Caledonia is leading the way in providing long-term careers for our future generations.
Traineeships
Highly skilled, experienced scaffolders continue to be both in short supply and high demand across Australia. Recognising this skills shortage and in order to develop our own highly skilled scaffolders, Caledonia developed its own comprehensive and unique Traineeship Program. Our first intake of trainees was in South Australia in 2013, followed by Western Australia in 2014 and we are now looking to implement in New South Wales in 2021. Some of our first group of trainees are now qualified scaffolders who have advanced to become leading hands, working for us right across the country!
We offer full-time traineeships delivering genuine on-the-job learning and mentoring from our supervisors and external training partners. Successful candidates will experience a hands-on approach to learning Caledonia’s operations and will attain a Certificate III Scaffolding and their Intermediate Scaffolding ticket upon completion of their traineeship.
We offer above-Award rates and trainee wages increase as modules are successfully signed off.
The Scaffolding Traineeship Program is closely overseen by our Senior Managers to ensure the best learning outcomes are achieved and the program remains relevant to our business.
What does a trainee do?
Our trainee scaffolders form an important part of our scaffolding teams and are able to gain hands-on skills, work experience and a qualification all whilst earning an income. Although many of our trainees are recent school leavers with limited or no work experience, we also offer traineeships to anyone with general experience in the industry who is interested in scaffolding.
Our Traineeship Program enables workers to develop skills in scaffold erection and dismantling to work platforms on building or industrial sites, or for temporary structures such as stages, seating and catwalks. Caledonia traineeships are comprehensive and designed to produce highly skilled and experienced scaffolders at the completion of their training. Given the significant investment that goes into each and every trainee, we always seek to retain our trainees post-completion so they can continue building their careers with Caledonia.
How do I become a trainee?
We are a registered employer, approved to undertake training contracts with apprentices and trainees. Caledonia has a targeted yearly intake of up to 8 trainees each year in each of our locations (Adelaide SA, Gnangara WA, and Granville NSW) typically in January and August of each year. Traineeship applications will be open for submission leading up to these dates and will be advertised on our Join Us page.
Cladding & Insulation Apprenticeships
New to our Cladding & Insulation division in Western Australia are Apprenticeships in Certificate III Engineering (Fabrication) in Western Australia. Similar to our Scaffolding Traineeship Program, successful candidates will complete a tailored, in-house training program alongside their formal qualification. Opportunities to work right across Australia as a Sheet Metal Worker, including leading hand and supervisor positions, are available following the successful completion of your Apprenticeship.
Application dates for apprenticeships will be updated on our Join Us page.
Trainee Testimonial
Meet 19-year-old Caledonia trainee Jaye Suggate from Adelaide. Here’s Jaye’s story:
‘I applied for the traineeship with Caledonia as I wanted to get into the construction industry straight after school. I heard about Caledonia’s traineeship through a friend who was considering applying. I attended the open day and information session at Caledonia’s Lonsdale office and after that I was offered the position. My traineeship started in February 2018.
In the beginning I spent 3 months in the yard, learning what each individual piece of scaffolding was called and what it was used for. This enabled me to sign off on Module 1 before heading out to site. Once on site, I was paired with two advanced scaffolders to learn on the job. After five months with them I was confident carrying out work on my own with supervision.
My first experience was on the Sarah Construction Carmelite project, which was a large aged care facility in Glen Osmond. This was a good job to work on as it was built out of Layher, which most other companies don’t use. Since Carmelite I’ve worked on Glenelg Pier Bridge upgrade, Sellicks Buddha Temple, Prominent Hill Mine shutdown, regional bridge upgrades for McConnell Dowell as well as the old Royal Adelaide Hospital redevelopment. My favourite project so far has been the Sellicks Buddha Temple for BMD. This is because it was such a unique project and one of the biggest I’ve worked on. We had a great crew and it was a great location overlooking the beach at Sellicks.
Caledonia is one of the largest scaffolding companies you can work for, covering all different types of industries using different scaffolding systems. The traineeship is important as you are an investment in the future of Caledonia. They provide you with your basic and intermediate scaffolding tickets and help you through other licences such as forklift, EWP, dogman, confined space and working at heights, ending up with a Cert III in scaffolding. I hope to end up as an advanced scaffolder for Caledonia.
I’d recommend the traineeship to anyone who is interested in getting into the scaffolding or construction industry. Little experience shouldn’t hold you back as Caledonia will provide all the knowledge and licences you need to succeed.’
