{"id":209475,"date":"2018-05-23T22:35:55","date_gmt":"2018-05-23T12:35:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=209475"},"modified":"2020-08-03T18:12:39","modified_gmt":"2020-08-03T08:12:39","slug":"local-mech-becomes-master-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/05\/23\/local-mech-becomes-master-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"Local Mech Becomes Master Tech"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Janine McPhee from WPC Group, who mentored Thomas through his apprenticeship, with Margaret Huston, new Nissan Master Tech Thomas Hunt and Mark Huston … Janine praised Mark and Margaret for the considerable investment they\u2019d put into Thomas\u2019 training<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

May 24, 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

A South Burnett mechanic has become a Nissan Master Technician just 18 months after finishing his four-year apprenticeship.<\/p>\n

He’s also the youngest person to ever gain Nissan Master Technician status, and one of only 60 in Australia.<\/p>\n

Thomas (Tom) Hunt, 24, is a third generation bush mechanic.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And while working life can occasionally be stressful, he says he relishes the challenges it gives him and looks forward to going to work every day.<\/p>\n

He applied for an apprenticeship after completing his Higher School Certificate in 2011, and went to work for Huston Nissan in Kingaroy.<\/p>\n

“I signed up for the four-year Nissan Mentored Apprenticeship Program (NissMAP) because it seemed like it had a lot more perks than the regular mechanic one,” Tom said.<\/p>\n

“There’s more of a dealership focus and it’s more in-depth.”<\/p>\n

As part of the program, he\u2019s worked solo more, taught apprentices, learned more about teamwork and delved deeply into auto-electrical courses and diagnostics since he completed his apprenticeship.<\/p>\n

He also did off-site training, which included a visit to the Melbourne Grand Prix where he got to put his nose under the bonnet of a Nissan racing car.<\/p>\n

In order to become a Master Technician, Tom had to take a full-day exam in Melbourne in March. <\/strong><\/p>\n

He was part of a group of 24 elite Nissan technicians selected from Queensland, NSW, Victoria and Western Australia to sit the exam, and they were tested against challenging criteria.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had seven practical tests on cars trying to fix different faults, and we had 40 minutes to do each task with a short break in between,” Tom said.<\/p>\n

“Then we had to complete a 30-question written exam.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the end of this gruelling process, Tom found he was one of just eight who had passed.<\/p>\n

Now back at work at Huston Nissan, Tom’s new status means he gets the trickiest jobs \u201cwhere we\u2019ve exhausted all options\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll keep diagnosing and looking for a solution, and I have to go through quite a bit,” Tom said.<\/p>\n

“I have a lot of contact with the Nissan Tech Line guys who\u2019ll also research it.<\/p>\n

“If I find something that\u2019s unusual and fix it, then someone else might have the same issue and the Tech Line can tell them what I did.”<\/p>\n

Thomas is now looking at expanding his training.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou never stop learning, you have to keep learning,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Huston Nissan owner Mark Huston said he instills the idea of setting goals and developing themselves in all his staff. <\/strong><\/p>\n

“I support the manufacturers\u2019 training, such as Nissan, because it\u2019s more advanced and the manufacturers have the latest technology,” Mark said.<\/p>\n

“Thomas now has very good diagnostic skills and his memory is great – he can read the scans and understand the codes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nissan NISSMAP mentor Anthony Frederiksen said he was delighted to see Thomas achieve Master Technician status.<\/p>\n

“I had a little tear in my eye – I’m so proud of him,” Anthony said.<\/p>\n

“What an achievement for this young man after coming through our NISSMAP program.<\/p>\n

“Thomas has the will, the attitude and the skills to look after our valued customers in his role at Huston Nissan’s service department.”<\/p>\n

Janine McPhee, the WPC Group mentor who guided Thomas through his apprenticeship, said Tom had shown exceptional talent, a great attitude and a willingness to challenge himself from the start. <\/strong><\/p>\n

“With this attitude, it does not surprise me that Thomas is the very first Master Technician to qualify via the NissMAP program nationally,” Janine said.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s a fantastic program and for Thomas, a great achievement.”<\/p>\n

In 2016 Tom was also one of three regional finalists nominated as Apprentice of the Year at the State Training Awards.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is an exceptional talent with an outstanding attitude and willingness to learn,” Janine said.<\/p>\n

“He has a very bright future ahead of him in the Nissan Dealer network\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Peter Amundsen and Steve Harvey, from Nissan, travelled to Kingaroy to present Thomas with his Master Technician trophy and certificate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
After the presentation … Steve Harvey and Peter Amundsen, Janine McPhee, Margaret Huston (at rear), Thomas Hunt, Mark Huston and Craig Knight, from WPC Group, posed for a group photo to mark the day the South Burnett became home to Australia’ s youngest Nissan Master Technician<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A South Burnett mechanic has become a Nissan Master Technician just 18 months after finishing his four-year apprenticeship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":209512,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,16,3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nLocal Mech Becomes Master Tech - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A South Burnett mechanic has become a Nissan Master Technician just 18 months after finishing his four-year apprenticeship.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/05\/23\/local-mech-becomes-master-tech\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Local Mech Becomes Master Tech - southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A South Burnett mechanic has become a Nissan Master Technician just 18 months after finishing his four-year apprenticeship.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/05\/23\/local-mech-becomes-master-tech\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-05-23T12:35:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-08-03T08:12:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/20180521nissan1a.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"385\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dafyd Martindale\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dafyd Martindale\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/05\/23\/local-mech-becomes-master-tech\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/05\/23\/local-mech-becomes-master-tech\/\",\"name\":\"Local Mech Becomes Master Tech - 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