| 91 Career pathways in fencing industry Working at different Central Otago locations is a plus for the Precise Fencing team. Kelly Deeks Farmers who love working in their industry but prefer to get out and about would find a great solution in the fencing industry according to Precise Fencing owner Ruben Connelly, who supplies and installs the full range of rural and lifestyle fencing, as well as orchard and vineyard development all around Central Otago. Ruben came into fencing in 2016 from the dairy industry, where he had realised he had been working too much, and things were only going to get more stressful. “In the fencing industry, the work isn’t so urgent,” he says. “I was able to get into some multi-sport and adventure racing, have a bit of a life outside of work, and still be involved in the rural industry and the great people that I always loved working with so much.” Ruben took over Precise Fencing from his business partner in 2017 and started to expand with additional staff. Ruben had a good amount of experience of recruitment from the dairy farm, which had eight staff, and he was keen to grow Precise Fencing. “On the dairy farm we were employing a lot of foreigners, but I’ve found fencing picks up a few more Kiwis. They don’t like the early starts or the weekend work required by the dairy industry, but they’re still keen to work in the rural industry. You don’t get a lot of human contact on a dairy farm, but in fencing you are working in a team around other people, so you don’t feel so isolated.” The Precise Fencing team gets to change locations all the time, allowing them to enjoy the beautiful landscape and character in this land of extremes. “We could be in Queenstown, or around Tarras, or Alexandra, and everywhere in between, and it’s all within half an hour of where we’re based in Cromwell. When you’ve been on a farm for years in one location, you don’t always realise you could have a job that takes you into different locations.” As well as a strong rural background, Ruben says a good candidate for the fencing industry will also have some particular skill sets and enough maturity to figure out how to work safely and efficiently. “It’s a tough job. It’s physically demanding and you’re knackered at the end of the day. A good fencer needs to have an appetite for doing some grunting.” He says the physical and intellectual demands of the job also offer great benefits for mental health and wellbeing. Just like Ruben did, people new to the fencing industry could find themselves progressing quite quickly if that is what they want to do. RURAL SERVICES » Precise Fencing Working somewhere like Precise Fencing, which has the will and the means to teach and train, experience can be gained quickly. After two to three years, fencers will be experienced with machinery and tools, and will have learned different ways of doing different types of fencing. They can start to lead other people and make decisions on the types of fencing they should be bringing to the table for their clients. “You can buy into an existing business, go out on your own, or subcontract yourself out and grow from there. It can be quite quick if you’re willing to work hard. You could potentially be out on your own within five years if that’s your goal.” “It’s physically demanding and you’re knackered at the end of the day.” John 027 273 2480 Johnny 027 696 6758 www.contraxcentral.co.nz • Landscaping • Horticulture • Viticulture • Land Development • Mole Ploughing • Land Clearing • Irrigation • Transport • Roading • Water
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