If the job of a mechanic has always interested you, this is the field that you want to get into. You want to be in a career that interests you, otherwise you will find yourself bored and unhappy. And when you are bored and unhappy, you will not do a good job and your whole career could crumble around you. That is why choosing something close to your heart is always best.
Those who come into the mechanic field have to be ready for the unexpected, just like someone in construction jobs would have to be ready for anything. You just never know what your day will bring and there are going to be many mysteries that will need to be solved. In order to do your job as a mechanic to the best of your ability, you will want to work on your problem solving skills and your mathematics. Of course, you have to be efficient with electronics as well in order to make the most out of your new career.
To actually start the process of becoming an automotive technician, you will need to check out some of the various automotive technician programs within your local area. If you do not know where to begin or where to find any of these programs, you can always do a search on the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation website, otherwise known as NATEF. This is a non-profit organization that takes the various programs out there and evaluates them against the very strict standards that are set in place by the whole automotive industry.
You want to find the best certified program in your area. These are typically located within a vocational school or a community college. You have to have the right certification in order to show that you have a working knowledge of the various repairs, inspection, and maintenance that the job of a mechanic requires. Without this certification, your career will not even get an inch off the ground.
Another good thing to do, just like if you were working towards medical jobs or construction jobs, is to get additional training through an apprenticeship and then again through standard employment. Many community colleges and even vocational schools will help out their students with some job placement. While job placement is never a guaranteed thing, it is likely that they will be able to find you something to get your feet wet. You should get started with your work experience as soon as possible because you will later want to get more certifications, but those require at least one year of experience and some even require two years of work experience.
You will also need to get started preparing for the ASE certification, which stands for Automotive Service Excellence certification. This is because many places do not consider the first certified program you went through to be enough. If you go for the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence exam and you pass, you will be able to be placed within the professional rank which is something that you should strive for in order to make sure that you are getting the most out of your career.
If you are going to go after this type of employment, you want to make sure that you are going full speed ahead. There is no reason to lack in your certifications or degrees because these are the things that will give you the job security and the steady paychecks that helped guide you to this type of employment in the first place.
The sooner you get started searching out the certification programs, the sooner you will be an employed automotive technician. There is nothing stopping you, but do not let anyone keep you back from getting into the career that can make the rest of your life a little bit easier to handle.
