Meet Irish born Mark Mulligan.
Mark came to Australia independently 5 years ago after moving and travelling via Hong Kong, and working in construction in New York. With a family that was in construction, he needed to get his paperwork in order so that he could be recognized in the industry.
Referred to Orange College by friends, Mark spent 2 years part time completing his Cert III in Carpentry (practical and theory), then Cert IV in construction management, while working full time. By just attending 2 evenings and one day per week, at 30, Mark graduated in March 2024, and he says “I’m now a supervisor using my Cert IV skills and the Cert III as I’ve moved up, from starting 3 years ago, and now I oversee about 60 people, it’s high pressure.”
Mark was impressed by the Orange College Port Melbourne site. “I couldn’t believe how much material we had which was good. We were building stuff from scratch, not just taking it apart and putting it back together like you do in some other courses. It was spacious, so you could work practically in your own space, with all the tools in one place, and the teachers were all very good.”
Mark loved that while learning, his work created practical, long term outcomes. “We did some outside projects like a playhouse for kids, which we donated, I think it was for a childcare centre. I enjoyed it because your work has a meaning, it’s not just empty, so you put more care into it. We also worked on a campus so we got practical skills in carpentry that we knew were being used. We had to turn a door into a wall, so that’s permanent.”
While working full time and studying, Mark says his success comes from attending and asking the right questions. Starting in the Carpentry crew 3 years ago, he moved to leading hand, and now he’s a manager, managing the flow and the crew so that the timelines are met, and the project stays on track. He uses his Cert IV Construction Management skills every day now.
“The construction management course helped me manage the people and the work. Brian Hooper in Orange has his own building company, so when I was struggling I could ask him questions, and then use his skills to understand how to manage when someone is not on form, by using Standard Operating Procedures and breaking down the jobs into smaller stages so that we could manage that well.
“I’m from a family where you work and you work hard. I especially improved my ability to help other people complete tasks in the way that I would so that people knew how to complete the work like I did.”
Mark achieved his goal and knows you can too. “I have my papers now, I can be recognized now. I have recommended Orange already to some people, because everything is there for you, it’s just up to you to put the work in.”
