Hard start, Great finish

 Tomira McKinney or TK as she likes to be known was a student at Hutching’s Career Center NATEF accredited AYES program in 2005 when I met her, Raised by her  mom and a child of Macon’s inner city she was not a good student at first . Time and patience worked on her and soon she became the service and parts “manager” for the “Shop” during our lab class. A store manager came in one day to deliver parts and met TK as she handled the parts order. The store manager was delivering the parts to the school and came over to me and asked “Can I hire her?” I said “Sure! but she is only 16.” He said ” I don’t care she is better than anyone in the store I have now” After an interview and job shadowing. TK served as a paid AYES Intern in the O’Reilly’s store that summer and then the next year continued until graduation at the store on Vineville street in Macon Georgia. The last report on her was a call from TK in 2011. She was in Atlanta moving up into the management of several stores for O’Reilly’s.

        These stories are not unique to my experience. Instructors using the AYES model across the nation see success and sometimes problems. We welcome you to join with us to develop the next generation of students in the transportation industry.

        I hope you are interested in adding AYES model to your NATEF program. Or you are looking into NATEF accreditation for your school. Give the NATEF or the AYES office a call.  We are always ready to help the pursuit of excellence in Automotive education.

Good Mentors and the Interns

George a GM Master Technician @ Walker Olds Cadillac GMC in Carrollton Georgia on right with Tim Jones who was one of the first placements out of a new AYES program. Tim is now a GM master and working with new students at the dealership. George mentored many students in his career. Not all worked out as Tim did.

George explaining the GM service information to two job shadowing students. GM and many of our Alliance partners share service information with NATEF schools using the AYES model.    Exposing the student to different systems is good practice for motivated young techs.

George agreed to take on an intern the summer before Tim. His name was Milton, as a Junior Milton had all the things you look for, good attitude, teachable, respectful and he and George were a good fit. Senior year Milton continued to work at the dealership and made enough to buy a used Cadillac. Well one weekend night coming home late he crashed the Caddy and wound up in trouble, lost his license and therefore his job. He was unhurt but because of the speeding ticket and wreck the dealership could no longer use a automotive tech with out a license to drive.

George and I lost track of Milton after that. I hope he has done well.  Read More on the Advisory Council

Teenagers. You know most of your students are going to be 16-17 in their Junior year.

 

Picture: Teenagers lining up at an Advisory meeting to receive their ASE Student Certifications. All the students in black tees are AYES interns that were hired at 17 for their first career position in the automotive industry.

       We are asking the mentor to take on a teenager. Now that statement brings mixed perceptions to the table. The people you are trying to convince to take a teenager may think back to their teen years or their teenagers, or imagine that your students are like all the bad news @ 6 stories they hear. They will say “No”, citing rules, insurance and every excuse under the sun. They know they need help, The service bays are full now and the baby boomers are not getting younger. Well I have a word for those that say “No” to your students. They need to “Know” more about your students. An AYES prospective intern has passed your rigorous demands in the classroom and lab. They have met the standards set by the ASE Industry Education Alliance partners. I encourage you t go back to those that said no with the plan for using the AYES model, ask for job interviews, ask them to visit the lab and observe students, Ask and continue to ask. Some of my best placements came from the strongest resistors to hiring a teenager.

See  Standards for the AYES Student Intern/Graduate

One of the common objections comes from a misunderstanding of the rule about operating lifts. The law talks about lifts and those are the huge lifts used in manufacturing and transportation to lift many tons of material. Not the common auto lift in shops and your lab.  Contact your ASE Alliance Manager and we can get you insurance letters to help clear this up.

Some time a shop won’t hire teens because of a business rule about liability. We have some schools that require interns to purchase school insurance like the football team does to protect them in case of an off campus accident.

Calling on a Service Manager, Always be mindful of their Time!

 I could look out over the shop from his office and see the various work stations and technicians in the service bays. The closest one was a new SUV that had just been pulled into the lift bay by a tech that proceeded to set up the twin post lift by setting the arms under the vehicle at the lift points. He set the left rear and left front then as he walked around the front toward the other side he got a cell phone call and answered it as he set the right front lift arm. I was not paying much attention as the technician walked around to the lift control and with his back to the vehicle  and continued his call as he lifted the vehicle. I did notice the SUV bounced when it first hit the floor on it’s rear hatch. The service manager was instantly shocked! Before he could speak, I said “Seeya! I will come back when you are not so busy.”  Fortunately no one was hurt.

 Here is a reminder:

 

Placements don’t always go as expected.

  I placed a student at a Mercedes dealership. Josh, a junior is a good student, respectful and motivated. The service manager, James, was hard but fair. We the WBL coach and I had worked many hours to convince the dealership to hire a 17 year old. We knew if this young man did not get a job soon he would move on to another career as  the family needed income. The local fast food places were hiring kids all day @ $7.50 an hour and giving them 60 hours of work. That is hard to compete with in a shop that only goes 40 hours. The dealer finally approved the hire and Josh was in. The mentor was selected and Josh was at this first real paying job working as an intern to a Master Mercedes Technician. His mom was so proud of him. The first week went well.  The second week James was out for a vacation day and the mentor assigned to Josh called in sick. I got the phone call around 2 pm. “We are firing your student, Mr Reeves” said the assistant service manager. What happened?

 

2008 L to R, Josh,  AYES Intern, Lavon Tarver BMW Tech AYES Graduate,  in background Shane Brown, BMW Master Tech and AYES mentor to Levon and Josh. Josh is @ Butler BMW in Macon Georgia Levon is now the instructor of the automotive program @ Hutchings Career Center in Macon Georgia

The case was this. Josh was working with another tech he did not know well, when the assistant service manager came to the tech and told him a service was due on a car in the Service entrance, they both told Josh to go get the car. Now Josh was 17, he knew he was not to drive any vehicle. He had a drivers license but all AYES interns are told “No driving the cars!” His mentor knew this, James knew this, everyone except the two adults telling Josh to go get the car NOW! Josh did what he hoped was the best to try and please the immediate adult requests and almost totaled a new Mercedes E class on the side of the dealership doorway.  Should he have called me first? Yes, but his cell phone was locked up in the office as per the rules of the workplace. Should I have made sure everyone knew the rules? Yes, but some how these two were not informed.

     Josh did lose his job and I was called to the dealership the next day by James. There I met with James, Josh and Josh’s mom who was very upset. By being there I feel I helped smooth over a potentially negative situation as the mom was not happy with the dealership policy and firing of Josh. The AYES model recommends that you the instructor visit students during the summer internship on a regular basis. “Inspect what you Expect” 

      However, Josh was hired the next fall to work half days after school by another dealership and is still there after 10 years. He has not wrecked any more cars. “All’s well that ends well.”

Job Shadowing…… Internship Success

Hi
I will attach a few documents, of course you can find them on the web site under Resources.
http://www.ayes.org/Private/My-Resources/Resources-Documents/Document-Center.aspx

Job shadowing and interviews are a rewarding part of the AYES model. I will say it is a key game changer. Students often come out of the interviews with new excitement. For many it is their first contact with an adult from the real world so plan the interviews carefully in cooperation with your advisory committee. Job interviews should be conducted over the course of several days so that potential employers can be engaged at their convenience. Students should be prepared for the interviews by using tools like Skills PDP which is no cost to AYES programs.  Student should be coached and prepared by day to day work ethics preparation that you are already using to prepare them for the world of work. The ideal time for job interviews is winter so that students are ready for job shadowing during spring break. The interviews can be a win+win for the student, employer and the teacher. The student many times comes away with a new found respect for themselves because a perspective employer gave their time to focus on the student. The employer often finds that their outlook on teenagers is changed by meeting your qualified students. The instructor  often finds that the students rise to the occasion and become better learners because of the exposure to the employers.

Job shadowing is reserved for students that meet your expectations on all levels. I have attached the AYES student standards. For me to sign off on a student means that I am placing my reputation on the student meeting the expectation of the employer. Where the school system may have a person that supervises school to work students. I feel they are focused on numbers and not quality. I would always cooperate with the person in that position,But I would not allow them to place my students. The AYES model is built around the foundation of a mentor. The mentor is key to successful placement of interns. These documents outline the Mentor/Intern relationship. http://www.ayes.org/Private/My-Resources/Resources-Documents/AYES-Manuals.aspx

Job shadowing requires selection of the work place and should be planned in detail with the personnel at the job site understanding the role each has to play in the student’s introduction to the workplace. Ideally a student will spend a few days at one work place, shadowing several employer positions. I would give students a guide to journal/write about each position they shadow. I would suggest you coordinate the interviews and job shadowing to follow the school’s calendar to take advantage of holidays, teacher work days when student are off and other windows of opportunity. A cooperative administrator at the school may give students release during school days if you can measure the student’s performance. I would gauge the time a student job shadows by the needs and requirements of the supervisors at the work place.
You can download the documents and edit to suit your needs http://www.ayes.org/Private/My-Resources/Resources-Documents/Internship-Forms.aspx

Be sure that all the stakeholders are aware and sign off on all the required paperwork to cover responsibilities, liabilities and steps involved. The list would include but not limited to: Student, parent, school admin, instructor, employer and prospective mentors/active mentors.

I have observed many times that programs that job shadow/job interview a large number of students also place a large number of students in summer internships. I have also observed that an active advisory will increase the number of students employed

Of course you are the most important piece of the puzzle. With out your hard work nothing gets accomplished.

Here are some stories for you:  https://autoteachersonny.wordpress.com/2013/06/03/developing-a-program-advisory-committee-2/

Any questions?

How to Work with your Work Based Learning coach

 

Michael now a master Honda Technician @ Walsh Honda. Micheal is another AYES model  success story. Shown here with Mary Beth, one of the finest Work Based Learning coaches I ever worked with. Michael is pictured with his new Snap On toolbox. See Snap On Tool Scholarship

 Your school may have a work-based learning teacher or coordinator assigned to work with student and employers. 

 

Build this relationship with the focus on “What is in the student’s best interest?”

Many times student job placements are based on quantity over quality. In an ideal AYES intern placement the student is paid a rate set by the advisory council before hand. To some the word intern means unpaid, but we want our automotive students to be paid at least a minimum if not better to reflect the quality of their work and contribution to the business.  Job interviews are set, job shadowing follows and interns are selected and paired with mentors. This model is sometimes different for the WBL coach. Make sure you understand each others roles and responsibilities. Build a relationship by first understanding what they have to do for the system. The Steven Covey Quote ” Seek first to understand” works best.  What their job is and understand that you have a role that can help them look very good with the AYES model and resources. Read more on developing relationships

AYES Model, Active Mentoring

        Spring is almost here and soon your hard work will pay off as students graduate or move into summer internships. The value of the work-based learning experience is the result of many hours, if not days, of preparation, beginning back last year when your introduced your students to the concept. The Automotive Youth Educational Systems (AYES) school-to-career model outlined in this blog is road-tested, known and widely supported by industry leaders. The AYES model is based on the European apprenticeship and was introduced by Jack Smith, then Chairman of General Motors, in 1995. Since then, AYES has evolved to be the industry-wide model for the automotive service industry.

Today, with the affiliation of the ASE Industry Education Alliance, any NATEF-accredited secondary program can employ the AYES model for their Collision, Truck and/or Automobile technology programs. See  Get Started

My colleague, Tom Richardson, one of the architects of the early AYES model, is fond of saying, “It’s all about relationships.” Remarkably simple in concept, those crucial relationships begin with the program’s advisory committee.  Invariably, in my experience, at the foundation of a good auto program is a strong program advisory committee. This is especially true when it comes to work-based learning programs; arranging job sites, career exploration and job shadowing activities, identifying mentors, interviews, and intern placement. For more on development of advisory committees,read  Advisory

    Read what NADA has to say about AYES  NADA ROI   If you are a employer reading this check out the intern value calculator on this NADA post.

Read Mentor Intern success stories

    

      Where does a quality program start? If you have a motivated instructor you are off to a good start. Good teachers always seek more ways to serve their students, improve their program and grow in their profession.  Read Remarkable Program, Remarkable Teacher

Here is an AYES Mentor, an ASE Master Technician that is proud of his accomplishments displaying his ASE credentials along with his family pictures.  See Our Partners

 A good mentor, like a good teacher, is hard to describe. We are asking he/she to be amazing at times. You are a teacher and you have many students and a facility to keep up, but you also have support people that help you and provide structure. We are asking the mentor to teach and make their living at the same time. The mentor may have issues with their life at times also that affect them. You, the teacher, also need to be available to the mentor and intern for support when needed.

Your school may have a work-based learning teacher or coordinator assigned to work with student and employers. See How to work with your Work Based Learning Coach

        See Advisory for more on Advisory committee development.

        Let’s assume you have a good working Advisory Council that supports you and your students. If we look at a time line See link to calender we would see that the August, September meeting would be a good place to start the hunt for new mentors. These individuals are not hard to find, yet they can be difficult to develop and turn them into stakeholders. During your visits to the franchises and retail shops in your area of operation, get to know the technicians and managers. Discover the ones that have the attitude of a mentor candidate. Look for leadership and patience, someone who is a professional, that replicated/cloned would be an asset to the business, and the community. A role model so to speak. They come in all sizes and ages, but the defining attribute is they like people and want to give back to the community the best their craft has to offer. Good mentors are teachers, probably the best example of a teacher there is. All truly good teachers are mentors.  Selecting mentors is a challenge to match each one to the right intern. It takes a lot of time and is not something you do with form letters or phone calls. You have to study people, personalities and emotions.

         We hold classes each spring  called “Train the Trainer” for the purpose of training the teacher to work with student interns and mentors. To learn more about T3 and sign up for the classes. Go to  Train the Trainer

         AYES model gives you access to the documents, forms and manuals that cover every aspect of the school to career process with proven methods that work. No reason to roll your own or reinvent the wheel. We know what you need and have a proven plan for success. We know you will have problems placing 17 year olds. We have best practices we can share for that. We know you will have problems getting the attention of the right people at the businesses. We can help with that also. 

      I feel this summer internship in the AYES model becomes the most important experiential learning experience the student will have in secondary education. It is learning at the Master’s elbow in a contextual environment that can’t easily be reproduced in an academic based education system. It gives the student the experience without the dangers associated with winging it on their own in a career that in my opinion is unlike any other.

      For the nuts and bolts of an internship I recommend you develop your paperwork to involve the business, the mentor, the intern and the parents in a clear legal chain of responsibility that covers all areas of the program. The resources on the NATEF/AYES website are time tested and very adaptable to your program. Why reinvent the wheel? You can call your ASE Alliance manager for assistance.  See Find my Field Manager

Herb Hoffman, Service Manager of Infiniti and Subaru of Gwinnett is active with the local NATEF accredited program @ Maxwell High School of Technology. Herb is very positive that the AYES model is the way to “Grow your Own” for the dealerships he manages.   See Testimonials                               Herb is a big supporter of Job Shadowing.                Read more  Job Shadowing equals Internship Success

      Now some stories. I was at a dealership to talk with a potential mentor, I first went in to the service manager’s office to talk with him and get his support for the intern to be selected.  Read More

                                                                                                               Always be mindful of their time…..

                 These high school students are lined up to get their ASE Student Certification and patch from their instructor during an Advisory Committee meeting in 2013. Soon they will be going to interviews, job shadowing and looking forward to their future. The instructor, Marlo Miranda  at this NATEF program does a good job involving his advisory and places a lot of Juniors in industry using the AYES model. Marlo’s graduating Seniors are usually spoken for before they graduate. His Advisory Committee meetings are held at noon with a catered lunch and last one hour. They are well attended and focus on the students. Read more on Teenagers as Interns

Placements don’t always go as expected. Read more about a unique intern

2008 L to R, Josh,  AYES Intern, Levon Tarver BMW Tech AYES Graduate,  in background Shane Brown, BMW Master Tech and AYES mentor to Levon and Josh. Josh is @ Butler BMW in Macon Georgia Levon is now the instructor of the automotive program @ Hutchings Career Center in Macon Georgia. Levon started as an intern with Butler BMW at the age of 16. Josh started at 17. The service manager and owners took the time to look past the chronological age and saw the value in these teenagers.  His story is remarkable. Read More About this young mans accomplishments.

Master GM Technician George  with former AYES intern Tim Jones

George a GM Master Technician @ Walker Olds Cadillac GMC in Carrollton Georgia on right with Tim Jones who was one of the first placements out of a new AYES program. Tim is now a GM master and working with new students at the dealership. George mentored many students in his career. Not all worked out as Tim did. Read More

George explaining the GM service information to two job shadowing students. GM and many of our Alliance partners share service information with NATEF schools using the AYES model.

T. K. McKinney at her internship @ O’Reilly’s. This student went to work at age 16 in her first internship Read her story here 

        These stories are not unique to my experience. Instructors using the AYES model across the nation see success and sometimes problems. We welcome you to join with us to develop the next generation of students in the transportation industry.

        I hope you are interested in adding AYES model to your NATEF program. Or you are looking into NATEF accreditation for your school. Give the NATEF or the AYES office a call.  We are always ready to help the pursuit of excellence in Automotive education.  For more information on our Alliance,  Go To      The ASE Industry Education Alliance Family of Organizations

AYES model is open to any NATEF accredited Automotive Collision, M/HD Truck program in a secondary school.