Some of the country's best young apprentices came together today to prepare for the WorldSkills competition later this year.
The international WorldSkills event celebrates vocational work, showcasing how these trades and professions are essential to the global economy but also integral in shaping our country and world.
Roger Laing is a mechanic who is one of nine apprentices in the national skills team representing New Zealand. He says the world skills competition will be a good opportunity for not only him but also his peers.
"I'm looking forward to the challenge, looking forward to meeting new people, seeing how and what their training is like. My main goal is to just have fun, don't take it too seriously."
A group of the country's best young vocational skills experts came together today in Omaha near Auckland to prepare for the international event.
They set up at a local house where they did team building exercises and ran through the finer points of their trades.
"It's pretty cool meeting people your age, hanging out with people your age and seeing what they do and what they get up to. I know a car painter now, I know a baker now. Get to know all their processes and what their job involves," says Laing.
The WorldSkills competition is held every two years and brings together competitors from 67 countries, who this year will compete across 56 different skills.
Ash Siddiqui, who is the general manager - partnerships and innovation of WorldSkills New Zealand, says he's keen to see more young Kiwis get involved.
"We're here to inspire young people into vocations, follow their passion, do their best and deliver excellence."
Jarrod Wood, who is a previous winner of the world competition, is a mentor for this year's team and says they are putting in lots of hard work to succeed.
"On top of our trade that we've completed, we're doing excess of up to 400 to 800 extra hours to learn those skills for the competition especially.
"You don't have to go to university to be successful or to have a good life, you can actually just do an apprenticeship," he says.
"If you're good enough at a young age, you can really see the world through it which is pretty wicked."
The WorldSkills competition will be held in Kazan, Russia in late August this year.