Apprentice honoured by award

Born and bred in Port Hedland Sarah Karslake has come out on top at this year’s 2017 Business of the Year Awards.

Ms Karslake beat out four other hopefuls to walk away with the Apprentice of the Year Award last month.

Starting at BHP in 2014, Ms Karslake said she began her apprenticeship like any other, ready to learn and dominate the electrical world.

“I knew I wanted to do something hands-on,” she said.

“I saw the apprenticeship being advertised online and figured why not give it a crack.”

Now in her fourth year and coming up to the end of her training, Ms Karslake has been lucky enough to work in all areas of the electrical trade, from fitting, to breakdowns and everything in-between.

“It’s interesting work and there’s so many different areas you can go in to,” she said.

“I’m constantly challenged in my job and forced to learn different things every day, which I love.”

Winning the award, Ms Karslake said while she knew of the nomination she felt honoured to be given the title of Apprentice of the Year.

“I thought it was a really great night,” she said.

“It’s a good achievement and definitely encourages me as I go forward in completing my apprenticeship.”

Ms Karslake will now knuckle down, revising all she has learnt in the past four years as she prepares to take the final exam to qualify as a tradeswoman at the end of the year.