ASE apprenticeship

[Cody]

Forgive me if this is something that has been answered. I’ve watched a lot of the ECG1 videos and haven’t seen it. I’ve searched Google and haven’t found it. I know you need two years of work experience to take the ASE exams and one year can be substituted with educational training. But does the other year or OTJ training need to be with an already certified ASE technician? Again, sorry if it’s been answered. Include a link if I missed it somewhere. Thank you.

Topic

[Mike]

No.
Your work experience doesn’t need to be under an ASE certified tech.
You actually don’t even need the work experience to take the test BUT ASE will not issue your certification until after you have the requisite experience.
Until you gain the experience, you’ll only receive the test results.

[Cody]

Thank you. After not finding any information on the necessity for one, I was assuming. However, most certifications require work under an already licensed individual. For my area, this is great! Most of the shops are family businesses or guys who have 40 years experience. Not many ASE signs around.
I digress.
Thank you, again.

[Mike]

You’re welcome.
Look online at free ASE practice questions, so you get a feel for the way they’re written.
Paying attention to the wording is important.
There are plenty of questions asking “which is the least likely cause” or “all of these are correct except for” .
Here’s an example
http://freeasestudyguides.com/a8-engine-performance-test.html

Just for reference on the work experience, here’s a link
https://www.ase.com/getattachment/About-ASE/Download-Forms/ASE_Work_Experience_Report_2011.pdf.aspx

[b]If you have any questions, contact ASE Customer Service at 1-800-390-6789, 8 am to 5 pm
Eastern time, Monday through Friday, or send an email with your full name, city, state, and
daytime telephone number to asehelp@ase.com.[/b]

[Jason White]

It’s shop experience from a recognized automotive repair facility. I am not sure what that constitutes. Your experience needs to be in the shop, actually working on the cars. 2 years in school can be substituted for 1 year of experience.

1 year for G1 cert.
2 years for normal certifications.
3 years for advanced.
If you don’t have the experience, you probably won’t pass many if any. These young eager, bright/smart optimistic guys that think they are going to read a study guide and a automotive book and run out and pass these test are going to learn that’s not how they are set up. They aren’t that easy to study for, they are based on experience. I know of many rather competent mechanics with lots of experience that have a hard time.

I started in this field in 1998, I went to school for automotive technology, and before that always tested high. Around 2000 I tested for ASE’s for the first time, took Steering and Suspension and Brakes. Passed S&S but failed brakes. Took a few more, failed some, passed some. Hit Master ASE in 2005. Kind of gave up somewhat until I got to Nissan, went through all their training, recerted and then got L1 in 2015, went and got L2 and L3 by the skin of my teeth. I have 18 years experience. There is so much to learn in this field, it’s incredible. I was once the kid that had to get help changing oil a couple times from the older techs. Made a lot of idiot mistakes. I’ve learned a lot since then. Still make some idiot mistakes. When I read about these guys with a year or two under their belt with little to no education talking about being ready to be an A tech, I don’t even know what to say except that kind of know-it-all attitude and ego will be a roadblock. Also, you don’t want to be that guy with all the ASE’s and unable to apply it. That was my problem at one time. I’m still learning, every day. Yesterday, I completed my first transmission rebuild on a CVT. That was nerve racking, having only had the class and using a book/bulletin. One mistake and I’m having to pull that trans back out of that FWD vehicle. We had a guy, just a couple years under his belt, and he rebuilt the trans on his chevy truck. Well, the under story is he had to pull it back out and redo it 3 times before he got it right and he had an experienced tech helping him. Worse part is he never did figure out what he did wrong exactly. I wonder it that trans is still holding up? Shifted awefully rough after.

[Author]

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