By Casey Neill
Jason Edtmaier is determined to succeed in life and in business.
The 20-year-old from Rowville is well on his way, named a Youth Enterprise Award nominee at the Greater Dandenong Chamber of Commerce Business Awards breakfast at Sandhurst Club on Wednesday 9 August.
Chisholm Institute’s Mike Barrett nominated the electrical apprentice, selecting him from 33,000 students across the TAFE and about 300 eligible electrical apprentices.
“In the time I spent researching all of these guys I could see that Jason was a standout,” he said.
“What impressed me was at such a young age, he’s got a plan.
“We don’t see that in a lot of our students these days.”
Mike has been Jason’s instructor for more than a year.
“I can see he’s committed to his school work,” he said.
“He’s somewhat gifted and he uses that gift to work hard in his studies.
“He also uses his time to help his mates along.
“I think that’s particularly honourable these days when people try to climb over one another.
“He’s helped a few guys who otherwise might not have made it to get over the line.”
Jason said he’d always wanted to do a trade.
“It’s always been in the family,” he said.
In high school at Hallam Senior College he completed a certificate two in building and construction.
He sat down with a teacher at the end of Year 12 and went through the pros and cons of each trade.
They decided electrical was the right path for him.
He started at Chisholm last year and has an apprenticeship with L and O Technologies in Dandenong South.
“I love showing up for work each day,” he said.
“There’s always new things to learn and new challenges.
“I’m really excited for what the trade has to offer.”
Jason said he used to play a high level of footy but “gave the flick to knuckle down with my studies”.
He’s finished a certificate in telecommunications at night school and over the next 12 months wants to get his certificate three out of the way and get his electrical licence.
Jason wants to continue with L and O and take on more responsibility, and to eventually complete a building diploma and go out on his own.
“It would also be good to take on others and really bring them along with me,” he said.
“I get a lot of satisfaction out of helping others.
“To me, knowledge is power. I enjoy learning new things and taking it back to work and teaching others.”
