Female apprentice makes her mark in Melbourne

A young female automotive apprentice is showing the blokes how its done – excelling during her first year on the job at a Melbourne dealership.

Chloe McLennan, 23, is an apprentice technician at Dandenong Mitsubishi, an opportunity she gained thanks to Women in Automotive (WinA) and the Victorian Automotive Chamber of Commerce’s (VACC) new Accelerating Women in Automotive Apprenticeship grant program.

The scheme, funded by the State Government, aims to get 615 women into the industry as currently just over six per cent of apprentices are female.

Chloe, who works at the dealership full-time alongside completing her Certificate III in Light Vehicles at TAFE, said she’d always been interested in cars but hadn’t thought of making a career of it until now.

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Credit: William Murray Photography

“I’ve always wanted to do something with cars and have been interested in the way they work, so I thought I’d give it a go,” said Chloe.

“After doing my Certificate II in Automotive, I talked to my adviser about it and they put me in touch with the people at Mitsubishi who were really excited to have a woman come on board, which was great.

“So far I have been working on the roadworthy process and getting to know the different kinds of cars, but I will be doing servicing full-time soon. I come in every day and learn something new, everyone is really friendly and it is a great challenge.”

Five months in to the four-year apprenticeship (although she could complete it sooner), things are going well for Chloe who has impressed everyone she’s worked with while learning a variety of skills from machining brake discs to carrying out repairs or diagnostic work.

Mentor Debbie Denes, who is the Service Manager at Dandenong Mitsubishi (which includes GMSV and Suzuki), said she has always wanted to have women in the workshop and servicing department for the 33 years she has been working in the industry.

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“I still believe that women have a lot to give to this industry. I would love to get my hands on more female qualified technicians,” said Debbie.

“We’re really excited to have Chloe here. We’ve got another two first-year apprentices and also some youngsters on work experience, but Chloe was the only female – that is until her younger sister joined us recently, as she wanted to get involved too.

“Everyone is really impressed with Chloe. Our Dealer Principal, Shane Leonard, is big on having women in the workshop and service department. We don’t tolerate any bad behaviour here, a woman can do what a man can do.”