My first job when I left school was with Telecom Australia where I was employed as an Apprentice Technician (Telecommunications). I had an interest in electronics and a basic knowledge of electricity so I didn't think it would be hard - it wasn't. My first day on the job was Monday the 21st of January 1985. The Telecom Australia Training Centre (for Brisbane/Queensland) was located in Banfield Street at Chermside which is very close to Chermside shopping centre. At this time I had no car so the process was to walk to Bundamba station, catch a train to Brunswick Street, walk to the bus stop, catch a bus to Chermside shopping centre, then walk over to the training school. At the end of the day the process was reversed to get home again. It must have taken about 90 minutes at least each way, and would take even longer if you just missed a bus or train at Brunswick Street. The training complex had a mixture of brick and timber buildings - the brick buildings were for classroom/theory lessons, while the wooden buildings were for practical work like wiring up pieces of telephony equipment and fault finding. The brick buildings also housed the administration staff and a canteen. Also on the grounds there was a large radio tower which was progressively assembled then dissembled each year by a small group who needed that skill. I think we initially spent only one month here for basic training before we were allocated to a field location for six months practical experience. The reason was to ease congestion in the training school as there were 144 new apprentices each year, the full apprenticeship lasting three years.
We had no say in where we were sent, and I don't know how they decided, but after the first month at Chermside I was sent to Sherwood Exchange Maintenance Group, EMG for short. It was actually the perfect location as it was much closer to home, and immediately opposite Sherwood railway station. To be continued....
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AuthorI love to understand things, how they work, why they happen - I'm always learning and keen to investigate... Archives
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