Getting qualified – the best feeling ever

Karley Gorton always had a passion for cars, something that was inspired by her dad and her love of speedway racing. Fast forward a few years Karley has been able to live out her passions and has just completed MITO’s New Zealand Certificate in Light Automotive Engineering (Level 3 and 4). She is now looking forward to learning even more in the future. “This qualification is a tool I can use now that I’ve completed it.”

Karley is working at Max Pennington Motors Limited in New Plymouth alongside Aftersales Manager Simoné Kuün. Simoné has been working with Karley over the last two years and has high praises for her. “Karley is very helpful and very friendly. She takes initiative and thinks outside the box.”

Karley has enjoyed having a woman as her supervisor. “I can talk to Simoné about everything which is great. We have that trust in each other and such good communication. I love it.”

When Karley first entered the industry, she was slightly apprehensive as it is more male-dominated but that wasn’t going to stop her. “I had the attitude from my dad, that if a guy can do it then I can do it. I will prove that.” And now with one qualification under her belt, she has hopes for many more to come. “Over the next two years I will be going into front of house and more customer service. I am going to apply for a MITO scholarship and hopefully complete MITO’s New Zealand Certificate in Business Skills (First Line Management) qualification.”

Simoné also sees a bright future ahead for Karley and will do anything to help towards that. “I just put her through the Mazda training course, and she is one course away from being a Mazda Technician. She is set to come through to front of house and this will also help pass her technical experience onto other team members. I believe in supporting and guiding apprentices. A lot to do with that is motivating, supporting and believing in them.”

One thing that Karley said helped her a lot during her apprenticeship was the eLearning theory. “For every eLearning task I did, I always wrote up notes. It helped me later throughout my apprenticeship and will still help me in my job.” Her MITO Training Advisor Garry Auker was another huge support. “He has been amazing and very supportive. All the times he would come and see me I would have other things on my mind. He would point out that I only have this and that to do and then it’s done. He’d pick me up and remotivate me.”

As Simoné looks toward the future and hiring more apprentices, she hopes to see more females coming through the workshop. “If you get an application from a female in a male-dominated environment, I think it takes a lot of courage to send through the application in the first place. I respect that. For me, that already shows passion and that they want to be here.” Karley couldn’t agree more and says, “Don’t be scared, if a guy can do it, you can. Anything is possible. It may be a fear, but you can overcome that by doing it. The feeling once you’re qualified, and to say that you can do it, is the best ever.”