oho #4 - The magazine of the Principality of Liechtenstein

oho#4
prepare for the competition. You get a trainer assigned to
you and work with them to create a training plan. The more
time you have, the more you train. We were able to use the
premises of the Swiss Painters and Plasterers Association,
but we also trained here in Liechtenstein. I was also able to
work for three months in Biel at my mentor’s company. All
this was accompanied by sports and mental training sessions
together with the team. And, after work, there was
still a lot of theory to learn, for example, regulations or tool
lists. The exams from previous years were also available,
so we could begin practising with the old plans right from
the start. Three months before the competitions we then
received the current plans. About one third of them were
swapped at the competition so that you couldn’t just memorise
everything.
What was the exam at WorldSkills like?
For the past nine years the exam has consisted of completing
a drywall – you have to mount gypsum boards on metal
stands. In Brazil that was like a small house with four walls
that had window and door cut-outs. One was in the form of
the Jesus you see standing on the mountain in Rio de Janeiro.
The task in the first module was to set up this drywall in
10 hours. The second module was the plastering itself – the
typical work of a plasterer. In the third module you had to
create stucco work. In our case we had entered the timed
competition at the same time, so our work was assessed both
for its speed and accuracy. Then we had to complete the
fourth module, which was freestyle. You had two hours to do
whatever you liked. The more complex and harder the work,
and the better the finished product, the more points you got
for it. I made a jungle tree out of stucco – a tree, because it
can always be regenerated, which is also true of plaster.
How have you been able to benefit from WorldSkills –
before, during and after the event?
During the preparations we noticed how we were continually
making progress. In any case, you definitely become more
self-confident; you improve the way you come across in public
and your work techniques – despite the odd minor setback.
Everyone is really pleased after the competition is
over, no matter how well they did. It’s also a way of advertising
for your business and yourself, and it opens up many
opportunities. Most of the former participants are doing
something different today than what they were at the time
of the competition, be it a change of employer, training, or
work abroad. I’ve been living for a year in Venice now, and
my valuable experience at WorldSkills together with the
corresponding certificate definitely helped me get this job.
What exactly are you doing in Venice?
I work for the Unione Stuccatori Veneziani, a stucco work and
restoration company. We make wall decorations out of traditional
wall plastering. After all, in Venice there are, in princi­
27