is making a difference for Mason, who is now in his fourth year, both daunted and excited for what the future holds. After previously working in the mining industry, Mason found his way into bricklaying during the covid years. He’s been picking up skills from Jackson for a couple of years and can’t wait to finish what he started over four years ago.

He said Skill Hire had supported him throughout the journey, while Jackson had helped him keep progressing on site.

“I’ve learned a lot from him,” Mason said. “He’s definitely been the best host that I’ve had. Even though I wasn’t always where I needed to be, he still helped me out the best way he could, and is still continuing to do so.”

“I’ll definitely stick around with Jackson for a fair bit. Learn as much as I can. Just be a sponge and try and absorb and build my skill level. Obviously he’s doing really well for himself, and that lays a path that I can follow.”