WHEN Kara McDonald finished school in country New South Wales, her career advisor told her to choose something she loved.
Ergo the teenager, who played tennis and netball and "every sport I could get a hand on", opted to study exercise and sports science at the University of Newcastle.
"There's a lot of pressure to chose something, and I thought training athletes would be fun. A good career choice," McDonald recalls.
Her attitude soon changed as she did her degree and realised she didn't want the trainer's lifestyle of early mornings, late nights and travel. She focused on exercise physiology before she realised that while she liked helping people with medical conditions, it was tough running her own business.
"I realised I was unhappy and my career had to change, so I thought about my strengths and weaknesses and came up with an electrician," she says.
Ever the tinkerer - in childhood she helped her granddad in his shed at Gunnedah - she was encouraged by her mechanical fitter partner.
"He always said I should be an electrician, I was always really good at running TV cables and stuff. And it's a physical job - I didn't want a desk job," she says.
Her hunch has paid off.
She was recently named apprentice of the year at the Hunter Manufacturing Awards, following a similar in-house accolade at Moltcop Australasia last year. The HMA judges noted her work in managing, designing and installing new safety systems within Molycop's steel manufacturing plant at Waratah.
Ms McDonald is close to finishing her four-year apprenticeship, is completing a Certificate 4 in Electro Technology and plans to do an Advanced Diploma and then an electro technology engineering degree.
Fascinated about her role from the moment she had a tour of the Waratah plant during her job interview, she enjoys learning on the job and the variety it offers.
"I'm a total nerd, I love learning. I ask a lot of questions," she says, adding that she loves finishing a job and "turning something on, it's really rewarding".
Ms McDonald expects to move into engineering.
