MATTHEW Thomassen has a job that is also his holiday.
The Sunshine man has a passion for caravans and is now putting his love into practice by building them.
After spending endless summers as a child travelling across the state with his parents in a caravan, Mr Thomassen finds it only natural that he should take up the course of recreational vehicle servicing at Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE at Epping.
The 23-year-old has been busy planning, sketching and building a caravan for the past 12 months.
Mr Thomassen said it seemed like the right decision to make, as his hands were the only tools that he knew how to use to make a living.
“I’m a practical, hands-on person,” Mr Thomassen said.
After showing little interest in academic studies, Mr Thomassen worked as a labourer and a bartender before his father saw an advertisement for the apprenticeship in caravan manufacture.
While getting into the NMIT course, he has “stuck with the job” and plans never to give it up, he told Star.
“I just enjoy working with my hands, it’s something that I know I can do,” Mr Thomassen said.
“I tried out a lot of jobs but none of them could offer me a good career with stability. The apprenticeship was my lucky break.”
The course was introduced in 2000 and has 35 apprentices.
NMIT instructor Jeff Nocker said the industry was growing and needed qualified staff to meet the demand in the marketplace.
The training course starts from scratch where students learn how to use basic tools to build furniture, walls and then a caravan, Mr Nocker said.
He said it took two years to build a caravan, which was not a long time considering that students worked on the project only once a week.
“The trainees learn skills such as plumbing to put in showers, some electrical application as well as cabinet-making and sheet metal,” Mr Nocker said.
“The base chassis is supplied to NMIT by a manufacturer and the trainees are then involved in building the entire caravan,” he said.
With the certificate, trainees can then go and start their own business, he said.
