| Pre-apprentices get advice on career planning and relationship building at AYCE event |
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| Friday, 18 May 2012 09:07 | ||||
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By Mike Davey Toronto, Ontario -- May 18, 2012 -- "Don't go looking for a job. Look for an opportunity." That was one of the pieces of advice that Flavio Battilana gave to a class of pre-apprenticeship students during a presentation at Brimell Group's Paint & Collision Center ~ CSN on Wednesday. Battilana is the Chief Operating Officer of CSN Collision & Glass. The pre-apprenticeship students are part of the AYCE autobody pre-apprenticeship program. Please click here for our previous coverage of this program.
Battilana spoke on the importance of career preparation and planning for those who seek success in the collision repair field. This is an area where he is amply qualified. Battilana started in the industry as a detailer, eventually working his way up to head one the country's largest repair networks.
He later expanded on the theme of jobs vs. opportunities by noting that students should look for positions where they will be a good fit. When you go for a job interview, treat it as a life opportunity. Interview them as mch as they're interviewing you.
"A word of warning: the industry is going through some dramatic shifts," Battilana told the assembled students, referencing increased uses of formerly exotic materials, the ever-increasing role computers play in the automobile itself and recent experiments with driverless cars.
Battilana doled out a lot of practical advice, of the type that typically cannot be found in a classroom.
"Sometimes getting in trouble is part of your development. You learn more from your failures than from your successes," said Battilana. Regarding partnerships, he said "What would you do if you found a purse with $1000 in it? Make sure your partners would answer the question the same way."
The students in the pre-apprenticeship program held up their end, seizing the opportunity to ask a number of insightful questions. One question, "What was your biggest failure?" lead to a reinforcement of something Battilana had already noted: figure out who you really are.
"My biggest failure, and I still grapple with it today, is that I would try to be who other people wanted me to be," said Battilana. "When you figure out who you really are, you will find more success and have more fun. The sooner you find out who you are and what's important to you, the more sense life will make."
Good advice for anyone, no matter what stage of life they're at. For more information on the AYCE pre-apprenticeship autobody repair program, please visit ayce.on.ca.
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| Last Updated on Friday, 18 May 2012 14:46 |
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