On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we look at some of the post-mechanic career options for mechanics. In the wake of last week’s episode about Electric Cars, we have noted that the rise of Electric cars could be the push factor that causes the technician shortage to spiral out of control. Simply put, electrification is going to mean the end of a lot of shops and dealerships- with Buick going so far as to offer franchise buyouts to dealers that don’t want to go electric. Bottom Line: problem solvers are employable, but this article from Monster puts it into clearer focus:

Customer Service: In the wild customer service probably is  not the best idea, but in the automotive industry technicians can be uniquely qualified to be service advisors if they possess good communication skills. 

Management: We think that in a lot of cases technicians can make excellent Fixed Ops managers - it just doesn’t happen nearly enough to make up for the people who have no qualifications to have the job. 

Sales: One of the key tenets of being a good salesman is knowing what you’re selling - and a technician would certainly be at the forefront of that. However, technicians are sometimes too honest when it comes to their assessments of certain vehicles (imagine Uncle Jimmy trying to sell an E65 745!) and this can backfire tremendously on the bottom line. The sales department also has to deal with the grim reaper that is e-commerce. 

Teacher: At a vocational school or in a million other industry applications there need to be technical experts who can teach new techs or train existing technicians in new skillsets. However, they way oversell how interesting the job is, and this would really only become an option if rendered physically incapable of doing the job anymore. This is also easily the most rewarding of the options because you get to help make the next generation of technicians successful. 

Also Uncle Jimmy is getting recruited to be “Professor Jimmy” and coins the phrase, “I need the praise and the raise” for a Seussean appeal to your bosses. 

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you're a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!