Is university still worth the investment?
Go to university, get a job, and live happily ever after. For those of us from working-class backgrounds, that's been the advice we've heard time and time again. Carlo is showing there is another way.
If you’re short on time, read the 30 second version of this post.
"If I could go back, I'd learn a trade and avoid wasting time and money," a friend once told me. I've also heard multiple stories of people who skipped the traditional university path and did apprenticeships, i.e. paid employment opportunities that combine hands-on work experience with structured training, who earned a wage in the process. In all of the cases I've heard, it's worked out really well.
So why is it not a more common path?
The naming is off. Apprenticeship is the wrong name. I talk to a lot of parents. For many of them, when they hear "apprenticeship", the default answer is "no way". They have the wrong perception. An easy fix would be to call it a "sponsored degree". There's also an awareness issue where more people need to realise this is an option.
Carlo Weaver, Founder & CEO at Apprentago
Carlo is exhibit A for why more people should consider apprenticeships: He left school with no GCSEs, and despite an extremely challenging personal situation, an apprenticeship changed his life in a way he could never have imagined. After a successful stint at Natwest as an apprentice, he's now the founder of a startup, Apprentago, helping companies and candidates benefit from apprenticeships.
We interviewed Carlo to discuss his mission to transform how young people think about apprenticeships and how his startup, Apprentago, makes them more accessible. We also discuss the opportunities and challenges AI is creating and his advice for young people entering the workforce.
Apprentago's founding story
To say Carlo's story is remarkable is an understatement. "I never went to university because I couldn't afford it. I was a full-time carer for my mother," he explains. A few years before that, they had become homeless due to financial hardship. He left school without GCSEs and hit rock bottom, with mental health issues that even led to him attempting to take his own life.
But that dark moment inspired a transformation: "I realised I had put so much effort into planning my demise - if I put a fraction of it into living, maybe I could become successful." He went to college and earned qualifications equivalent to A-levels. University fees ruled out a traditional degree path, but the sixth page (!) of Google led him to a degree apprenticeship at Natwest Markets.
"I'd never heard of a degree apprenticeship before. I thought apprenticeships were for builders and trades." Within months of joining, Carlo was helping to manage an £83 million portfolio. "One month before that, I worked in a charity job to make ends meet. Suddenly, I'm in the head office of NatWest talking to the CIO about portfolios."
Apprenticeships allowed him to turn his life around in a way few could have imagined.
My colleagues at Natwest, who had gone to university would be astonished to hear my story. OK, they were earning twice my salary. Still, they'd invested a lot of time and money into a university degree. They were frankly sceptical of how much they had learnt at university that has prepared them for a career in portfolio management
This insight convinced him that awareness and perception of apprenticeships were key barriers to tackle. He wants Apprentago to be the platform that solves these for both candidates and companies.
In the same way that UCAS is the platform everyone thinks of for university applications, I want Apprentago to be the platform everyone thinks of for Apprenticeships. But he knows this is a challenging task.
The problem with Apprenticeships and how Apprentago is helping
On top of the naming and perception issue mentioned at the start of this post, Carlo also describes an awareness issue.
Most schools are not talking about apprenticeships. Private schools, however, realise that it makes a lot of sense. When private school kids get work experience in corporate environments, they realise this is an option. The creators of degree apprenticeships envisioned helping with social mobility. However, private school kids (who need them the least) are benefitting from them the most.
It's interesting to consider the dynamics at play here. I've witnessed many cases of working-class parents telling their children that university is the holy grail—heck, I experienced it myself. But ironically, the kids whose parents already have professional careers are the most likely to consider an apprenticeship. If the above holds, apprenticeships could be increasing social inequality rather than reducing it.
Carlo is on a mission to change this with Apprentago:
For students: Carlo has an impressive social media following and advises people on getting apprenticeships. His platform helps create awareness and helps candidates with their applications.
For employers: Carlo uses his social channels to increase awareness of potential employers. His platform helps companies find and hire relevant candidates.
In summary, social media is his distribution, whereas his product uses AI to guide both and enable a relevant match. “We use AI to match people to jobs and get data from resumes to match employers' needs”.
At this point, I'd usually be quite sceptical. Can AI do a good job of making a match? But there's an important point to consider: For experienced hires, the alternative is to use a human recruiter. In this case, the incentive (a large fee) isn't there for a traditional recruiter. So the alternative is… nothing? In this case, using AI can help to improve the existing experience for all sides. But that doesn't come without its risks either.
Challenges and opportunities with AI
We get to the point of resumes and the impact AI is having on them. While Apprentago helps students craft a strong resume, Carlo also recognises there are risks.
I'm a little worried about what will happen if we enable everyone to make a good resume. Will it stop being a valid signal? The idea of a resume is very engrained in hiring practices and will remain so for a long time. However, it will make the following stages harder: video interviews and later stages will have more hurdles.
How recruitment evolves is anyone's guess. There’s a risk that recruiters and hiring managers stop reading resumes due to AI. When everyone has a polished resume, hiring managers will likely revert back to impressive school for entry level hiring. Getting deeper candidate data is not something AI is helping with, at least not yet.
But as with every problem, an opportunity is created. Carlo advises candidates to research, prepare, and find a way to stand out.
I'd tell candidates to use social media for research. Look up "a day in the life of" a specific role (or apprenticeship) and use it to gather information. Once you've found the role, you need to present yourself in a way that positions you well. If you're applying for 100 different jobs at once, you're hurting your chances. Especially for entry-level jobs, you shouldn't apply to more than 10. Do deep research and find a way of showing you care.
The above reveals a key insight we've discussed multiple times in this newsletter: Candidates need to show employers they care. Everyone does a resume and cover letter as a minimum. Finding a way to ensure a potential employer can't ignore an application is key.
I worked with someone who got into a degree apprentice program with UBS. He was brilliant. When they interviewed everyone, he made a payment processing system to understand how it worked. He said he liked payments and was curious about how they worked, so he built a working system to separate himself from all the other applicants.
While most candidates may think the above sounds impossible, building a basic product with AI has never been easier. Tools like v0.dev, tessl, etc., democratise access to anyone curious enough to tinker.
Closing thoughts
University still has its place - for those who are academically inclined, can afford it, and value the non-economic benefits that come with the university experience (network, self-discovery, etc), it remains a worthwhile investment. But trying to force this traditional path onto everyone is not the right answer for many.
By helping both companies and candidates realize that apprenticeships are a viable option, Carlo isn't just creating awareness - he's having a very real impact on young people’s lives.
As with any technology, AI will bring upsides and downsides to entry-level hiring. I for one would like to see the traditional resume disrupted. The real challenge for founders like Carlo will be finding breakthrough ways to match young people with fulfilling careers without relying on surface-level data.
Given Carlo's own journey and what he's already achieved, he seems well positioned to tackle this challenge. Who better to transform apprenticeships than someone who has experienced firsthand its life-changing potential and understands its current limitations?