Study gets Martin's career on track
01 May 2003
Martin Burgman.
Most people study at TAFE either to help them get their first job, change to a new career, or improve their prospects in their current job.
But for some people, study can have an even greater impact on their life, as it did for Martin Burgman from Bacchus Marsh.
Martin, 37, works as Supply Supervisor at Smorgon Steel, a steel mill in Laverton North. Last year his employer sponsored he and a colleague to enrol in the Diploma of Purchasing and Materials Management at Kangan Batman TAFE’s Broadmeadows Campus.
Martin has been with the company for 21 years, having started his working life at 16 with Comsteel in Newcastle. He was a boilermaker for 10 years, before moving into fitting and turning. However, knee pain from a workplace injury eventually forced him to move into an administrative role. He was assigned to help out in the supply office, where he heard of a full-time position with Smorgon Steel in Melbourne. Martin, his wife and their five children then moved to Melbourne so that he could take up the position.
Martin says returning to study has changed his life: “Sometimes you get in a rut of ‘just turning up’ for work each day, without considering your career and the future and where you want to be.”
“But since doing the course, I’ve got more direction. Now my five-year goal is to get into a senior role in supply chain management at Smorgon.”
However, returning to study was not without its challenges. During the 12-month diploma, Martin missed a lot of classes due to hospitalisation for stomach ulcers, pain from his knee injury, and family issues.
Despite this, he achieved High Distinctions in most of his subjects, and has gone on to enrol in the Masters program in logistics at RMIT. His commitment to his studies has also been rewarded with one of Kangan Batman TAFE’s highest student awards.
The Harold C Richards Student of the Year Award is presented to a student who has overcome difficult circumstances to excel in their studies. It is named after the first Council President of Broadmeadows College of TAFE (which later became Kangan Batman TAFE).
Martin has the following advice for any prospective mature-age student: “The main challenge is finding a balance between your study, family life, and work.”
“My family were very supportive - my wife’s been telling me for years I had the brains to do it. But I must admit, the kids did get annoyed when I’d take my textbooks to their football and cricket matches. Eventually they asked me to start actually watching them instead of reading!”
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 Martin will receive his award, will be held on Friday 23 May. Parchment Press is the major sponsor of the ceremony, while Jobs Plus is the supporting sponsor.
Martin Burgman has won the following awards:
- Harold C Richards Student of the Year Award
- Silver Medallion Award - Transport & Logistics Department
- Outstanding Achievement - Diploma of Purchasing and Materials Management
