"I was pretty overwhelmed," Mr Conijn said.
Mr Conijn, of Custom Fencing, was one of four finalists up for the award at a ceremony in New Plymouth last month.
"My heart was beating fast — I haven’t won much for my efforts in life. It was quite nice to achieve something."
Association vice-president Debbie White said the trainee of the year award recognised a worker who was enrolled in an NZQA national certificate in fencing level 3 course last year.
Mr Conijn had demonstrated to the tutor he had excellent knowledge and skills in fence line installation, Ms White said.
He demonstrated exceptional workmanship, showed natural leadership within teams and had no hesitation in sharing his knowledge to help upskill others, she said.
"His assessments were completed to a high standard, he works well in the team environment, is dedicated and focused, and health and safety-minded."
Mr Conijn said he enjoyed training staff, praising their effort and watching them progress.
"You’ve got to look for the talent in a person ... if you build someone’s self esteem up, you’ll get the best out of them."
He enjoyed a day’s hard work.
"It’s a physical job — I get paid to go to the gym ... [and] if you want to get bigger, you just work harder."
