Esso Australia apprentices clinch second place at Regional World Skills Australia Competition

Two of Esso Australia’s apprentices, Brendan Anthonisen and James Binotto, recently participated in the Regional World Skills Australia Competition and came in second place in their categories for Machining and Fitting respectively.

Since 1981, World Skills Australia has championed skills excellence in vocational, technological and service-oriented careers and has helped over 100,000 people compete in national and international skills competitions. The competition provides an opportunity for young apprentices to test their skills and knowledge in their chosen field and is a great way to network with leaders in their industry.

For James’ challenge, he was given a drawing where he had to fabricate and machine all components and then assemble the design as per the drawing. For Brendan’s challenge, he was given a drawing and had to machine the components as per the drawing, and both were scored on the accuracy and quality of the finished product in line with the specifications of the drawings.

“The world skills competition was a great experience for me to test my skills. Having the time constraint to produce the chain and sprocket block was a very new challenge for me but I utilised my knowledge and experience at Esso to complete it with precision,” commented James.

“It was a great opportunity to be able to participate in the competition and test my skill set and understanding of the trade and definitely recommend other apprentices to have a go if they have the chance to. It was also great to have the support of Esso to push us apprentices to better ourselves by getting extra opportunities outside of our normal allocated work,” highlighted Brendan.

Our apprenticeship program, developed in partnership with WPC Group, has over the years seen many successful apprentices move on to secure highly sought after jobs with most of them having these jobs lined up before their apprenticeship has been completed. Their win is a true testament to the comprehensive training and exposure they have gained through our apprenticeship program.