WorldSkills Australia Nationals – Brisbane 2010 – Wall & Floor Tiling

Jake’s dad is a building supervisor. He became interested in tilling when his family had a renovation done to their house when he was a child. He has now finished his apprenticeship.

He likes the fact that it’s a finishing trade, you do the final touches to a house. James says you need to be neat and tidy because nothing gets covered up. Attention to detail is also important. You really have to be on the ball.

James looks up to his friend Peter who won a medal at the International Comp. He has been training on the project that he will be doing at the competition (2 walls, cut out a dolphin and Brisbane city skyline) he says it’s quite tricky and admits his training has a lot to do with learning from making mistakes.

He hopes to keep doing the trade ‘until my body dies’. After that he may become a building supervisor like his dad. His entire family seems to be in the industry with his mum also setting up her own building company, two of his brothers are roof carpenters, and another brother works in building scheduling.