Not Your Ordinary Sit-Down Education: Mechanic School

Does this sound like a memory of yours? Sitting in school, stuck in your chair, fumbling and fidgety, and tired of working your eyes over endless textbooks and essays? You want an education, have a desire to learn, but feel the need to work with your hands, fix things, and even get a little dirty. If this rings a bell, and if you have a love of cars, then consider enrolling in training program to begin a career as an auto mechanic.

There are many schools across the country that offer education in the world of fixing and servicing cars. How do you know which program is best? The first thing you can look at is the success-rate of its graduates in finding great careers. Anything over 90% graduate employment rate is excellent. When researching the websites of these schools, if they do not mention their graduate employment rate, you may want to consider moving on to another website.

The next important aspect to consider is the length of the program. Obviously, you are dying to get working as soon as possible, and are not interested in anything equivalent to a long degree which takes years. Remember, your education will continue on the job as you are faced with new problem-solving situations. But you do not want a program that simply rushes its students right through and churns them out into the industry. These schools might be more concerned with a high level of student-enrolment turnover than actually producing quality mechanics. The ideal amount of time getting your automotive mechanics training is probably between six months and one year of intensive study and practice.

A thorough and comprehensive course should go beyond the basics of what's under the hood and how to work a wrench. There is an entire world to automotive repairs that a great school should include in their auto mechanic course. Some of these additional fields of experience should include:

    personal and workplace safety
    professional protocol
    performance standards
    effective communication skills
    customer relations
    parts and equipment acquisitions
    problem-solving

Finally, a great technical school relies on its two greatest resources: faculty and equipment. Take the time to check out the qualifications of the teachers. When researching websites of schools, read the testimonials of past students to see what they say about their instructors. The same goes for the equipment. As stated before, this is not a sit-down education, and you will be fully immersed in hands-on learning. Testimonials of past students regarding the facilities is a great indicator as to the quality a school's technology.

If a website does not have former student testimonials, you might want to take that as a sign that the education they provide was not as top-gear as you deserve. A little bit of research goes a long way to a life as a skilled auto mechanic.


Article Source: Michael Zunenshine