Top Technician's Third Qualification

It’s hard not to be impressed with Hayden Gare’s professional achievements to date. At just 24 years old, the Heavy Automotive Technician at Regal Haulage Ltd has already completed two qualifications through MITO and is now on his way to earning his third after being awarded a 2016 MITO Business Skills scholarship.

Hayden’s ever-increasing list of qualifications includes a National Certificate in Motor Industry (Automotive Heavy Engineering) with strand in Road Transport (Level 3 and 4) - a qualification Hayden completed in half the expected time.

I want to continue to try and further myself and progress my career

“I did a 12 month motorsport course at WINTEC prior to joining Regal Haulage, so I was able to transfer some of the credits I gained there to my apprenticeship. Plus, since we do such a wide variety of tasks required for the training programme in-house, my work could be easily assessed and I ended up completing the qualification quite quickly.”

One gets the sense that Hayden is being modest. But there’s no hiding the significance of his National Certificate in Motor Industry (Advanced Technical) (Level 5) with strand in Automotive Electrical Engineering. Designed as the automotive industry’s elite training programme, the challenging 12 month programme gave Hayden the opportunity to extend his skills beyond current technology and repair techniques.

“I would say that completing MITO’s ATech® programme was one of my greatest achievements to date. I certainly learned a lot from it. At the end of the day, I want to continue to try and further myself and progress my career. I don’t intend on being on the ‘spanners’ forever and I’d like to be able to move into different roles within the company. I knew ATech® would be a good step in that direction.” 

Hayden Gare

Heavy Automotive Technician Hayden Gare


“It was pretty awesome when I found out I had been awarded a scholarship,” says Hayden. “I’d always planned on doing this qualification but getting the scholarship and having my fees paid for me definitely made it that much easier! I’ve already learned plenty about how to deal with situations more efficiently, how to communicate effectively with my peers, and creating work plans to get a really good structure in the workshop.”
Continuing his career progression, Hayden successfully applied for a 2016 MITO Graduate scholarship which contributed up to $2,000 towards any programme of study related his industry. Hayden used the scholarship to enrol in the National Certificate in Business Skills (First Line Management) (Level 4) and is using what he’s learning in the training programme to improve aspects of the business.

Workshop Administrator Peter Spiller, who looks after Regal Haulage’s apprentices, believes Hayden is nothing short of outstanding. “I’ve been training apprentices in the business for 40 years and periodically you will an exceptional one who excels beyond anyone else,” says Peter. “Hayden is one of them. He’s highly motivated and continuously pushes himself which is evidenced by his numerous qualifications. We think very highly of him, and recognising his ongoing potential, we recently appointed him acting workshop foreman. We wanted to take him out of his comfort zone a little so basically said ‘you’re in charge!’ And he more than stepped up to the role.”

With a strong interest in everything mechanical from a young age, it’s no surprise Hayden ended up with a hands-on career. It’s also why, outside of work and his study, you’ll find him building and racing his own 1976 Mini on the GTRNZ race series.  

And if his aptitude for training is any indication, his race would definitely be one to watch.

Similar Success Stories

SUCCESS STORY:

Apprentice mechanic Sophie is on a mission to encourage other young women to join the automotive industry. “I did the automotive course at school, and I was the only girl. I went the second year and was the only girl again!”

Read more ›