Finnishing first

Matthew Wales is taking a break from his studies this semester to travel to the World Skills Competition in Helsinki

Matthew Wales is taking a break from studies this semester but he has a good reason. In May the AUT bachelor of business student will travel to the Finnish capital, Helsinki, to compete in the World Skills Competition.

17-year-old Matthew earned a place on the New Zealand team after winning gold in the HP IT Software Applications category at the national Skillex competitions 2004.

The Skillex competitions are held throughout New Zealand to test young people in more than 20 skill categories such as hospitality, electrical, woodwork, engineering, computers, hairdressing, automotive and bricklaying industries. Participants complete projects that test not only the quality of their workmanship through hands-on ability, but also call upon real-life skills of job planning and problem solving.

At the regional competitions, Matthew was approached by Scott the Laminex Group for consulting work, which he is still doing.

In the nationals at the Auckland Showgrounds in October, Matthew and four others had to use a range of software applications for tasks such as developing a website and building databases for a hotel. The entire competition was built around a series of case studies. Matthew came first and fellow AUT student Laurelle Clarke was placed third in the competition.

Next year Matthew plans to work with Skillex sponsor Hewlett-Packard to prepare for the international competitions which are held every two years. He will spend four days a week on Skillex training.

But despite his obvious skill on a computer, Matthew is really aiming to work in finance. On leaving Pakuranga College after the sixth form he spoke to friends at both AUT and the University of Auckland before enrolling in AUT's bachelor of business (Bbus).

Matthew's ability with computers was discovered when he took two integrated papers, the environment of business and business information management. Both had a strong IT component along with other subjects such as economics, accounting, statistics, law and marketing and Matthew's application skills made him obvious Skillex talent.

Now with his sights set firmly on a career in the banking and finance industry, Matthew has switched to a conjoint Bbus-BA, majoring in finance and economics and hopes to fast-track his degree with summer schools.

Skillex also resulted in work offers for another AUT student, 20-year-old Campbell White who won silver in the Fisher & Paykel PC and Network Support category of Skillex. After the awards he was given a business card and offered some practical experience to go towards his diploma in IT.

Campbell, who prior to AUT had been working at a library, chose a diploma in IT because it was practical while still providing the opportunity to move on to a degree if he chose.