If you are serious about being an automotive technician, you will need to go to school to get the training you need. Chances are there are automotive technical schools in your area, but try to get into one of the best automotive technician schools in the country. These schools listed here are prized for their top-notch training and their ability to place students in great careers after graduation. Here are the 4 top automotive technician schools in the country.

1. University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and Michigan Technological University. These three are lumped together because they’re in a virtual tie for producing quality technicians. No one knows which will produce more in the future. You will find graduates from all three of these schools at most high-level automotive companies. Each have different courses for different students, so you will need to see which fits your needs the closest and go from there.

2. Another of the 4 top automotive technician schools in the country is Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Known for its top-notch math, science and engineering programs, Purdue produces some of the top automotive engineers for Detroit automakers and their suppliers. For those that dream of working as a NASCAR technician, Purdue has a motorsports engineering program, one of the few in the country.

3. Cornell. Not a traditional automotive technician school, but Cornell has won eight Formula Society of Automotive Engineers championships, and has entered the Automotive X Prize competition and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) driverless vehicle competition, one of the few colleges in the country to do both.

4. Kettering University. This small school in Flint, Michigan produces many industry professionals. Only enrolling about 3,000 students, Kettering prepares its graduates more than adequately for a profession in the automotive technician industry. Kettering also offers management degrees as well as automotive technician degrees. The competition is fierce and very few institutions prepare graduates like Kettering.

These are the four top Automotive Technician schools in the country. They all will prepare you for a great career doing what you love to do. Each one offers the support and competition necessary to be successful as an automotive technician.

Understanding your role as an Automotive Technician is important to help you maintain and improve your performance. As an Automotive Technician your job will be to diagnose, repair, and maintain vehicles for your customers. These vehicles include cars, trucks, vans or sport utility vehicles that run on gasoline, ethanol and possibly electricity. The exact types of vehicles you will be working on will mostly determined by where you get a job.

Many high school courses will help you with understanding your role as an Automotive Technician. Some of these courses may surprise you and include basic math, algebra and geometry, science courses such as physics and chemistry along with computer and electronics classes. Each plays an important role in the automotive industry.

When diagnosing a vehicle you will be require to use and understand the workings of many computerized diagnostic machines. This equipment runs tests on the vehicles and tells you what problems the vehicle is having. Once you figure out what is wrong with the vehicle the next step is to determine why it is happening.

The next step in understanding your role as an Automotive Technician is determining how to fix the problem. In order to do this you must have knowledge as to how the vehicle and all its components work as a whole. This means knowing what components are part of each system of the car such as the electrical, fuel, brake, and suspension systems.

One of the main roles of an Automotive Technician is maintaining vehicles. This includes oil changes, tire rotations, air filters and anything else that is needed to maintain the performance and safety of the vehicle. Generally, this maintenance is performed at the suggested time of the manufacturer but can be done at other times depending on the driving patterns of the owner.

Oftentimes in understanding your role as an Automotive Technician, you have to deal with customer service. This can include talking to the customer on the phone or in person. The customer may need to explain to you what the vehicle is doing or you explaining to the customer what the problem is and how you need to correct it.

Being an Automotive technician can be a rewarding and exciting career. You are constantly learning as technology changes. Furthering your education can help keep you on top of all the changes in the automotive industry.

For people who are interested in the mechanical aspect of vehicles and love working with their hands, taking auto mechanic classes can be a great jump start to a rewarding and stable career. So long as people drive cars, mechanics will be needed to diagnose problems, repair and replace parts, and perform routine maintenance.

Types of Degrees and Certifications

There are several types of degrees and certifications that an auto mechanic will need to complete before entering the job market. While some students choose to focus on specific area certifications, such as brake repair certifications, most auto mechanics choose to take a variety of classes to become more employable and have a better understanding of the technical aspects of vehicles and vehicle repair.

It’s recommended that a student taking auto mechanic classes complete their ASE (Automotive Service Excellence) certification. To obtain this certification, students must pass eight separate exams that cover repair knowledge of specific areas, such as engine repair, electrical systems and brake repair. For students pursuing an Associate’s Degree in automotive repair, the ASE certification may be included as part of the degree itself upon completion of courses.

What Courses You Will Need

When working directly with vehicles on a daily basis, many auto repair technicians also must be able to use computers to help diagnose problems or process paperwork. Besides taking all required mechanical classes for vehicle repair, students are also encouraged to take courses in basic computer skills and use, mathematics, English and physics.

Depending on the type of schooling or auto mechanic classes a student decides on, customer service skills, computer skills and other job essential training may be included directly as part of the course work.

Auto mechanics must routinely diagnose and solve complex problems; critical thinking skills and problem solving skills are essential to this job, as well as having a mechanical aptitude. The job also requires some physical labor, such as bending, crawling, lifting and standing for long periods of time.

Schooling and Training Options

It’s always important to find an accredited trade school, vocational school or college when considering auto mechanic classes for several reasons. Nationally accredited schools and training facilities are more immediately recognized by potential employers, usually have better training facilities and resources, and allow students to use various forms of student loans, grants, scholarships and financial aid to help pay for their classes.

Accredited online training is also available for students who live in areas that do not have a community college or vocational facility.

Do you already love to take your motorcycle out on the weekends, driving around the countryside with your friends? Perhaps you enjoy it so much that it is your main mode of transportation. In some places, after all, these can be driven all year around. They get much better gas mileage than cars, and they also give you the rush of the open road in a way that a car never can. If this describes you, you should know that there is a way to turn your interest in bikes into a lucrative career.

What you need to do is to go to a motorcycle mechanic school. You do not have to have any background in mechanics to do this; everything that you need to know will be taught to you from the ground up. The earliest classes that you take will introduce you the tools that you will be using and to the history of the bikes themselves. This will help you to better understand what you will be doing. In many ways, these classes are also used to give students an idea about the future that is before them so that they can see if it is really what they want.

After that, you will start to learn about working on the bikes. This will be split between time in the classroom, when you will be learning out of a book, and time in the workplace, where you will be practicing the things that you have read about. There is no better way to learn than by doing it yourself, but you do need to have some knowledge in place to make this possible. The combination of learning tactics means that you will be happy in the school, regardless of which style you actually prefer.

As you near the end of the classes that are offered by the motorcycle mechanic school, you will shift over to mostly classes where you will be doing the work. An instructor will be there with you, but his job will be to introduce you to the problems at hand. He will then watch you diagnose what is wrong. When you figure it out, he will watch you do the work. These classes will prepare you the most for the life that you will have when you are actually working in a shop, when you have graduated and gotten a job in your field.

Diesel mechanic jobs are expected to grow by 15 percent between 2008 and 2018, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is about as fast as the growth rate for all occupations, and employers are becoming more selective about who they hire when mechanic jobs come open. Increasingly, employers want to hire a mechanic who has attended a formal training program that teaches the basics of being a diesel mechanic.

Diesel Mechanic School

Having a high school diploma or GED is the minimum requirement to become a diesel mechanic for most employers. Courses in electronics, math and auto repair are helpful courses to take both in high school and at the post-secondary level.

Diesel engine repair training programs usually last between six months and two years. They typically result in a certificate or an associate degree. Diesel mechanic training programs are offered at technical, vocational, trade and community colleges. It is usually easy to find a diesel mechanic training program as they are located in large and medium-sized cities throughout the country.

In a training program, you learn the rudiments of diesel engine repair and equipment. You also learn how to understand electronic diagnostic reports and how to read technical manuals. You also receive plenty of hands-on experience. This practical experience is what employers want to see on your resume.

Certification

Diesel mechanics have a better chance of landing a job if they are certified by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence. This organization is the leader in credentialing auto and diesel technicians. When an employer sees that a graduate from a diesel training program is ASE-certified, it lets him know that the graduate is capable and experienced. You can take ASE certification tests in specific areas, such as drive trains or electronic systems, to demonstrate competence in different aspects of diesel repair.

Qualities and Skills

While diesel mechanics often work alone on engines, they also must speak with customers about their vehicles. They must have good listening skills and always be polite. Mechanics also should have good hand-eye coordination and have good manual dexterity. They should also have good mechanical and problem-solving skills that enable them to take systems apart, repair and reassemble them. Diesel mechanics with knowledge of the latest electronic systems used in diesel vehicles and the machinery used to work on them have a better chance of finding a position than one who does not.