Australia's Best Young Locksmith 2022 | 4th Finalist

nic smith, rockhampton Key & Lock (QLD)

Please provide a short personal biography about yourself.

I am 27 and grew up in Central Queensland. When I was a year 10 student, I was enrolled in a vocational program that allowed me to do work experience with a few different trades. Luckily enough I stumbled upon an apprenticeship opportunity with a well-known company in Gladstone. After working with some other trades, I knew locksmithing was the trade for me. It offered something different every day which suited me because I can’t sit stil!

I was offered full time employment at just 15, it was a huge leap into the real world, but I took the opportunity gratefully and completed my apprenticeship in 2014 after winning the Apprentice of the Year award. Since then, I was offered an opportunity to become a manager in a hands-on role in Rockhampton. This has been one of my career highlights as I have learnt so much in the last 6 years from having great working relationships with staff, clients, and suppliers to learning how to engage with apprentices and pass on the knowledge that I have built up over the last 12 years in my trade.

What are some of the skills and abilities necessary for someone to succeed as a locksmith?

The skills required to be a locksmith is a very long list. Some of the most important skills and abilities include quality control and lateral thinking. Quality control is one of my favourite qualities in a locksmith, not everybody is the best of the best with 20 years of knowledge up their sleeve! A locksmith who carries a good quality control awareness and process will go a long way. It is important to ensure the product or service you are providing to a client has excellent attention to detail.

A locksmith who possesses the skill to think laterally thought a process will be successful. It is the ability to visualise mechanically how something will work even before you put it into practice.

As a young locksmith who has travelled all over QLD to regional and remote areas where there isn’t a shopping centre let alone a local LSC! - sometimes you must make something out of nothing, and that separates the good from the best.

What key issues do you think will affect the locksmith industry in the coming decade and how do you think these should be approached?

Some general aspects of locksmithing are performed by unlicensed, unskilled, and unethical people. It is up to the locksmithing community and associations to spread the awareness however, as an individual you may not be able to stop this immediately. What we can do as individuals is educate and invest in ourselves. There are many aspects to our trade as locksmiths and also many diverse opportunities to specialise in multiple areas. If we invest in ourselves and provide ourselves with the additional training and education that is on offer, we will be able to continue to thrive and increase our customer base.

Another current issue that has risen through these tough times is the supply chain shortage of mechanical and electrical components. again, this is a global issue and not something the individual can fix however, I believe education plays a huge part in this crisis for locksmithsand it is very important that we educate ourselves with product knowledge and create good relationships with our suppliers. This helps by knowing who to call when there is a 6 month wait on a product, or what alternative is in stock that we can offer the client.

Tell us why you should be Australia’s best young locksmith.

I believe over the last 12 years of my career I have made a positive impact on the industry, my colleagues, suppliers and my young apprentices that I train. This award is a token to those who have helped me along the way in my career. Although I am only 27 and I still have an extremely long way to go, this award recognises my hard work and dedication to this industry.

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Australia's Best Young Locksmith 2022 | 4th Finalist

Australia's Best Young Locksmith 2022 | 4th Finalist

nic smith, rockhampton Key & Lock (QLD)

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