From Tradesman To Graduate Management
The Age
Thursday November 15, 2001
CHRISTIAN Carthew started out his career as an apprentice electrician. When he completed his time he added a TAFE refrigeration qualifiation to his resume.
Then he went to Ballarat University - Steve Bracks' alma mata - and completed his Bachelor of Management. Now he hopes to go back to uni - at some stage - to do his MBA.
It is not what is regarded as a traditional career path. From tradesman to graduate management.
But it has panned out well for Carthew who has unexpectely returned to the family firm to successfully combined his electrical background with his newly-acquired management skills at AME Systems, the Ararat-based manufacturers of electrical harness and power distribution systems for heavy trucks.
Carthew says that going back to study at age 26 was a bit daunting. He had one child and another on the way.
His wife was a full time mother, and he was about to wave goodbye to the full time workforce for three years."
But we tightened the purse strings and got by," he says. "I did a bit of electrical work when I had the time.
And it was actually a good experience because you learn where money comes from and how much things cost, living on a budget like that." To his surprise he found he enjoyed the study "although after working full time I felt a bit like it was bludging".
An "average" student when he started, Carthew found he enjoyed the academic side, finishing up in the top 15 per cent of his class. On graduating, he applied for jobs in management but his family decided it was an opportunity too good to pass up.
They lured him home to Ararat to work for the family firm with the possibility of becoming general manager within five years.
For his father Peter, and uncle Rick, it was a chance to head for retirement and hand the firm - which employs 110 staff - over to the next generation.
"I didn't particularly plan to come back to Ararat," Carthew says.
"I had planned to move towards Melbourne. But my qualifications fitted perfectly into a succession plan, and so my wife and I moved back to Ararat. In retrospect it looks like a natural progression - but it wasn't planned that way. It is just how it turned out." Certainly Carthew has no regrets.
His skills are valued at AME, where he currently holds the position of business development manager.
But increasingly he says he is working out of the managing director's office as his father and uncle fledge him to run the business.
"They call me the graph boy because I measure absolutely everything. But we've got all the trendlines going in the right direction.
We've had three record months in a row and this month looks like another."
I can't say that I've made that happen but I've helped it happen and we're all pretty pleased about it," he says.
© 2001 The Age