The 21-year-old Plunket Electrical Oamaru apprentice won the domestic commercial category of the Otago and Southland Master Electricians Apprentice Challenge in Dunedin yesterday.
But when he called his boss after the prizegiving to tell him the good news, instead of being rewarded with a day off work, he said, "congratulations, see you at work in the morning".
"I’d hoped he would give me the day off, but I’m not surprised he wants me to work."
Mr Rawson said he loved his job and never lacked motivation at work.
"It means I can take what I’ve learnt over the last two days and put it into my work tomorrow."
Mr Rawson said it was his third time in the competition.
Last year, he finished second.
"This year I went one step better — so it’s third time lucky, I guess."
He said he was surprised when he was named the winner of the category because the standard of competition in the challenge was so high this year.
"It comes down to the wire sometimes.
"You just have to do your best on every component, because if you don’t do so well on one component, that could mean the difference between a podium finish, and not getting any prizes.
"The key is consistency."
The industrial category was won by Aotea Electrical Dunedin apprentice Philip Anderson, 27.
The duo were among 35 apprentice electricians from around Otago and Southland who were put through their paces at Otago Polytechnic during the two-day event.
Each apprentice was tested on a range of skills, including electrical fault-finding, switchboard building, switch wiring, cable joining and industrial electrical equipment installation.
The winning apprentices now hope to be selected for one of five spots in the competition’s national final, to be held in Queenstown at the end of October.
