Careers

The designer has a particularly interesting role. Designers travel to site to liaise with customers on their needs for stock handling systems. Each yard system is custom designed using AutoCAD software. Computer literacy is an important aspect of the position, however there is a good balance of office and field work. The designers project manage the construction of the customer’s facility from initial concept through to a complete set of yards.
Attributes needed to be a successful designer are:

• Good people skill
• Computer literacy
• An interest or background in livestock handling
• A tertiary qualification in a relevant field is well regarded.

ProWay provides internal training in all aspects of the role and in most cases new Stock yard Designers will work closely with a mentor senior Designer.

The trade is metal fabrication. Apprentices learn to weld and fabricate items in steel and aluminum.

The apprenticeship takes four years. During the first three years apprentices attend TAFE for one full day per week during work hours. ProWay are totally committed to their apprentice program.

We are a young, rapidly expanding company which is dependent on bringing through quality apprentices to give us the skills we need in our business. We:

• Take our obligation seriously to provide a safe work environment for apprentices. We recognise young apprentices are their own worst enemy and monitor them to develop them past this stage.
• Ensure apprentices get to work in a friendly, non-threatening environment. We run a harmonious workshop with senior staff aware of their duty to nurture apprentices. Having other apprentices about also makes the transition from school to work relatively easy.
• Accelerate the learning of our apprentices, unlike many other shops that use apprentices as a cheap source of labour to sweep the floors. We have apprentices welding within the first couple of months and fabricating as soon as they show some aptitude.

We feel we have an obligation to ensure our apprentices are well trained. By the time they finish their training our apprentices will have:

• Excellent trade skills
• A well-developed work ethic
• An understanding of the need to be productive in the workplace.

Anyone currently in Year 10, 11 or 12 should contemplate an apprenticeship. We favour students who have completed year 10, provided they are mature enough at this stage. It is however, better to commence an apprenticeship at 16 or 17 years of age. Whilst some students prefer to complete Year 12 before starting.

Students should be aware that in years one and two of an apprenticeship they are attending TAFE and learning the trade, so wages are modest (but still much better than wages at School or University). We accelerate apprentices learning. Any apprentices who are doing well are paid above the award and also can receive substantial productivity bonuses boosting their income.

Although metal fabrication is not ‘rocket science’, we seek apprentices with some ability at school. Students should at least be getting a solid pass in maths. Sometimes students who have not been doing particularly well at school can ‘bloom’ in the workplace.

Metal Fabrication suits people who take pleasure in creating things. Students who spend time ‘tinkering’ with various projects often excel in a trade. Potential apprentices should be aware that the metal trades are plain hard work.
We would like to think our apprentices will stay with us for life. Our business is run by workshop people who have progressed up in the business. However, this is often not the reality of the modern workplace.

Having a trade is excellent for those wanting to travel. A tradesman is always going to pick up work easily in any place, both domestically in Australia and overseas. Metal Fabrication tradesmen are highly sought after in the mining, construction and manufacturing industries. Metal Fabricators will find work everywhere from remote mining areas to the capital cities.

Career options are varied for people with a metal trade. They have the option of staying with the trade, and becoming an experienced and valuable tradesman. They can branch into service industries supporting metal fabrication where their trade knowledge gives them an advantage. Some tradesmen go on to become trade teachers or workplace instructors and many tradesmen go on to manage or own their own business.

ProWay employ both trades qualified and second class fabricators. Attracting and retaining these trades is competitive. Our workshop features:

• New modern workshop
• Regular, consistent working hours with early start and early knock offs.
• Several bonus schemes are available. Bonuses are offered for productivity, care in use of consumables and attendance. Our best tradesman earns excellent money without the need to work excessive overtime.
• A long weekend in every month of the year.

ProWay employ labourers to assist with manufacture. Conditions are similar as for tradesman and wages are dependent on skills and experience.

Our workshop features:

• New modern workshop
• Regular, consistent working hours with early start and early knock offs.
• Several bonus schemes are available. Bonuses are offered for productivity, care in use of consumables and attendance.
• A long weekend in every month of the year.

We run two delivery trucks. These travel to all corners of Australia and are loaded at our manufacturing HQ in Wagga Wagga NSW. Our truck drivers are very important to us as they are a point of contact with our customers. Assisting clients with unloading is an key part of the job and in most cases there is more than one drop off destination in a trip.

We prefer drivers from a rural background or understanding of agriculture while good people skills are critical.

Safety is our key focus and we have a number of initiatives to ensure loading and unloading is as safe as possible for all dispatch employees. A commitment to ProWay safety standards whilst maintaining ProWay vehicles in good order is essential to ongoing employment.

Experienced drivers who hold a current and valid licence with good driving records should apply.