What Are My Options For Automotive Training?
Breaking into ANY field is a difficult thing to do! Breaking into the Automotive industry is not any different. It used to be that getting “in to” cars and automotive used to be simpler and was more common because children often took classes in shop when they were in middle school. A lot of schools have stopped doing this unfortunately.So, when a student actually dips into automotive experiences such as fixing his or her car on his or her own, or something as simple as changing a tire, they might get a feel that this is something fun that they may want to do with their lives as an adult. You might be thinking where you will be able to get automotive training if you are this kind of individual.You actually have a whole slew of options available to you in order to get the experience you require and be successful in this field. Firstly, you could consider an automotive school. These schools teach you about different aspects in automotive training such as Service Advisor Training, Service Manager Training, Diagnostics Technology, Auto Repair Technology, etc.Of course the Automotive Training and degree option does cost money, so if you are short on money and you wish to actually learn the trade before heading over to automotive training school, you may want to think about the next few options! You can work as an Intern. A lot of the schools actually provide intern programs.You probably wouldn’t get paid for this, but you would get a lot of information about valuable on the job experience that you can use later on. You could work in a local auto shop, garage or also in a dealership. If you do plan on going for a degree later on, these Internships would normally give you credit towards your degree! You can even try working as an apprentice.These are seen less and less in the US, but they still do exist. An Apprentice is an individual that has no formal education and is normally an individual that cannot afford schooling right now, but that will like to be paid for the job at hand. It’s not a ton of cash, but it’s better than something like an Internship where you wouldn’t get paid at all.As an Apprentice you’ll even get a truck load of automotive training by a “master” in the field. Last, but not least, you can also consider working smaller jobs in hopes to learn something. These smaller jobs can include changing oil in a lube shop, working behind a parts counter, busting tires part time, etc.You can gain a ton of automotive consulting just by doing these few jobs or options. If you aren’t actually sure if this is something you definitely want to do, I will suggest reading up on a couple of books and magazines for automotive consulting to see if this IS something you definitely want to do. Nothing worse than going to automotive training only to realize after you get your degree that this wasn’t really a passion and more of a whim.