Certificate in Furniture Making

By JANINE OGIER

The course

Manukau Institute of Technology has tailored a full-time course for people who want to work making furniture.

The Certificate in Furniture Making is a level two NZQA qualification with open entry requirements.

Students learn introductory skills to enter the furniture-making trade and things such as work ethics and communication during the 18-week course, which is split into two nine-week semesters. It is a stepping stone to the National Certificate in Furniture Making.

Graduates can get trainee or apprenticeship jobs as a furniture or cabinetmaker and positions in boat building or kitchen manufacturing.

Students are in the classroom and workshop for 24 hours over three days each week - Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. They are also advised to study for eight hours each week in their own time.

Some students work on Mondays and Tuesdays or do work experience.

The course is half theory and half based on practical work. Students cover subjects such as the types of machinery, timbers, particle board, hand tools and workplace skills.

Through the theory work students learn how to construct furniture, how it is made from the carcass to the finished product, and some drawing skills in preparation for building.

Assessment is through written tests. Applicants are interviewed and applications close when the programme's 16 places are full.

The course is run twice a year at the Manukau campus, starting in February or July. Fees for the course are approximately $2300, including GST and about $400 worth of tools.

What graduates think

Paul Elliott, 23

Trainee cabinetmaker, Custom Kitchens, Auckland

Graduated 2004


I met a guy who makes kitchens and talking to him and going on a few jobs with him reignited the interest that I had in woodworking back at school. On the course we did half and half with practical and theory. It was a good balance.

It started off doing the practical in the morning and the theory in the afternoon, but then changed when it was clear our concentration wasn't there on the theory in the afternoon. With the theory in the morning and the practical in the afternoon it worked out well. The skills I learned are definitely relevant.

I find that with what I learnt at tech, going into a kitchen making career I am able to pick things up a bit quicker than someone who hasn't done any training.

After nearly two months in the job I am pretty much up to speed as to how to build a kitchen.

I don't think I would be able to be at this level without doing the course and learning about carcasses and carcass construction and things like that.

What I have learned definitely helps me in the job I am in now. For instance, being able to read drawings and job specifications and converting what you see on paper into building a kitchen or drawer unit or cabinet unit.

What employers think

Mark Gundesen

Director, Custom Kitchens, East Tamaki, Auckland


Someone having the certificate on their CV does make a difference. What we need in an employee is very much about the people being able to be trained.

Having past experience and some training behind them is definitely a bonus when it comes to gaining employment but more important is finding people who are keen on learning.

Doing a course shows people are keen as they took the time out to get something behind them.

The skills learned on the course are general ones and we teach our way of doing things.

We do one-off kitchens so every kitchen is different from the next and there is a lot of skill involved in it, hence a lot of training. It is not like doing 100 sets of drawers or sink units at once. It is more specialised and even if someone comes to us qualified and in their 40s there is more training involved.

Work with machinery prior to employment, such as they get on the course, helps. We can't afford to have anyone here who has no idea of machinery as they might injure themselves.

The qualification

Certificate in Furniture Making

Manukau Institute of Technology

Phone: 0800 626252

Email

Indicative salary: initially $10 per hour; later $12-$15 per hour