Fact file:
Name: Alana Shewry
Position: Automotive apprentice
Where: Energy City Ford
WITT qualification: Level 2 Certificate in Automotive Trades
On The Job – Alana Shewry
Sitting in overalls, slender fingers etched with grease, Alana Shewry is in her element.
Even better, the 19-year-old has just been offered an automotive apprenticeship with Energy City Ford and she’s glowing.
“That was awesome,” she says. “I feel ecstatic. It’s what I’ve been hoping for.”
That’s because she enjoys working on cars, learning about the different vehicles and what’s wrong with them.
She’s soaking it all in with enthusiasm and has a friendly banter with her workmates.
“The guys help out a lot when I need it, which is awesome,” she says.
Alana first started coming to Energy City Ford on work placement each Thursday and Friday while doing a Certificate in Automotive Trades at WITT.
As soon as she completed the one-year course in November, Alana started a three-month trial with the company and on January 9 was offered the apprenticeship.
But her interest in cars began when she was about 14 and started working in the shed alongside her dad, who was a diesel mechanic.
“I’m kind of a daddy’s girl. I just helped out and had encouragement and got into this,” she says.
Together they stripped down a motorbike, got the panel work done and sold it on. “It was quite a good little project.”
Alana was also one of those kids who like to pull a thing apart. “And then I had trouble putting it back together,” she grins. “Then I got the gist of it. I pulled apart an engine to get scrap metal.”
At WITT, she learnt how engines work and all the basics about automotives.
“It prepares you quite well, especially because you get to do work experience whilst doing it,” she says.
Also on the course, she learnt about electronics, transitions, gear boxes, stripping engines, balancing tyres and electrical information. “Pretty much everything – there’s so much.”
The tutors were all outstanding, especially Dave Weedon, who was always there to help. “I was going to do a home job with my own car and he helped me with the brakes.”
But the main thing she learnt is to listen to each car.
“Use your senses – that’s what they always told us. You hear knocking noises or air leaks. A car normally tells you what’s wrong,” Alana says.
This tuned-in young woman is now focused on becoming fully qualified in a couple of years.
Then what? “I don’t know,” she says. “I’ll just have to wait and see.”