Tamworth man Graham Dwyer is a great example of the many careers a person can have throughout their life, with age no barrier for talent.
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"I was a jack-of-all-trades but now I am a master of one," Mr Dwyer said.
The 68-year-old started his apprenticeship as a plumber at the age of 51 and is about to pivot into a career as a teacher's assistant at Tamworth TAFE.
"I will be able to impart some of my learned skills onto our apprentice plumbers," Mr Dwyer said of the Certificate III in Plumbing at the trade school.
Mr Dwyer was working as a groundskeeper at Tamworth TAFE about 18 years ago when he struck up a conversation with the head teacher of the plumbing course.
"He said to me, 'well, enrol in the course and see how you handle a classroom for 12 months'," Mr Dwyer said.
"So I did my first year and then I went to Peter Dillon [owner of Level Plumbing in Tamworth] and asked for a mature-age apprenticeship.
"I think my month's trial lasted three days and they signed me up."
Mr Dwyer left school at the age of 16 to later start his working life as a 19-year-old apprentice butcher, but hitting the books for a shot at a formal education about 30 years later was no hindrance.
"I found it challenging but I didn't have too many difficulties," Mr Dwyer said of the straight credits and distinctions he received for his subjects to get the certificate.
"But I was interested and had numerous situations where I had to solve problems."
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Throughout his life, Mr Dwyer has worked as a baker, horse breaker, tractor operator, maintenance repair man, and as a welder on the NSW railway lines.
But it was while working as a general labourer, digging holes and laying pipes for a plumbing company in Queensland when he realised a career in the trade would suit him.
"I thought to myself, 'yeah, I could do this for a living'," Mr Dwyer said.
His employer at Level Plumbing in Tamworth, Peter Dillion, said Mr Dwyer was just a "really good cultural fit" for the company, needing someone who was a dynamic worker able to do a variety of tasks.
"He had a good skill set, coming off the railways," Mr Dillon said.
"But he was [once] the Australian Apprentice of the Year, and he has won a myriad of other awards during his apprenticeship ... state ... national awards. So it's worked out well."
Mr Dwyer said, "if there is change that you feel you want ... don't be frightened, have a go."
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