hello there, i’m ken!
i’m a recently qualified carpenter with aspirations of being a builder, the son of two hard working migrant parents and a creative thinker and leader.
Almost three years ago, I stood on the precipice of my 30’s wondering what I wanted to achieve in life. After spending almost a third of my life in a successful career in sales and management, working with an amazing mentor who taught me much about business and life, I found myself faced with the confronting reality that this career was not my path in life - it was not my purpose. As much as I’d grown and developed over the years, deep down I knew I wanted more and that it was time to make a change, to start a new chapter - The problem was, I had no idea what this new chapter even looked like. Growing up, I was always told to study hard, achieve impeccable grades, get into a respectable university, attain a good degree and eventually land a high-paying corporate job - this was the ‘formula’ to success that my culture had instilled in me from a young age. It was the expected path.
I found myself miserably stuck on a path that I realised was never mine to begin with, desperately wanting to leave to find ‘something more’ - something I couldn’t quite articulate at the time. I was paralysed in this state of inner conflict for years. It wasn’t until finally the undeniable agony of my inactivity became greater than my fear of the unknown itself, that I was galvanized into taking the leap of faith that changed my life - I resigned without having a clear plan, without a clear career direction and with a wife who was five months pregnant. This was just the motivation I needed!
Every minute of my time off I channeled into drawing mind maps, looking up different occupations, soul searching to find what I loved, and looking up career pathways. Despite exploring a degree in Construction Management, Project Management and even recommencing my degree in Interior Architecture, I ended up choosing instead to combine my passion for design, the desire to create, to problem solve and to work with my hands and pursue a career in building and construction through carpentry.
Looking back, I realise now, that the “something more” I was desperately searching for could be succinctly summarised into one word: Ikigai. Ikigai is a Japanese philosophical concept that describes that which gives your life worth, meaning, or purpose. Ikigai highlights that this sense of purpose in life and ultimately true happiness can be found at the centre of four overlapping principles; what you love, what you’re good at, what the world needs and what you can be rewarded for. For me, at the centre lies carpentry.
As an aspiring future leader in this industry, my journey and progression demonstrates what is possible when you choose an alternative and ‘unconventional’ pathway rather than the more traditional and ‘expected’ path of a tertiary education and highlights the importance of finding your Ikigai, prioritising your passion and committing 110% into your career. I’ve progressed through the industry at a pace that was unimaginable to me and as as a result I’ve been presented countless opportunities including completing my carpentry apprenticeship in just 2.5 years and the very recent opportunity to lead a $1.1m residential project managing a team of carpenters, trades and working under a former recipient of MBV Builder of the Year.
Reflecting on the progress I’ve made and reassessing my goals for the very near future, I’m ready to take the next step in this career, with my sights set on a DBU licence. With the support of the Mario Biasin Career Advancement Scholarship, I believe I can achieve this goal within the next 18-24 months. The Scholarship would not only help to remove the immense financial obstacle of engaging the help of a builders registration training service, but it would also provide the incredible opportunity to be mentored by industry leaders to help steer me in the right direction of achieving my goals. I was recently fortunate enough to have the opportunity to speak with John Goris, and in our brief conversation he gave advice on one of the toughest decisions I’ve had to wrestle with in my career so far - to choose job stability by progressing through a large and rapidly expanding, industry-leading company, or to choose to follow my ambition, actualise my vision and prioritise obtaining my DBU. With this decision, advice, and course correction to pursue my DBU, I believe I’m back to closing in on my goals.
In 2-5 years time, I’m guided by my vision of running my own company building beautiful, luxury homes and renovating and extending existing homes that have heritage overlays with the primary goal of having more time to spend with my family. I’m certain that along this journey I’ll encounter countless more difficult and pivotal decisions to make, and to have the opportunity to be within mentorship proximity to the leaders of this industry who hold an extensive wealth of invaluable experience and knowledge, would allow me to expand on my own learning, skills and vision to hopefully become an industry leader one day.
Although I didn’t end up journeying on the ‘expected path’ my parents had carved for me, I attribute much of the rapid milestones I’ve achieved so far in this industry down to the values of hard work, perseverance, discipline and resilience my parents instilled in me, finding my Ikigai, my purpose in life and forgoing traditional beliefs to forge my own path to success, the support of some incredible people along the way, learning from past and present leaders such as Mario Biasin and finally organizations like the Building and Construction Foundation that have helped fast track and shape my career.
I encourage others to join this amazing industry and chase their passion and I believe this scholarship would further encourage me to empower others already in our industry to achieve their own goals.
Skillsets
-Experience in all phases of the build process including setting out, excavation, steel and concrete, framing, lock up, fix and defect rectifications
-Experience in estimating quantities and doing take-offs
-Articulate and effective communicator
-Strong networking and interpersonal skills
-Ability to quickly establish rapport and build relationships
-Solution-focused ethos with excellent problem-solving skills
-Strong team management skills
-Creative flair with meticulous attention to detail
-Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, Canva and Squarespace and ability to quickly grasp new programs and systems
Work experience
Leading Hand Carpenter | Imperial Builders
September 2022 -
-Running lead on a $1.1m residential project managing a team of carpenters and trades with a six-month timeline.
Apprentice Carpenter | Dome Building Projects
August 2021 - July 2022
-Worked on over 10 sites, ranging from $1m - $8m.
-Spent six months in a workshop environment which was a unique mix of carpentry, joinery and woodworking. Became well-versed in workshop machinery including a panel saw, bandsaw, thicknesser and jointer as well as a drum sander.
-Honed my precision skills, often working to 0.2mm - 0.5mm tolerances.
-Part of a two man team which made and installed a highly complex cedar feature ceiling for BE.Architecture at Shakespeare Grove, Hawthorn. The ceiling had a lot of intricate details made with over 400 individual pieces, including a mixture of cedar veneer panels and solid cedar straps, panels angled off the ceiling to create different reveals and panels where the widths reached close to 2.8m wide with specific grain directions and angles. I took the lead on meticulously planning, calculating, and breaking down the architectural plans into the individual pieces, using trigonometry extensively as well as doing the site set out to ensure the potential for unsightly gaps were eliminated as it was to be a caulk free install.
-Created samples for architects, often workshopping ideas with a construction manager to come up with “how” to build and execute complex and challenging details.
-Wrote an Excel spreadsheet for a Construction Manager which reduced the manual calculation of custom cavity sliders to 1/5th of the time. The spreadsheet only required the input of six measurements and was able to calculate the quantity and measurements for all the pieces of the cavity, as well as what door sizes needed to be ordered.
-Established a reputation as “Jig Lord”, creating complex router jigs to create precise, repeatable and efficient cuts/shapes into timber. In one instance, I made a dovetail jig for American Oak skirting boards that was able to route out the two opposing pieces in five minutes, where as the previous hand cut technique would have taken over 40 minutes. This brought down an estimated one week/two man job to a two day/one man job to create close to 50 dovetail joins. Another jig I made was used to route out five $2000 doors to house a Fritsjurgen pivot hinge with only 3mm of the door “skin” left on either side of the hardware.
-Specialised in architectural door hardware installation which included routing out complex concealed hinges, mortice locks and pivot hinges. I was privately engaged by Bowens to install an AGB/Formani hardware display pod which included over 50 different types of handles and 40 mortice locks.
Apprentice Carpenter | Reed Built
November 2019 - July 2021
-Contributed towards eight large extensions/renovations, including six from start-to-finish.
-Heavily involved in all aspects of the build process including setting out, excavating, laying steel reinforcement, pouring concrete foundations and slabs, setting stumps, framing, lock up and fix as well as defect rectification.
-Tasked countless times with running smaller jobs on my own, including instances where I was leading a first-year apprentice.
Apprentice Carpenter | Reed Builders
September 2019 - November 2019
-Part of the team that built the Lexus Marquee for the 2019 Melbourne Cup
Sales Manager and Store Manager | Giant South Yarra
July 2011 - April 2019
-Working alongside the business owner in every facet of the business from sales forecasting, stock procurement, inventory management and day to day operations
-Forging relationships with schools and clubs, including submitting tenders resulting in a long term relationship with some of Melbourne’s leading private schools in the heart of Toorak and bayside based triathlon squads
-Developing and implementing strategies to increase sales through sponsorships and product placement
-Handling all the administrative duties including ordering, receiving, pricing and liaising with suppliers
-Managing a team of five which included scheduling and overseeing workflows for the sales and service team
-Handling customer complaints and disputes, ensuring a positive outcome for both the customer and the business owner
-Providing seamless support and service to a varied client base that included corporate customers, high net worth individuals and charity organisations
-Handling complex sales transactions including sales to overseas customers, payments utilising finance options and transactions that included financing on sales and discounted items which would have otherwise been ineligible for finance (This was achieved by creating a new system that streamlined the calculations of deposits and repayment amounts, whilst ensuring the business was not exposed to additional costs or risks. This resulted in a 300% increase in financed sales)
Entrepreneurial experience
Co-Founder | Duck Luck
(2016 - 2019)
Duck Luck creates and supplies premium quality Vietnamese coffee to over eight cafes around Victoria and Tasmania. As Co-Founder, I was responsible for the branding, website content and management, product sourcing, partnerships, and business development opportunities.
Founder | Bicycle Emporium
(2012 - 2019)
I created Bicycle Emporium, which helped facilitate the transaction of second-hand bikes with the goal of achieving the highest possible resale value and offering customers a streamlined service. Since its inception, I’ve handled over $250,000 worth of products.
Founder | Press Supply Co.
(2012-2016)
I started Press Supply Co. after seeing an opportunity in the market to source and supply custom-made cycling musette bags and bamboo fibre cycling socks to businesses, local bike shops as well as local cycling groups. Previous customers include Deloitte, REA Group, Giant Bikes Australia, and Hurford Hardwood.
Website design experience
Reed Built
Duck Luck
Personal Resume
www.kennethlim.co
Education
Diploma of Building and Construction
2022 -
Diploma of Project Management
2022 -
Certificate III in Carpentry
2019 - 2022
Certificate IV in Building and Construction
2020
Diploma of Leadership and Management
2012
Certificate III in Retail
2011
Bachelor of Interior Architecture (deferred)
2008-2009
Monash University
Victorian Certificate of Education
2007
Box Hill High School
Languages
English (native)
Mandarin (basic)
Hokkien (basic)
Interests and hobbies
Cycling
Running
Triathlon
Mixed Martial Arts
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
Photography
Personal achievements
Competed in a mixed martial arts fight in 2018 (and won! currently undefeated at 1-0)
Completed the Melbourne Marathon in 2015
Completed the Melbourne Ironman in 2014
References
Craig Jansen
Owner of Giant South Yarra
0412 255 249
Greg Doriean
Work-based delivery teacher for Certificate III in Carpentry
0466 549 773
