Racing to the top

Completing his automotive mechanical apprenticeship in rapid fire time and becoming Apprentice of the Year at Kangan Institute in 2009, Sevag Parseghian is someone who’s going places fast.

A lover of motorsports and anything to do with cars in general, he is moving up the ladder of his employer, Mercedes Benz Australia/Pacific. A previous Victorian Apprentice of the Year, Sevag entered after being nominated by his group training organisation, WPC Group.

‘I achieved and won an award I didn’t even know existed until WPC brought it to my attention, but I’m so glad I was nominated,’ says Sevag.

‘Winning the Victorian Training Award (in 2012) brought me fantastic recognition and proved to be a real “wow factor” in the eyes of others.

‘It opened many doors, including to motorsport work which I love, won me many accolades, and even led to me being featured in TV commercials and on billboards.

‘It definitely helped me get where I am today and the networking that has resulted has been incredible.’

After an initial detour at university, Sevag deferred his engineering degree after two years as it wasn’t clear what job he’d get at the end.

‘To me, uni never quite related to the real world, but vocational education and training was perfect for me,’ he says.

‘While I was learning the theory I was practising and applying my skills every day which gave me a great foundation.’

It’s now nine years since Sevag started his apprenticeship with Mercedes Benz and he couldn’t be happier with how his career has progressed.

‘I never dreamt as a first year I’d be in a position in a couple of years’ time where I’d be a technical service manager working across three states and 19 dealerships with one of the world’s most prestigious auto companies,’ he adds.

‘I was very focused, very driven, and wanted to learn more and more. I'm very ambitious and set myself five-year goals but I seem to be achieving them in much less than that.

‘I think if you have passion, drive, a good work ethic and follow your heart then what you can achieve is infinite.’​