It was during a work placement at Farra Engineering in Dunedin that Eva Sincock realised she loved working with metal.
Although she’d previously considered getting into the trades through building or carpentry, she hadn’t thought about engineering before.
Now she’s been in fulltime employment at Farra for a year, and is loving it.‘‘It’s really good,” Eva says. ‘‘I didn’t think I’d like it as much as I did.”
The opportunity arose when she was studying at the now Trinity College in 2022. A work placement came up at Farra through the SOREC Academy, and she jumped at the chance.
Gareth Evans, the Farra Engineering CEO and SOREC founder, says the gateway programme sees students going to work one day a week. They learn about what it means to be in a workplace, and what the engineering industry looks like in real terms.
‘‘That meant when she finished school she already knew that she wanted to be here and had some basic skills” Gareth says. ‘‘So we could put her straight on an apprenticeship and basically save her six months of her life.”
The programme is also great for employers, as they get to see the calibre of potential employees before bringing them onboard fulltime.
While it can be daunting for a high school student to enter the workplace, even for one day a week, Eva says it was a fairly soft landing at Farra.
There was an introductory day where she was shown around the company and introduced to people. Then over her work placement she was able to experience the different departments that Farra operates.
‘‘I loved it because I got to see the different aspects of engineering that goes on at Farra,” Eva recalls. ‘‘From the machine shop, to heavy fabrication, light fabrication, and the sheet metal side. I got to make a decision from there of what I wanted to do my apprenticeship in.”
Having been in the gateway programme throughout 2022, she had a relatively seamless transition into an apprenticeship upon leaving school at the end of that year.
Recently Eva’s been working on the huge pit maintenance units that Farra manufactures for companies around the world. She’s also worked on projects for Emerson’s and Greggs in Dunedin.
‘‘I get to learn new things pretty much every day,” she says. ‘‘I love working with the people as well. Probably my favourite thing is going out and doing site work.”
For any high school student considering their future career, she strongly recommends the engineering industry and the SOREC Academy as an option.
‘‘If you don’t try you’ll never know,” Eva says. ‘‘I think getting into a trade is a great thing to do. I’d say to anyone who was thinking about it to just go for it.”
