Howick Ltd Takes on New Apprentices Thanks to ED&EM

Howick Ltd’s newest apprentices, Ruan and Benji

The Education to Employment (ED&EM) team loves finding ways to connect students from all across Tāmaki Makaurau to local employers for career opportunities. 

So, when Howick Ltd reached out to our team with two apprenticeship positions to fill, our East Auckland Connector Adrian jumped at the chance to see who might be interested. He approached several East Auckland schools who responded by nominating a total of ten students who expressed interest in the role.

Exploring one of the CNC machines

Over the course of two days, Adrian introduced these students to Lance Jones, the Production Manager at Howick Ltd. A couple of site visits were organised, and the students were invited to tour the workshop floor and see the different aspects of the work the business offers. They were able to ask questions and see the machines they would be working on. It was a great insight into the workshop and culture.

Lance reviewed the students’ CVs and Howick Ltd offered two positions to students from Howick College and Macleans College, Benji and Ruan.

Benji was a year 12 student who had been working with his dad for the last year and a half. His father worked in engineering and building tools, and it was this experience that sparked Benji’s interest in getting into this industry. After the apprenticeship he is interested in learning a bit more about fabrication and continuing his journey within engineering.

Ruan, also a year 12 student, was really interested in the different components of engineering, enjoying seeing the whole process of building machinery, getting a sense of pride knowing that what he has done will have contributed to that finished product. Ruan had been studying engineering for the past three years at school and was really excited to be given the opportunity to join Howick Ltd. Long term, he sees himself remaining in the industry and hopes to be able to buy a house in the future.

Howick Ltd site visit looking at one of their roll-forming machines

Howick Ltd is a well-established business in East Auckland that has been manufacturing high technology machinery for over 40 years and has gained a worldwide reputation as an innovative, reliable and forward-thinking company. Both apprentices have already started at Howick Ltd and have jumped right in, learning the ropes.

“We welcomed our two new apprentices because we believe in nurturing the next generation of talent and addressing the critical skills gap New Zealand is facing”, said Lance. “By investing in their growth, we’re not only shaping their futures but also building a highly skilled workforce that helps us to compete on a global scale”.

This is a great example of how the ED&EM initiative works.  Every day, we are creating opportunities to build connections between students and the world of work in an effort to bridge the gap. We wish Benji and Ruan luck with their future careers!

If you have career opportunities that you would like to offer young people, please feel free to contact us on [email protected].