Finding an Auto Repair Job -ETCG1
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
- In my last video I talked about some of the things to look for when searching for a school to go to for auto repair. In this video I talk about some of the things to look for when searching for a job in auto repair. I did some research on this one and called around to different repair facilities to see what they looked for when considering new hires. I was surprised and not surprised at the results. If you are looking for a job in auto repair, good luck. If you have any suggestions for those looking for a job in auto repair, feel free to comment or join in the discussion over at EricTheCarGuy.com.
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Stay Dirty
ETCG1
Eric just wanted to let you know you have inspired me so much in the automotive field i am 19 on my senior year of high school watching and listening to your videos has really blessed me i droped out of high school to get a minimum wage job but after seeing what a mechanic does i am inlove that that carrier choice currently im about to finish highschool and I'm going straight and get a ase certification and then try to get a job just wanted to let you know that you have influenced me a lot in my life and continue doing these videos man i get more joy watching these videos then watching tv keep up the good work
It means a great deal to me to have had such a positive influence on you. Thank you for taking the time to post this. I wish you all the best in life, and in your new career. Stay dirty.
@Soldado de Juan José Torres He gave up school for a minimum wage job because apparently putting periods at the end of sentences is too much of a struggle for him.
Nice video, Eric. One thing I would really like to hear more about is actual salaries or hourly pay, and if there are any changes for better or worse regarding how much and what types of tools a technician is expected to have when looking for a job. A lot of technicians are numbers people, and if you have any insights on specific compensation expectations I would be very glad to hear them.
I 'm still looking for a entry level job -- its tougher than one would think. I won't stop. I have completed 18 months of school. It just hard getting a break.
No Way did you end up finding one?
This really helps Eric, I'm actually trying to get into the field. Will be passing this onto some of my friends.
Thanks for video Eric. It may be useful for a lot guys.
I worked as a master auto tech for 19 years at a dealership here in Northern Ky across the river from Cincinnati. Talk to the other techs to see how the place is run. This will tell you a lot about the way things are done. I would tell young men to not go into the auto repair game. It is very hard on the body.
I just got hired by the US Navy as an Auto Tech doing maintenance and minor repair. Hourly wage, full time, Govt benefits. The flat-rate guys make 4 dollars more than I do and required to be ASE Master cert.
Once I get settled in, I'm going to get the ASE Maintenance and Minor Repair cert starting off.
All I can think of is the McClusky Chevrolet commercials that play constantly every morning on TV while I'm getting up for work. lol "lower prices lower rates"
i agree with alot of this, but that being said, i was going to goto an after high school tech school, and the summer between me graduating and me attending school, i got a job at a mom and pop shop to get more work experience, lil did i know i would be working with three mechanics with over thirty years experience and two mechanics that have been doing it for around seven to ten years, and i was doing so much and getting so much experience also learning so much from so many people i felt like tech school was not worth it, and some of the tech that went and had gotten degrees said i was doing it a better way by just working and learning first hand on real cars that had to be road worth when done. i looked at it like this, im getting paid to learn here and at the end of it i dont owe a school 30 grand and i have more actual work time under my belt then those schools give you because it not a real work environment. my suggestion get your foot in the door in highschool then work hard in a real shop.
Thank you for sharing your story. I'm a potential hire at this point from someone who was kind enough for me to interview him before I was "studied up". He wants already experienced people because he runs a small shop. I can't blame him. I might still be better off elsewhere who lets me get my hands dirty sooner on less than simple stuff, but he's also very smart and has always mentored me as a customer on a few things I just didn't know enough to do it myself. DIM? lol
Anyway, I really like him. I'm glad your around all these mentors. If you ask me, they took you on as an apprentice and that's fantastic. An opportunity, more structured like that might be better for me in the short run, over my current opportunity. At the same time, in thinking about going to school, I've heard too many horror stories about some available schools spending all their money on getting students instead of having a lot to teach them, so I'm getting my education on UA-cam and in the field, and I hope my online mentors will be respected like your in person ones.
This tells me I'm starting the hard way to get hired to start maybe, but 10 months of most of my spare time....I'm starting to think I should have made the plunge sooner.
It's true that dealerships do have a much better learning experience tham most shops but now im starting to see that some dealers are only hiring people that have been in there manufacturers specific car training such as bmw's step program.
P0300
P0301
Just continue for the last 3 cylinders.
Plugs, wires. cap and rotor and done.
Rattling the connector to the sensor cleared the P0501 code, and brought the speedo back to life.
If it were always this easy.
97 VW Jetta..
That's a nice car, wish I could start a big project like that one day !
Great sound Eric!
i think alot of what you said is in line with how things are in canada here too. its no different. i am just finishing my apprenticeship for truck and coach mechanic in ontario and i have seen and worked in dealerships here and have friends in fleet repair. the big thing is schooling. theres just too much competition out there so a person with no schooling just doesn't get much of a look anymore. as far as dealership vs fleet or chain shop... yah there are more dealer ships giving training and alot of up to date vehicles coming into the shop so you can see all the new bells and whistles and at the dealer you actually have the software to be able to troubleshoot these systems. smaller shops are ok but your limited by what you have available to fix things. and hence you won't see usually more then basic vehicle repair ie ( mechanic repairs). any in depth troubleshooting will have to go to a dealer where the software is available. i work at a dealership for freightliner and they have in house training and also send techs away for engine training as well. alot of employee investment there. however... with the dealer comes more expectations. if your the type of person who doesnt do well under pressure... the dealer won't be for you. they expect a return on their investment which is speedy work done in the time alotted for each repair. everything you do at the dealer is monitored and tabulated into efficiency reports for each month. so there is possibly alot of stress if your not a worker that has speed. i know alot of great techs that aren't fast but are amazing. the dealer just wasn't for them and they left to pursue other shops. it all depends.
Your post makes me smile. Thank you for sharing. I smile because I've been talking to my favorite shop and while he doesn't want me as a mechanice with a degree in UA-cam....he's willing to take me on probably and work my way up.
At the same time, he told me that all the shops are having trouble finding already enough already experienced mechanics so the market in my area is ripe for the heavy DIY guy who hasn't skimped on learning real diagnostics.
He says that a bunch of experienced techs have left town.
I'm thinking with the recession ongoing, people have to stay in there cars more, and there's too much work. So a lot of the experienced guys have left for better opportunities. That'll help anyone experienced willing to move, I've seen a lot of ads up for amazing opportunities where they even want to pay you to move.
Great life lessons here, today.
always good to listen to your videos.
In Canada we don't have a degree but their is diplomas(2 years) and their is an apprentice program (applies to most trades). Where you work for a majority of the year and if you get a set number of hours (set by a provincial government). then you go to school depends on the trade but you go for 8 weeks or so then you go resume your work and return again for schooling again the following at set number of hours but depend on trade mechanic whether it is automotive or heavy duty takes 4 years.
There is a challenge clause that you can challenge a level. And at the end of 4 year you right a Red seal cert test which basically mean you are accredited all over Canada and you can take on apprentices. To raise them through the program.
Great video! I'll see you on Faithbook!
Almost all of the dealers I have talked to could care less about SAE testing. Most of them would rather have you do schooling with them on their products after you have been there for a while.
If you're really good at what you do sometimes mechanics will snoop you out. I have a buddy who did work out of his home shop for years and eventually had a mechanic shop pay for his training and hired him.
I do not think of schools as much as teaching hands on experience ,but as giving working fundamentals and teaching how to gather information ,and then how to apply gathered knowledge. With being able to do this it will make the hands on experience much more beneficial with faster results. . .
Very strange, when I was in school at UTI (Houston) they really wanted everybody to take these test because dealers want to see them. That was in 2007 when i graduated, The Ford dealer I went to work for was kind of laughing at me when I said I had A4,A5 certs. Saying that it didn't matter. They were not going to pay me any more because of it.
Probably not gonna get a response cause this vid is two years old, but you've touched on dealership(new cars) independent shop and a franchise shop, now I work for a dealership but it's a used car dealership. the dealership your talking about is with brand-new cars and the factory training and everything. I work for used car dealership as a mechanic (also new car dealerships have used cars too) but I work for a dealership that just does use cars which is more like a independent shop in the aspect of you don't know what the hell is coming in that day also when I took this job to gain more experience the independent shop that I usually take my cars to and my previous job took their cars to said hey after you get more "experience" give me a call I don't really care about ASE certification just experience that can be backed up
You speak of having that education. Right now I'm currently in my 2nd semester in the automotive program at my nearby community college. From what I've heard, my school has one of the best auto programs in So Cal, they also have a Honda PACT program that I'm highly considering getting into. I've also heard that our local Honda dealers will more likely hire out of my school's PACT program before any other school with a PACT program in my area. Anyone here familiar with the PACT? If so, Thoughts? Is it worth getting into?
Isn't tim chevydude? He's a great guy very honest and straight foward. I suggest you check out his videos you and the other automotive 'giant' channels need to get together some.
I was a lube guy at a midas for about a year an a half, when I got hired at a Ford dealer the shop forman actually preferred me not having any certs or schooling because he thought they taught you bad habits, an thought actual experience meant the most. plus this dealer only hires Ford factory trained techs an prefers to send the lube guys to school to become techs.
I'm a dealership technician and in my experience as long as you know some basic electrical and have some diagnostic experience the all the details and resources are provided to you by the manufacturer. That being said, some of the new systems have 50 pages of description in the owner's manual and 30 pages in the repair manual/ewd. Very rarely is there any problem with the car. Most of the time it's the customer not understanding how the system works. The dealership I work at has people trained in the operation of every feature of every car. Most of the time these issues are sorted out well before they go to a technician.
There are some notable exceptions mostly with pre collision systems. People try to make their car automatically brake by accelerating toward stopped cars or walls and want us to check the system because the car has more balls then they do apparently.
I'm way off the scope of the video here. Any dealership will have some system to getting the latest information to its technician. Make sure you familiarize yourself with it. When I started as a tech I was assigned a mentor who took half a day to take me through that system. I also was paid to go through online training on it. When your looking for a place to work ask about training.. it's very important.
If your working at a place that pays you to learn the skills you need to be a better technician that's a huge difference. Especially if you're able to do it on your own time.
I know of two people in my work place at UPS that went to school for this, he went to the automotive department and they said he would start his seniority all over because of the union contract and he would start off at $8.50 an hour however I question on person number 1 if he is disqualified because of what he does outside place testing positive for you know what. Person #2 the same thing but was less interested. In addition human resources was also less interested.
hey eric. i was thinking and i wanted to ask you if you think it would be a good idea to set an appointment with the service manager of (insert shop/dealership name here) to do an interview with them beforehand of the application procces. regardless of tools, experiance, working in the trade ect, just to figure out ones(specifically my) eligibility or probability of getting hired? i appreciate it. your videos are awesome and ive learned allot because of them. thanks.
I'm not to sure about the camera angle changes
i really like this music(starting).
Thanks. Put it together myself.
very good.
Hey eric, or anyone willing to answer. Im about to start school to become a diesel tech (very excited and passionate about it). I know they are in high demand and a lot of companies are willing to pay for my schooling as long as i work for them. How do i find these companies? I know theyre there i just dont know where to look. Any advice is appreciated.
Yeah much better audio in the car. Could still use more damping.
Good information :-)
Hey eric I live right in defiance who knows maybe il stop by =D
best thing to do is pick a different career because the pay isnt worth the money you gotta spend and crap you gotta put up with
Can people buy etcg1 hat?
Dont know bout u guys I tryed getting a job in the automotive field, it seem to mee u need a lot of tool for very low pay, when there are other way cheeper trades that pay way better
Eric is always saying that some guys bounce back and forth between being a computer tech and an auto tech. It attracts the same kind of thinking. You won't need as many tools for sure.
All the tools required slowed me down for getting into automotive. But years and years of needing that one more tool has kept my cars out of the mechanics hands, given me experience, and has become worth it for me. I've really only taken 2 problems to actual mechanics in 8 years. Some of my repairs went really slow, but when someone else's car needs a similar job I can whip it out. :)
People tend to overlook Craigslist when looking for jobs. I found my car, my house, and yes, my job on Craigslist. Now I just need it to find me a girl and I'll be set.
You may want to stop now lol finding a girlfriend on craigslist seems like a risky proposition.
has anyone ever told you you look like kip moore
It's this live
No but he does have a live show every other Wednesday and the next one is tomorrow on Google
first comment hell yea its better to be premium
:)!!! Your in a FORD! :)
If anyone lies in Tulsa, OK and wants to come work on a 97 Honda accord for free let me know. :-)
I'm sorry, but I disagree with all this "the dealership has the best training and the best technicians" crap. Almost every time I've heard of someone getting screwed, having bad work or unnecessary work done it's at the dealer.
Please stop changing the camera angles randomly. It makes it hard to concentrate and engage in the video.
He usually doesn't do that, I thought it was a nice change of pace, but I did like it the way it was before too.
CARS!!!
ETCG1 IS TALKING, THAT MEANS EVERYBODY STFU!!! :-) ETCG RULEZ!!!!!
You sound weird without the echos...
I like working for Dealers, but the political shit has got to STOP!
Wow. I'm used to the shop echo too! lol
you look like you got old! hehe