Bailey becomes a fourth-generation boilermaker

Why learn one trade when you can do two? Bailey Stone explains how a dual qualification helped him achieve his goals.

Boilermaking is definitely in Bailey Stone’s blood.

His great-grandfather was a boilermaker, as was his grandfather and uncle.

When Bailey was deciding what to do for a job, it seemed like a natural choice.

“I wanted to go through the family path and see how that worked out, and it has,” says Bailey.

After high school, Bailey completed Chisholm’s Certificate III in Engineering – Fabrication Trade apprenticeship with William Adams, a supplier of Caterpillar earth moving equipment.

When an opportunity arose to take his career to the next level, Bailey jumped.

“The current machinist (who had 30-40 years’ worth of knowledge) was retiring, so I saw an opportunity to help me, help the company and retain that information and business knowledge,” says Bailey.

Bailey enrolled in a second apprenticeship – the Certificate III in Engineering – Mechanical Trade.

At the time of writing this article, Bailey was six months away from finishing.

When he does, it will have taken him 5.5 years to complete both apprenticeships.

But with two qualifications under his belt, the world is his oyster.

“The dual qualification and being able to do boilermaking and machinery is like gold in this industry,” says Bailey.

“There are currently hundreds of jobs in Melbourne alone. The industry lost a lot of international staff due to COVID, and that’s why the vacancies have come through. Everyone’s screaming for boilermakers at the moment.”

Bailey says he really enjoyed the learning experience at Chisholm, particularly the variety.

“The facilities, the equipment we got to use, the jobs and the techniques we were able to apply were second to none,” he says.

“There’s just such a big variety that applies to all industry, not just mine.

“At Chisholm, I was able to learn about other career progressions as well.”

Bailey says he found the teachers had loads of industry knowledge and were eager to help when he wanted to take on more work.

“If I wanted to learn something, they were fully supportive of finding something new for me to do so that I could further my skills,” he says.

“The instructions were easy to understand and the teachers genuinely wanted the best for the students.”

Bailey’s hard work and initiative paid off. He was nominated as Apprentice of the Year at the 2023 Chisholm Education Awards.

Chisholm also put him forward for the Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame, Apprentice of the Year in 2023.

When Bailey is not busy immersing himself in his work, his other passion is community service – he has been part of Scouts for 20 years and mentors younger Scouts coming up through the ranks.

His advice to others looking at doing a similar trade was to “take the leap”.

“I’ve got the most out of it that I possibly can, and I’ve loved every second of it,” he says.

“It’s not just a job, it’s the things you can do with it outside of work as well. I’ve built race cars, camper trailers. I’ve rebuilt engines.

“There’s lots you can do outside of work with the skills that you learn at Chisholm.”