Lester Tibbles

Bricklaying

“Thanks to WorldSkills Australia I now know that I can tackle any task put in front of me. WorldSkills has helped me to refine my skills and it has also taught me how to work in a more efficient manner.”

Lester is a practical learner and has always enjoyed building things and the outdoors. When the opportunity arose for Lester to find a career, construction was an obvious choice. Eager to find an apprenticeship and escape the drudgery of a school classroom, he called every local builder in the yellow pages. None of the local builders had anything available. Lester persisted, whether by fate or by accident Lester phoned a local bricklayer and luckily his now boss did have a job opportunity available. Bricklaying wasn’t Lester’s first choice but he thought it was better than sitting in a classroom for one more day. Once Lester commenced work with WJ Searl Bricklaying he knew that this was the job for him. The rest is history.

Lester enjoys the satisfaction he gets when seeing a completed job. %22Being able to drive around town and say I built that is a great feeling. At the end of the day when the owner is happy with the job it%27s very rewarding. Bricklaying provides a lot of self satisfaction in your work.%22

In the short term Lester hopes to compete to the best of his abilities at the WorldSkills International Competition in London in October and one day own and run a successful bricklaying company.

Favourite motto?
The more you put into it, the more you get out of it.

In one word describe how you feel about representing Australia in London?
Proud.

Expert

Troy Everett

Troy is employed at TAFE NSW- Illawarra Institute and has been involved with WorldSkills Australia since 1992. Troy has been running Regional Competitions for Illawarra for many years and has been Chief Judge and Designer of the WorldSkills Australia National Competitions since 2002. Troy was International Expert in Helsinki 2005 and Deputy Chief Expert in Japan 2007 and Canada 2009. Troy encourages all Skillaroos to consider that %22representing your country is an honour, but also a responsibility, so view your selection as an opportunity, not a prize.”