Cars are becoming increasingly advanced and the automotive market has a great need for good automotive technicians. Especially as electric and hybrid cars become more popular every day. If you want to become an automotive technician, the right time is NOW if you ask me.
Because now, it is very easy to get a well-paid job and a chance to stand out at the beginning of the electric car era if you have the interest and want to learn. I will write this article in 3 steps about what the requirements are to become a good technician.
Start in your own garage and take a course or go to school
To be an automotive technician, you must be interested in cars. Otherwise, you won’t learn, and most technicians started with their own car at home. If you take a course or go to a school without interest, you won’t learn the small techniques you need. I started myself in my garage with a Nissan S13. I began tuning it with most repairs and upgrades failing. It became very expensive, but I learned a lot. Learn the hard way, as they say. The good thing about starting to learn at home is that you can take the time you need to do a good repair. Carefully inspect all parts and try to understand how they work. Learn which tools you need for which job and which tools are the best to use.
Maybe try starting by helping some friends with easier jobs for a small fee. Even if you’re not fully learned, don’t start doing things for free, or they’ll expect you to do things for free your whole life. Tuning & Racing is a very good way to learn. It can be expensive, but it gives you a lot of knowledge. Maybe your friend does some kind of racing, and you could help with the car at events. It’s both fun and you’ll learn a lot!
When you have a bit more knowledge, start doing jobs faster and faster without reducing quality. Find ways to do it more quickly.
Good jobs to know before going to ask for a job or get certified:
1. Brakes
2. Suspension
3. Welding exhaust systems
4. Maintenance like oil changes, etc.
At this point, when you feel you’re ready to take the next step, you can choose which direction you want to go. Some want to work in a small workshop where education/certification isn’t so important. But I would recommend trying to aim higher!
Get a Certificate
It depends a lot on which country you’re in, but some kind of certificate I recommend you get when looking for a job.
It will be much easier and maybe a requirement if you want to work in a large workshop.
It’s always good to have things to write on your resume.
Try to get a job at a small workshop
If you want, you can try starting to work in a small workshop to first learn the basics as an automotive technician.
It will probably be much easier to get your first technician job there.
The downside is that you probably won’t get any education, but it’s a good way to learn from the start how things work in small workshops too before moving to a larger workshop.
If you have worked in a small workshop for a while and want to go to a larger workshop to gain more knowledge and education, I have to give you a warning: when you start at a large workshop, they probably want you to deliver repairs very quickly and with good quality.
Most big brand workshops have short repair times for each job, and you need to work quickly with good quality. Sometimes it’s not even possible for the most skilled technicians. When you’ve worked there for a while and feel you have a good basic knowledge of cars, you can try to become a specialist in a small area, electricity, etc., which can give you good pay.
Try to get master technician training from your company; it’s not easy but it’s worth it. If you’ve worked more with fault diagnosis and electricity for a while, you might try to go further if possible in the electric car market or start your own business.
Summary
The automotive market has a great need for technicians. If you have the interest, you could become a technician in a short time, but remember to be qualified technicians, you need to work for a few years and make many mistakes. When you have good training and good knowledge of the automotive market, it’s a good chance to start your own business if you want (though there may be tough times for small workshops in the future, as big brands lock their vehicles into their own workshops).