Future of Automotive Technicians?
Asked by somwone145
recently a person visited my auto shop class and was talking about how the future of automotive technology is growing, so more jobs will be needed, so that we should all consider jobs as an automotive technician my question is, how important would an auto technician really be in the future? avg. income? job security? etc... so basically, would becoming an auto technician actually be as good as it sounds?

Best Answer:
It can be a good career choice but it's not for everyone. Even if you love cars, you might end up hating your job because a lot of it is for routine maintenance work, such as brake jobs, on low performing vehicles. Auto work is mostly just being a parts changer these days rather than the old school method of actually fixing things. Not exactly the cup of tea that auto enthusiastists dream about. However, that's likely the type of job you'll get as working for a racing outfit is extremely competitive. Other cons are that you have to buy your own tools which is going to hurt you when you start off because your pay will be low. Only after so many years will the money come in. Often very long hours, 9-10 hour workdays typical; you come home physically exhausted. Smaller shops you may have to deal directly with customers who will talk down to you and think they know it all, then blame you for that oil pan bolt they stripped themselves two weeks ago. You can always do fleet work, though, and not have to deal with that. Pros are that you work fairly standard day shifts with no night work, can move just about anywhere in the world and find steady work, and pay is higher than average; seasoned pros can easily earn $60-80k a year but you'll have to work hard to get to that level. You can always open your own auto repair business after you get enough experience in the field, but that opens a whole 'nother can of worms.