Tom speeds into his dream job in motor sport
30 May 2002
Tom Rogers.
Like many young people in the automotive industry, Tom Rogers loves motor sport and had always dreamt of working in the field. Today, through his own determination and hard work, he is doing just that as a mechanic for the Kmart Racing Team.
Tom's first step towards a career in the automotive industry was studying part-time in the TAFE Certificate II in Auto Body Refinishing at the same time as completing his VCE.
Then in 1999 he began his apprenticeship with the VACC (Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce) Group Apprenticeship Scheme. As a Holden Group Scheme apprentice, he was rotated between three Holden dealerships: Geoff Brady Holden in Glen Waverley, Booran Holden in Dandenong and John Collins Holden in Mornington.
Throughout his apprenticeship, he never lost sight of his ultimate dream of working for a V8 Super Car team. Every time his VACC Field Officer would visit him in his workplace, Tom would constantly ask for advice on how he could get such an opportunity.
The Field Officer advised him that to have a chance, he would first need to finish his trade schooling with excellent results, and impress his host employers.
Fortunately Tom did all this and more. He received excellent reports from all of his apprenticeship supervisors, who praised his willingness to help as well as the quality of his work.
He also finished his trade schooling at Kangan Batman TAFE well ahead of time - in 65 days instead of the prescribed 120. He has since been awarded Kangan Batman TAFE's Automotive Gold Medallion Award, presented to the best student across the entire Automotive school, which covers two campuses in Coburg and Richmond.
His teachers nominated him for the award because they were impressed by his attitude and diligence, an example of which is the fact he was always punctual despite having to drive 70 kilometres each way from his home in Officer, to Kangan Batman TAFE's Richmond campus.
In March this year, Tom's persistence finally paid off and he commenced work at the Kmart Racing Team as the No. 2 mechanic for driver Todd Kelly's car.
"I really enjoy my job because I'm getting to work on the cutting edge of new developments in racing - there's always something new coming out", Tom says.
"We travel to 13 race weekends a year, but the rest of the time we're stripping, repairing and putting the car back together, or testing out at Winton Raceway to continually improve performance."
"It's been a bit of a learning curve for me, and it can be quite high pressure on race weekends, but I love the excitement - it's my dream job."
Tom's next goal is to continue to develop his skills, particularly in engine management. He has already completed an advanced module in Electronic Engine Management (part of the Certificate IV in Automotive), and plans to undertake further study in engineering. Ultimately he would like to become involved the building, design and testing of race cars.
Kangan Batman TAFE has 24,000 students across its six campuses in Broadmeadows, Moreland, Richmond, Coburg, Avondale Heights and Essendon.
Each year in May, Kangan Batman TAFE conducts two graduation ceremonies at the Moonee Valley Racecourse to accommodate all of its graduates and award-winning students.
The second ceremony, at which Tom will receive his awards, will be held on Friday 24 May. Parchment Press is major sponsor of the ceremony, while Jobs Plus is supporting sponsor.
Tom has won the following awards:
- Gold Medallion Award for Best Automotive Student
- Silver Medallion Award for Mechanical Technology
- Outstanding Achievement - Level 3 Motor Mechanics General Stream
