Passed the subject test with top marks

Text and photo: Sveinung W. Jensen, Tellus Communications

- We have been involved in most of the projects in the workshop and learned a lot, says Ulrik.

Evan nods in agreement. Both highlight the varied tasks in the workshop at Tratec Halvorsen as one of the best things about the apprenticeship.

- No two days are the same. I like welding the most myself. It is incredibly "satisfying". Then I enter my own world, says Evan.

- HE HAS a natural talent for welding. It comes very easily to Evan. It's not like this for everyone, comments foreman John Vester Nielsen, who has professional responsibility for the apprentices.

For Ulrik, it is the whole spectrum of the industrial mechanic profession that attracts.

- We weld, turn, assemble and pressure test. I like everything. In recent months, we have worked a lot with a square tank that is going out into the North Sea. It has been a lot of fun, he says.

THE EXAMINATION ITSELF describe them as demanding. Both were given the task of making a small pressure tank in acid-resistant steel - from scratch.

They have broken plates, rolled, made holes, handles and pipe outlets, welded everything together and finally carried out pressure testing with subsequent reporting. Everything had to be done within one working week.

- I am incredibly proud, both on behalf of them and the company. They chose a subject test that is above normal level. The fact that they then get the best grade - very good - is fantastic, says Nielsen.

HE LAYS make no secret of the fact that it means a lot to Tratec Halvorsen to have apprentices in the company.

- We need more young people in this profession. But candidates don't grow on trees. That's why we have to make it attractive for them to be here, says Nielsen, who hopes that both Evan and Ulrik will continue in the workshop at Øyesletta.

If anyone is wondering whether the pressure tanks that Evan and Ulrik have made end up on the mantelpiece in the living room, the answer is no.

- They will be exhibited in the company's premises, as inspiration for other young people who are considering an apprenticeship with us, says Nielsen.