hello there, I’m ken!
i’m a second year apprentice carpenter with aspirations of being a builder.
Two years ago I decided to leave my role as a Sales and Store Manager and take a leap of faith to start a new career before the arrival of my first child. After nine years working in retail and sales, I was looking for a new challenge and a career that offered the potential for ongoing growth. I looked into combining my passion for design, problem solving and working with my hands. After speaking with mentors, family and friends in the industry I made a choice to pursue a career in building and construction through carpentry.
Since then, I've spent countless hours reading, watching, learning and absorbing as much information about the industry. I’ve taken every opportunity to challenge and push myself including completing the Certificate IV in Building and Construction during my first year as an apprentice. This has allowed me to start estimating quantities for the builds I've worked on since the start of my second year. I spend much of my downtime researching methods and techniques on social media and Youtube to improve my craft and building methods as well as frequently making an effort to refer to the Australian Standards and building guidelines to ensure I’m building to code and compliance.
I’ve been fortunate enough to be surrounded by guys much younger in leadership and management roles, which inspires me to progress and develop at an immense pace. In 2022, during my third year as an apprentice, my goal is to complete both the Diploma of Building and Construction and the Diploma of Project Management tailored specifically for the construction industry. I believe the Diploma of Building and Construction will help enhance my technical and construction knowledge and compliment my day to day hands on experience as a carpenter, in preparation for eventually stepping up into a site management role. I also hope the Diploma of Project Management will build on my management skills, and provide the foundation to managing and overseeing construction projects, contract documentation, budgets and timelines. I’m eager to develop these skills and will no doubt find it incredibly beneficial in any future roles and eventually as a builder. Both of these qualifications will greatly contribute towards advancing my career, and will certainly equip me with the skills and knowledge to start managing smaller projects in my fourth and final year.
I’m incredibly privileged to have entered the industry in a time where there is such a high demand for knowledgeable and competent talent. With this increased demand, it means courses related to our industry are eligible for government grants and funding to help incentivise those who wish to upskill and further progress their career. The Diploma of Building and Construction is fully government funded, however the Diploma of Project Management falls under a management qualification, which means it’s not eligible for any government funding. This is where a scholarship from the Master Builders Victoria Foundation would be immensely helpful as it would help ease the financial burden of completing the Diploma of Project Management course, as I'm on apprentice wages supporting my two and a half year old daughter and my wife who’s been unable to work during Covid lockdowns.
I truly believe the building and construction industry is such an amazing industry to be a part of. The Foundation is just one of the many examples of how truly passionate individuals and organisations give back to encourage others to develop their knowledge and skills to grow within this industry.
Through my experiences in the industry and the opportunities I have and will continue to receive, I would like to be in a position where I too can encourage others to join our industry and help them progress and achieve their own goals. I believe this scholarship would help me immensely and further encourage me to empower others in our industry.
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
Apprentice Carpenter | Dome Building Projects
August 2021 - Current
-Expect to have a 95% completion of my Certificate III in Carpentry units by end of 2021 with two final units remaining in semester 1 of 2022.
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, 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.
-Studied architectural plans in conjunction with engineering drawings and soil reports for the past five projects, and have completed partial and complete take-offs. My last take-off was for the complete build in Caulfield South, including all the key components for the slab/subfloor, framing, and lock up. We’re currently three weeks into the build and so far the quantities have been relatively accurate; I estimated 44m3 of concrete, with the actual order being 43m3. I estimated 18 sheets of SL82 mesh (259m2) with our total wastage at approximately 2m2 and my estimated quantities for our strip footings which required 35 lengths of 3-L12TM and 6 lengths of 4-L10TM had zero wastage.
-In one instance of studying the plans, I was able to suggest a resolution to an issue identified on-site where the true boundary line did not reflect the actual layout of the house we were working on. The back of the house actually crept into the neighbouring property, and the proposed extension was a further eight meters with a design that included a firewall that sat tight to the boundary line. The back of the property (which was approximately seventeen meters past the existing house, was actually 200mm over the true boundary line into the neighbouring property. Rather than shifting the entire extension 200mm away from the boundary, I used basic trigonometry to suggest we could claw back around 100mm if we just worked out how far we could push just the extension (at just under half the distance to the back of the property) towards the boundary line. The result was clawing back 98mm of the potential “loss” of space.
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 all 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
Certificate III in Carpentry
2019 - current (95% of units completed by end of 2021)
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
