Bill Cornelissen never wanted to be anything but a farmer and now he has the chance to inspire young people to follow in his footsteps.
Bill grew up on a dairy farm and did his farm apprenticeship at South West TAFE in 1995-99.
His life has turned full circle and he has returned to TAFE as an associate facilitator to encourage the next generation of farm workers.
He’s also encouraging farmers to get behind the future of the industry by employing trainees and to giving access to students so they can get exposed to a range of different farm enterprises to grow their skills.
Bill’s family sharefarmed for 20 years while he was growing up and they’re still in the industry, along with several other relatives.
“Right from when I was a little kid, all I wanted was to be a farmer,” he said.
“I had been doing it for 20-plus years, working my way up from a farm hand to a sharefarmer, but circumstances changed, so now I’m doing something different but happy to still be involved in agriculture.”
The job came about when Bill was talking to SWTAFE agriculture teaching education manager Bec Toleman.
“I told Bec that things had changed and I was looking for another job and she said what about teaching?” Bill said.
“I’d never thought about it before but went away and called back a week later and asked if she was serious about it and what it involved.
“Now here I am.”
Bill is completing his training and assessment certificates and has started work as an associate facilitator, able to teach students but not yet grade their work.
He said some things had not changed since his time as an apprentice.
“When I was training, the advice was take your time and learn it properly and that’s still relevant today,” he said.
“It’s the same sort of messages to get across — push safety, make sure you know what you’re doing and don’t be afraid to ask questions.”
While Bill, 43, encourages young people to consider a career in agriculture, he also wants farmers to open their doors to students.
“I’ve had trainees over the years and I enjoyed helping them and seen the benefits that came to the farm,” Bill said.
“The last one was really good, even though she’d never been on a dairy farm before.
“The kids that are coming through like what they’re doing, we just need more. There are shortages all over the place.
“That’s why a lot of people are going into robotics because of the staff shortages.
“The jobs are there if people want to do the training.”