The United States Navy took Montana-native Raphael Davis and turned him into an Information Systems Technician. He traveled all over the Pacific working on the Navy’s IT systems. He loved it! 

After receiving an Honorable Discharge, Raphael resettled in his wife’s hometown of Seattle. He started building his civilian life by enrolling in a Computer Science transfer program at a local community college. To lessen the financial burden of school, he also snagged a side job in retail.   

His employer recognized his abilities and rewarded him with promotions and new responsibilities. Slowly Raphael went from full time student with a side job to a full-time employee trying to carve out time for school. Six years passed and he realized he needed to decide to focus on retail or chase his aspirations in IT.

He learned of Apprenti, studied diligently for the assessment and pulled down a competitive score. While waiting for a formal apprenticeship to come knocking, he entered TLG Learning’s IT Pre-Apprenticeship where he could take the accelerated training and certification which lined him up for either an IT apprenticeship, career, or both. It felt scary and risky to leave the known comfort of retail, but Raphael and his wife cinched their belts and made the leap. 

Raphael joined the Datacenter Technician Pre-Apprentice cohort in late March of 2019. By mid-July he had industry-standard IT certifications and a job working IT with the Army Corps of Engineers. The team setting is perfect for Raphael’s re-entry into tech where he can redevelop his skills amidst like-minded professionals. Due to Apprenti assessment ranking, he is shortlisted for training and apprenticeship opportunities with the likes of Amazon and Microsoft and he eventually hopes to move into a Software Engineering apprenticeship. 

While grateful for his retail career, Raphael welcomes this new decade as an IT professional pursuing his goals.