The 2nd annual SKILLED National Apprentice and Trainee of the Year Awards were recently presented at SKILLED's head office in Box Hill, Victoria. And the winning apprentice, from Carlton Victoria was Vernon Brilliant! Karyn Hogan of Hobart, Tasmania took out the Trainee of the Year Award.

Vernon, a third year mechanical engineering apprentice, currently works in Contract Maintenance at Philip Morris in Melbourne and Karyn is working at Springfield Gardens Primary School in Hobart while completing Certificate II in Community Recreation and Fitness.

Both recipients brought two guests each to Box Hill for the presentation ceremony and morning tea which was followed by a tour of the Box Hill premises and lunch in Melbourne's Federation Square.

SKILLED CEO and Managing Director Greg Hargrave presented the awards highlighting that skills shortages has become one of the biggest challenges facing Australian business.

"Companies across Australia, in a broad range of industries, are experiencing difficulties in finding skilled people. It is important to attract young people into the trades and show them this can be a viable and lucrative career choice. We must also encourage young Australians such as Vernon to continue participating in a trades career."

Congratulations to Vernon and Karyn for outstanding and consistent contributions during their training with SKILLED.