Advice on being a Automotive Technician??

[Kristin]

My name is Kristin a 22 y/o who is looking into going to school to be an automotive technician. Is there any advice you can give for someone who doesn’t have a lot of experience working on cars. My friend owns his own shop and taught me the basics of changing my own tires and oil. Any advice??

Topic

[Rudy Wilmoth]

🙂 Hello Kristan, it is wonderful to see that a woman would want to become a Automotive Mechanic/technician. There are a few questions that you need to think about when making a choice of a career, as the amount of schooling needed and the cost may be expensive. Do you like to work on vehicles ? You will need to get certification from a group like the ASE, the national institute of Automotive Excellence. This will allow you to work anywhere you want and your ability as a mechanic will be validated by this certification. Now just because you have the certification, it does not make you a good mechanic, it just means that you know what you are doing. To be a good mechanic you will need some drive or passion to enjoy what you are doing as a mechanic. You can just look at be a mechanic as a job, but if you have some passion for being a mechanic and enjoy working on vehicles, you will like being a mechanic even more.
To see if would like to become a mechanic, look at your local vocational schools and see if they have any classes in mechanics for beginners in the Adult Education classes first. Most schools offer a program that teaches basic maintenance to adults who have no knowledge of vehicles. You may want to find a class like that and see if you enjoy what is being taught. It is cheaper than signing up for a whole series of classes at a vocational school. If you find that you enjoy doing auto mechanics, then sign up and start the schooling for becoming a mechanic. It will take anywhere from two to two and a half years to be able to pass the certification tests and become a mechanic that is taken seriously. Most garages want mechanics who are certified. Being a woman will make it more of a challenge to be taken seriously, and if you can complete your learning and become a good mechanic you will be special. Women seem to have certain abilities that men lack, you are more detail oriented and are more observant than most men. It would be great to see more women becoming mechanics, and if you have the drive to become one, I am sure you will do well.

[Kristin]

I will be looking into all of that thank you so much. 🙂 I do like to work with my hands and have always been fascinated about how an automotive functions. 🙂

[Francisco]

I’ve been an auto tech going on three years. Was a journeyman electrician twelve years prior. While I really enjoy the field there alot of BS to put up with. My advice would be to get into a two year program at your local community college or vocation school. As in the GMASEP program I attended I had to intern at a GM dealership about 100 hours a term. During which you get some hands on training and see if you even like it. As alot of the students after there internship decided to do something else.

[Author]

Replies