"A Slingshot Opportunity" - Gavin Carman & John Barr

Gavin Carman, a Second Year Client Services Apprentice at Aon in Bannockburn, Illinois, spent a lot of time thinking while working as a delivery person. At 25, he knew the career path he was on wasn’t sustainable, but he had already tried schooling in a more traditional way. A Google search led him to an apprenticeship, where he found the opportunity he had been searching for, one where he could not only earn and learn at the same time but also develop the skills to thrive and become someone people looked to to problem solve. He is joined in conversation by John Barr, Workforce Development Manager with the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity, who finds that time and time again, the answer to finding and keeping talent is apprenticeship. 

Gavin and John discuss the “slingshot” opportunity of Gavin’s apprenticeship, having to take a few steps back to leap forward, and how apprenticeship is shaping the workforce today and tomorrow. 

To learn more about apprenticeships, go to ApprenticeshipIL.com and follow Apprenticeship Illinois on LinkedIn. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

The Apprentice Ambassador Program selects an annual cohort of star current or former apprentices to represent a wide variety of industries throughout Illinois. During their year in the cohort, Apprentice Ambassadors serve as guest speakers at business events to showcase the impact apprenticeship has had on them, their families, and their companies. The Apprentice Perspective brings their stories to you, our listeners.

SPEAKER_02 0:33

I'll be your host for today's episode, and I'm joined by our Apprentice Ambassador, Gavin Carmen. I'm happy to be with you here today and uh drop this episode as part of our National Apprenticeship Week in Illinois. So welcome, Gavin. And uh, would you please introduce yourself to the audience?

SPEAKER_00 0:51

Of course. Hi, John. I'm excited to be here with you as well. My name is Gavin Carmen, and I am a second year apprentice at Aeon, based out of the Bannockburn, Illinois location. So let's start from the top.

SPEAKER_02 1:02

Uh, tell us uh how you came to start your apprenticeship. How did you find out about the program?

SPEAKER_00 1:08

And what do you do? Uh well at Aeon, I'm in the risk division. So I deal with a lot of insurance certificates, invoicing, auto IDs, and we work behind the scenes of companies uh day-to-day production. Uh, how I got into the program and where it all started goes back a few years. I was delivering as an Amazon delivery driver. And what I realized is when you're an Amazon delivery driver, you have all day to think about essentially nothing. Um, so you have plenty of time to learn. If you have plenty of time to think, you have plenty of time to learn. And I realized in that position, I was around 25 years old and I didn't want to be working at Amazon when I was 50. So I went home and I searched Google one night for careers. Uh, wasn't very specific at all. To my surprise, Google search has an icon called apprenticeships. And I was expecting to see something along the lines of an HVAC or a plumbing, um, something in the trades that you would normally trades, right, right. Exactly. Exactly. Uh, but to my surprise, I saw a corporate apprenticeship at Aon.

SPEAKER_02 2:24

Other than, okay, does it does it really, you know, have all these benefits? Did you have other worries, or you or your family, did you have other worries like going into an apprenticeship?

SPEAKER_00 2:36

Getting into a bit, I guess, of my personal situation when I applied to the program. I was uh living with my spouse for five years at that time and working as an Amazon driver and a server, uh, you you don't really have a lot of wiggle room in your cache. Um long story short, at the time I got the apprenticeship, I have we also decided to separate, and that created a tough situation for me where I needed to move back in with my parents.

SPEAKER_02 3:10

So when you kind of decided to apply for the apprenticeship, was that like a kind of a primary factor in in jumping into that? Hey, I gotta earn. I gotta earn and make, you know, I gotta live here.

SPEAKER_00 3:22

Yeah, I see the apprenticeship as uh this as like a slingshot opportunity is what I've been referring to as. I don't know if that's common knowledge, so I'll explain a little bit what that is. Yeah. Um, I like I said, I was living alone uh for eight years at that point in total. And sometimes in order to jump forward, you need to take a bit of a step back. And that's why I call it the slingshot because you can't fire off that rock without being out or without pulling it back first. One of the main factors of applying to this role was taking that step back and moving back in with my parents for the time being. As I've gone through, there have been individual flashpoints that have just compounded that feeling where I know exactly where I am is exactly where I need to be and I'm on the correct path. Uh kind of like a synchronicity, if you will, uh just guiding me to the right space. Um have you experienced something similar in your career?

SPEAKER_02 4:27

Yeah, for sure. I think that actually not not too long ago, within the last, you know, five or six years, I think looking at the apprenticeship program as a whole, you know, within the Department of Commerce, we do a bunch of different work to support businesses and communities and individuals and you know, looking at, you know, what are some of the highest value-added programs and opportunities that we can we can offer, you know, and and I think the answer keeps pointing us to apprenticeships, right? It's that whole earn as you learn model where someone like yourself and even my kids look at uh getting a skill uh without coming out of school with uh$7,500,000 worth of debt.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

Yeah, and there's a huge benefit for the apprentice, like you said. They're not leaving debt, they're training, they're getting a traditional education paired with on-the-job learning, but also there's a benefit for the employers that are offering these programs, right? Absolutely, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:33

And you know, and and for me, you know, we look we look at the the you know the the data, right? It's it's um it's it's an opportunity for companies to retain their workers, right? To to create a more connected worker. Um, and then also, you know, one of the things I do within DCO is to help our unit with our hiring and HR process. And I I know how much of a challenge that is to you know go through that whole hiring process, that churn. We we would have a uh a situation where you're less likely to jump around because you can see that you know your skill and effort is rewarded by pay increases, and you know, the company sees you as someone who you know is understanding uh and connected to the why uh and much more productive.

SPEAKER_00 6:33

From the employer standpoint, it creates commitment, it creates loyalty, and it's an investment for the future. You invest over time to reap the benefits much further down the line. And that's the same way I see apprenticeships uh from an employer's perspective, is it creates that loyalty and that commitment from the apprentice to then be a future leader in your organization because they understand it from the ground up and they have been essentially that partner from the very, very beginning.

SPEAKER_02 7:11

It's gonna pay off in the long term so you don't, you know, have uh uh you know kind of an endless HR carousel.

SPEAKER_00 7:19

So yeah, it's it's like doing an extra credit at the beginning of the semester just in case you need it at the end of the semester.

SPEAKER_02 7:26

Put it in the bank and uh keep it for the end. So thinking about you know how different people learn. You always hear about the you know the traditional route, you need a bachelor's degree to be successful. Maybe you've tried that path and it doesn't work. So, Gavin, uh, tell us a little bit about your kind of academic path. Is this kind of your first go at college?

SPEAKER_00 7:50

I went to college at the University of Chicago at Illinois, straight out of high school, 18 years old, fresh faced, ready to go in 2015. I made it one semester before I got kicked out for having less than a 1.0 GPA. I essentially just used the dorm room as my apartment for a few months, which was a great time, but definitely not the way to go. Through over the next seven years or so, I tried school two more times. I went to College of DuPage. I was there for a semester before I started not going to class again. And I didn't want to pay. So I ended up dropping out before I had to pay College of DuPage, second school down, third school a couple years later, I ended up going to Flashpoint Chicago for uh audio engineering. And that time I was dedicated. I actually did so well that I got hired after my first year and dropped out of school. I was like, I don't need this anymore. I'm good. And then the company that I worked for ended up going under, falling through. It was a startup company. All this to say that I was never really that good at school. I finished the race at the slowest pace possible, essentially. But in my program, I'm proud to say that I now have maintained a 4.0 GPA while not only succeeding in my role, but exceeding expectations of an apprentice doing work of senior specialists in my position.

SPEAKER_02 9:22

Do you see like a difference between like, you know, the first couple of times going versus like the apprenticeship? Is it is it because of how it's like kind of connected directly to your job?

SPEAKER_00 9:34

That is a huge aspect of it. A big part of it is the time uh or where I'm at in my life when or where I was at when I started the apprenticeship. I had grown up a lot, I had realized what's important, didn't want to be working at Amazon when I was 50. If I actually put in effort, I could do really well. Uh, but additionally, like you mentioned, yeah, having class be a part of your employment, being paid to be in class, all your classes being paid for is a huge aspect and a huge uh driving factor behind why I'm doing so well in school.

SPEAKER_02 10:09

We're getting close to the end of the episode today. So want to move to a segment called the sound bite sentence. We're gonna ask you a question and you'll answer it in one brief sentence. Okay. Okay. So that's mentorship is a vital part of apprenticeship. What's some advice that really changed your mindset that you would like to pass along?

SPEAKER_00 10:36

I spoke to someone here at Aeon, Kevin Johnson. The faster you drop the apprenticeship title, the faster you become who you want to be. Now, that doesn't mean forget where you come from, but act as if you are already in the position that you want to be in. That way you're not holding yourself back from everything that you're capable of doing.

SPEAKER_02 10:58

I think that's so true of don't be limited by a title. You know, if you want to learn something where it's not in your job description, is have that curiosity and and run with it. People recognize it, right? They they notice, they notice if you are willing to put in the extra work, right? When other team members say, Oh, I want Gavin, I want Gavin on my team, you know that you've made your mark, right? And and that's and that you're recognized. So, so so that's great. If you could speak directly to the people who opened the door for you in this apprenticeship, what would you tell them?

SPEAKER_00 11:37

I would tell them the same thing I tell anybody who gives me a chance in this. Thank you for involving me. I've been a part of some really cool initiatives here at Aeon so far, and it's all because people thought to involve me.

SPEAKER_02 11:50

What do we want the listeners to walk away with?

SPEAKER_00 11:53

I would encourage them to learn more about the apprenticeship framework. Sure. What does it take to get involved? How can I either become an apprentice or how can I start implementing an apprenticeship program at my place of work? Because I want people who are going to be committed to my cause and committed to my uh uh my workplace. And I think the best way to do that is through apprenticeship programs.

SPEAKER_02 12:25

That's a great tee up to highlight a lot of the resources that are on the apprenticeshipillinois.com website. You know, we've got a ton of resources available for companies to do exactly what you had mentioned, right? Pulling together a formal program may seem overwhelming. We have resources available to go as fast as as you want to go. Uh, kind of industry and and job standards and and kind of game plans that are already in place, already been developed, that you can use as a base to uh customize to what your needs. And we've got team members who who can definitely um help you do that, go as fast as you're ready to go. How has your vision of the future shifted from your time as an Amazon driver uh to now uh as a result of the apprenticeship opportunity?

SPEAKER_00 13:19

It's a positivity about whatever comes next. Because as an apprentice, it's important to stay open and be flexible and work with the schedule that you have. If I maintain that mindset moving forward, only good things are going to be coming in the future.

SPEAKER_01 13:38

Tune in next time for a special National Apprenticeship Week episode featuring Eldrin Community College, the inaugural recipients of the WBLA Catalyst Award. Thank you for joining us for this episode, and we look forward to seeing you next time on the Apprentice Perspective.