I'm getting my Bachelors in automotive management after getting my associates in collision repair. Here is a brief overview of the jobs and routes you can take in the field given to me by my professor here at Pennsylvania College of Technology;
Examination of Academic Degrees in Automotive Technology
Automotive Technicians, as they are known today, evolved for mechanics that fixed cars. Training to become an automotive technician has evolved and current methods of training include; secondary school vocational training (either at a comprehensive high school or at an area career and technology center), on-the-job training sometimes under the guidelines of a manufacturer, and post secondary training that is either at a public college or private trade school. While most training programs can be categorized in one of the areas above, there are various training programs that do not fit these guidelines and are as such hybrids such as the Ford ASSET program and GM ASEP program that combine a college level training courses and on-the-job training.
Regardless of the training method chosen, each has the same objective, to give students the skills and knowledge to enter the workforce. While some programs offered at colleges, may have college academic courses incorporated into the program (such as English), most of the courses are technical in nature and are considered terminal in as much as the program content is designed to provide a specific end result – employment. Therefore it is common for students exiting trade related programs to earn an A.A.S degree (Associate of Applied Science) instead of an A.S. (Associate of Science) degree. One of the differences between the two degrees is the AAS degree is mainly comprised of technical courses that are not considered transferable into academic degree programs such as a Bachelor of Science of Bachelor of Arts degree. Although there are a few smaller colleges that will accept some of the credits towards an academic degree such a Bachelor of Science, for the most part few credits from an A.A.S degree, other than the academic courses, are transferable to most colleges and universities.
Additional reasons for colleges and universities not to recognize even college level technical courses is because these schools often only offer academic subjects that prepare students to enter professions such as Engineering, Education, or Business. These three professions were not arbitrarily chosen as an example, but rather represent the three professions that most influence the occupation of automotive technician. The illustration below represents the 3 professions that influence the occupational trade area of automotive technician.
Education Profession
Occupational Area:
Automotive Technician
Business Profession Engineering Profession
Unlike a trade area, a profession is based on “original research†that makes up the profession’s theoretical framework along with applicable state and federal law. To gain the insight necessary to enter and perform competently within the profession requires advanced study of the profession’s research. Typically the depth of study to enter and advance in the profession is consistent with a Bachelor of Science or even graduate level degree. Furthermore, the profession may also have rigorous mandatory or voluntary licenses that are needed to practice certain level within the profession (such as the Professional Engineer’s License or Certified Public Accountant). The complexity associated with the profession often requires professional organizations that guide the profession and establish rules as well as publish new research.
While the description of a profession provided above is rather broad, in the 1980’s professors in Vocational Education theorized that there was a gap between occupational areas, such as automotive and the professions the occupation served. From a practical standpoint, the connection between the professions and the occupation comprise what is referred to as a discipline. To facilitate the flow of information, jobs, some of which did not even exist at the time, were going to develop that would support the occupational area and transfer information from the profession to the technicians. While a gap did exist in the 1980’s between the occupational area of automotive technology and each of the professions, the gap was not as wide as it is today. Specifically the advent of technology and greater complexity in vehicle design created larger gaps between the automotive technician and each of the professions. The jobs that resulted were interesting in as much as they required people who had some level of occupational training in automotive as well as some level of education to understand the professions they served. Therefore as "technology" (in the broadest sense) advanced the gap widened and shifted with the sophistication of profession. This meant that within the Engineering to Automobile Technician discipline, jobs developed that included titles or job descriptions such as:
* "Diagnostic" Equipment Salesperson
* "Diagnostic" Equipment repairs/service/installation technician
* Technical Hotline Specialist
* Field Service Engineer
* Engineering Specialist or Assistant
* Shop Forman / Technical Service Manager
* Technical Writer / Technical Website Developer
* Automotive Information Technology Specialist
* Test Equipment Operator
Within the Education to Automobile Technician discipline developed a number of jobs that included:
* Technical Trainer / Training Assistant
* Teaching Assistant (para-professional)
* Training Aide Design and Construction Technician
* Training Material Developer (adaptation specialist)
Within the Business to Automobile Technician discipline developed a number of jobs that included:
* Service Consultant / Assistant Service Manager
* Service Manager / Service Director
* Service Department Support Staff Positions
* District Service Representative (manufacturer representative)
* Customer Service Hotline
* Consultant (hired)
* Parts Sales Representative
* Automotive Franchise Representative
* Automotive Business Specialist (variety of titles and duties)
The pay and level of experience varies for each of the jobs listed and it should be noted that the 3 discipline gaps are interrelated. This means that from a practical standpoint, persons employed in the “gaps†can adapt to jobs in other gaps.
While an automotive technician may evolve from the occupational area into one of the jobs in the disciplinary gap, it is more likely that some academic preparation is needed to be successful. This means that studies beyond trade preparation is needed and in some cases an academic degree, such as a bachelor of science is required. However the academic degree required is not necessarily within the profession but is rather specialized to the skills and knowledge commonly used by jobs “within the gapâ€. This means preparation must include specialized courses that fit within each of the gaps and more specifically “automotive business related courses†(such as AMT 310, 312, and 314), “automotive APPLIED engineering / data collection courses†(such as AMT 312, 336, and 495), and “training and development courses directed toward automotive technician training†(such as AMT 345). Important to understand is that these “specialized bachelor of science†degree courses do not prepare students to enter any of the professions discussed thus far. In fact few specialized B.S. degree programs offer courses within the profession at all (Penn College offers an entry level accounting and computer science as well as some management courses but does not require finance, law, marketing or engineering courses). It must be realized that the lack of coursework will limit the career opportunities for those who aspire to be in the business profession such as dealership general managers and owners of businesses or for those who wish to obtain advanced degrees in the profession such as a (M.B.A.) Master of Business Administration (unless additional undergraduate coursework beyond the “specialized degree requirements†is obtained first). While the lack of coursework hinders entry into the business and engineering profession, within education, the occupational training and specialized B.S. degree does allow entry into some Education Master of Science degree programs in Workforce Education and Development (for secondary vocational teacher certification) as well as Training, Adult Education, and Instructional System Design.
After reading the above information, you should now understand that the focus of this major is the automotive repair industry, while some skills are transferable to other businesses, this is not a general business degree that will prepare you for the business profession. Specifically, this major prepares you to go into the following four "most common" jobs:
Corporate jobs such as the Ford TAC Hotline and Toyota Management Training Program. These jobs require living in another state (such as California or Michigan) and may lead to other corporate level such as district service representative, technical training, or field service engineer however it takes a few years to move up to these positions. These jobs are very competitive and the corporations who come to Penn College only hire approximately 3 to 5 graduates per year. Out of a graduating class of 40 per year, this is approximately a 1 in 10 chance. I will discuss in more detail in class how you can be competitive for these jobs, however in general, the graduates who get hired are the leaders of their class (high GPA, hold many ASE certifications, officers in the Penn College Student Government SGA, Motorsports, or other clubs) each has excellent work experience (typically were a dealership technician and/or had customer service duties with some level of supervision of other employees). Each graduate also typically interviewed for and obtained an internships with a major manufacturer the summer of their Junior year.
Service Consultant Positions: A great number of students go into auto repair shops (dealers and independent garages) to work with customers. In major market areas, these jobs can pay very well. However the hours are long (50 to 60 hours per week) and they are high pressure. After a number of years, you may become an assistant to the Service Manager or maybe the assistant service manager which will give you some additional experience with other duties. Typically becoming a service manager at a dealership takes a long time because of the experience you need to obtain to be successful in this job. It would not be unusual to prepare 15 to 20 years to achieve a service manager's position (many managers are in their 40's and 50's). Students who are successful in obtaining these positions typically exhibit good people skills (friendly, outgoing, able to speak clearly and think quickly).
Automotive Repair Technicians or related technical position: Given students in their junior year have or should have an A.A.S degree in Automotive Technology, many upon graduating will take a technician's position (given they are plentifully). The reasons are varied why graduates do this and include not being ready to assume a service consultant's duties, the need to obtain more "technical" work experience, the lack of service consultant work in the area where they want to live, the work and hours of a technician are seen as more enjoyable, the inability to communicate and handle people at this stage of their life. Please understand, taking a technician's position is not a backward step. To start to understand the nature of work the previous two jobs described (corporate and service consultant) do, your Junior and Senior year are full of experiences not unlike the work you will do as a service consultant, manager, and corporate positions. Not everyone likes the paperwork, documentation, and research these jobs require. Therefore some students and graduates find that after a couple years in the program, the kind of work they want to do is more "hands on technical" and therefore take a technician's position. However this choice is not without financial consequence either. While in the long run a BS degree can earn you more money (provided you develop your career properly after graduating), if you qualify for a technician's job with your A.A.S. degree (obtained at the end of your Sophomore year that earns $25,000 per year) and continue into your BS degree (delaying earnings 2 years plus assuming more educational debt in the Junior and Senior year) the net effect is between $60,000 and $100,000 of unrealized income and debt. Therefore you must obtain a high paying job to realize a gain with you BS degree. If you earn, after graduating with your BS degree, on average of $15,000 per year more than with your A.A.S. degree then the above scenario would allow you to "breakeven" (earn what you would if you would have become an automotive technician at the end of your Sophomore year) after 4 to 7 years. Naturally there this analysis is more complex than presented with other considerations such as the nature of the work and working condition differences among other factors, but none-the-less this illustrates the fact that your choices at this point in your life have consequence.
Some graduates aspire to go into teaching or training. Teaching typically requires several years of work experience as a technician and state teacher certification to teach at the secondary level. Post secondary teaching requires advanced degrees beyond a B.S. (to be competitive). In both situations, you will need to go to a university and obtain additional coursework, such as Penn State in Workforce Education. Please understand if you know you want to go into teaching you can go directly to Penn State as an undergraduate and obtain teacher certification (I would be happy to discuss this with anyone who is interested in this path one on one).