How a single interview launched Lily Crabbe’s career in electrical trades at Gold Fields.
Overview
- Lily Crabbe completed a four-year electrical apprenticeship at Gold Fields after finishing a pre-apprenticeship at TAFE.
- Gold Fields supported her through training, further study, and a clear career path from apprentice to Electrical Leading Hand.
- The biggest thing she gained wasn’t technical skills — it was confidence.
- She’s now mentoring the next intake of apprentices and pursuing Electrical Engineering.
The year after Lily Crabbe finished school, she didn’t have a plan. She signed up for a six-month pre-apprenticeship course at TAFE, mostly to buy herself some time to figure out what came next.
By the end of it, she knew one thing: she wanted an electrical apprenticeship. So she applied everywhere. Sent off her details to companies across the country, hoping someone would give her a chance.
Gold Fields was the only one that called her back.
“I went for my first interview I’ve ever done, being very nervous. I must’ve done well because I was lucky enough to get the apprenticeship.”
What followed was a four-year journey that took her from a nervous first-timer to one of the first apprentices at Gold Fields’ Gruyere Gold Mine, a qualified electrician, and eventually, an Electrical Leading Hand.
How the apprenticeship works
Gold Fields’ electrical apprenticeship runs over four years, combining on-the-job learning with block study at TAFE, usually four times a year in two-week blocks.
The structure is deliberately varied. Apprentices rotate through different tradespeople, picking up different ways of working and thinking about problems. In the fourth year, they complete a capstone assessment to earn their electrical license.
For Lily, the rotation was one of the best parts.
“I love to know how things work. “Being an electrician really makes you learn many different things.”
She carried a notebook almost everywhere, writing down what each tradesperson said or showed her. Even when she thought she already knew something, she kept listening. That habit, she says, made a real difference.
The support that came after
Gold Fields didn’t just help Lily complete her apprenticeship. They helped her build what came next.
After she qualified, the company offered her a role as an Electrical and Instrumentation Technician. She took it knowing it would stretch her skills further. From there, Gold Fields supported her in pursuing Electrical Engineering study, giving her a pathway to keep growing long after the apprenticeship was finished.
“The company has also helped me in pursuing Electrical Engineering which has helped me continue to grow and expand my knowledge from the apprenticeship.”
It’s the kind of support that’s easy to promise and harder to actually deliver.
For Lily, it was real.
Curious about what it’s like to work at Gold Fields?
The thing she didn’t expect to gain
Ask Lily what she’s most proud of and she doesn’t mention the license or the promotion. She talks about confidence.
“At the very beginning I was very shy. Now I believe I’m able to speak up more. Even though I’m still reserved, I take action when it needs to happen and believe in myself more.”
That shift happened slowly, job by job, conversation by conversation, through years of being put with different people in different situations and learning to hold her own.
Now she’s on the other side of that equation, teaching apprentices herself. And she’s noticed something: passing on what she knows helps her stay sharp too.
“Teaching an apprentice now helps me remember the basics,” she says.
Lily’s advice for the next intake
If you’re thinking about applying for an apprenticeship at Gold Fields, or anywhere in the trades, Lily has two pieces of practical advice.
“Be eager to learn anything from anyone, even if you’ve learnt it already. Also, carry a notebook with you. You’ll thank yourself later.”
Simple. But the people who do those two things tend to be the ones who make it.
