Don't Sell Yourself Short: An Automotive Apprentice's Journey

Expensive car repairs motivated Riverside City College (RCC) student Jonathan Aguirre to explore the automotive field.

In his own words, Jonathan shares his experience with Network Kinection on his journey as an automotive student, his goals for the future, and advice for future apprentices on going after their goals.

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I gained interest in this field so I could help my family save money on vehicle repairs. It's a lot cheaper to fix cars yourself than to take it to the dealer. I'm also not the most academic person, so I knew halfway through high school that I wouldn't want to work in a career that would require me to dedicate another chunk of my life to university. So, I picked automotive and started working my way to becoming a technician.

 Don't pass up on opportunities...You're capable of a lot.

When I first got hired at Volkswagen, I had already been in RCC's automotive program for around three and a half years. Along with all the personal car maintenance I've been doing, during that time I've gained more skills than I can list. As for how I adapted to the work environment: I worked at America's Tires for two years prior to this job, so I was already used to working with people. I can't really say I experienced any challenges during my career, it all kind of came naturally to me.

Work fast and work hard.

Network Kinection helped me find a job here at Volkswagen. As for when I've been able to apply what I've learned from my coursework, I haven't really been able to yet. I've been learning how to fix cars but as of right now, I'm merely changing oil. In the future, I'll hopefully be working as a full-fledged technician.

The advice I would give to future apprentices: Don't pass up on opportunities just because you think you can't do it. A lot of people tend to sell themselves short and skip chances given to them because they think they're not good enough. You're capable of a lot. I know it's cliche, but it'll be hard work and there will be times you'll want to quit but it will get easier eventually.