There’s a massive range of skills and qualities that we could rattle on about in trying to answer that question! The mix of these things probably changes from workshop to workshop too, as our industry is a big and complex one – what trade, and are we talking cars or trucks, main dealer or independent, diagnostic technician or service technician?

When it all boils down though, we think there’s a key set of attributes (beyond mechanical competence) that come up time and again when good automotive tradespeople are pointed out by their managers, their customers or their peers. No matter what sort of role you have in the automotive industry, the following list is a golden set of traits we’ve collected over the years. We think any automotive tradesperson should be striving for these things if they want to be the best they can be in their trade, to really become industry professionals:

• A positive attitude. This comes up time and again talking with workshop managers about their staff, with one of our favourites in Sydney often saying, “I can teach someone to fix cars well, but I can’t teach them to want to do it.” Being a motor mechanic – a good motor mechanic (or any other auto tradesperson) – is impossible if you’re not prepared to challenge yourself to do something with the job that keeps you motivated. It could be your raw passion for the vehicles, your hunger for more skills and knowledge, your love of team work, or hitting budgets – find what drives you and show it
• Great communication skills. If you aspire to be a professional in your trade, the ability to communicate well with everyone around you is essential. There isn’t one way to show this either – being calm and understanding with a frustrated customer is a different communication skill to giving a service advisor a very clear and detailed set of notes on a complicated job they might have trouble understanding themselves. Either way, the key thing is to consider how well you will be understood, and how your message contributes to getting the best outcomes. Fixing cars or trucks is only part of the job
• Attention to detail. This relates to obvious things like minimising mistakes, decreasing the time jobs take, or improving customer satisfaction results. However, there’s more to it than that. Really good tradespeople (as an example) know that changing engine oil is expected, but fixing that unreported dash rattle might not be, and when it’s fixed (and communicated!) that attention to detail will not go unnoticed
• Master the commercial aspect of your job. It’s sometimes easy to let the money behind the industry impact your passion as a motor mechanic, but good tradespeople embrace the commercial realities of the trade and master them. This means using targets to inspire and show some leadership, understanding that when money is being make because targets are reached, it’s a recognition of effort and the value of your qualities as a good motor mechanic

The best thing for a lot of people to keep in mind here is that none of this requires you to be a master technician, to have decades of experience, or to specialise in one manufacturer or vehicle component. If you incorporate these points into the way you work in the automotive industry, you’ll be on your way to being a good motor mechanic no matter which stage of your career you’re at, even if you’re just setting off.

If you’d like to chat about your experience and finding the right role to push your career forward in the ways this blog discusses, we’re here to help: https://app-au.techsonthemove.com/job-seekers/register-with-us-candidate/

Choosing a career as a motor mechanic is making a decision to join a time-honoured trade that has constantly evolved for over a century. Many of us fall into it through a family connection, whilst others are driven by a passion for their vehicle of choice. Others love problem solving and thrive on seeing things put right through hard work and patience. No matter your path into the trade, in any given workshop you’ll likely find another motor mechanic whose career was kicked off by the same impulse.

However, once you’ve begun your core training as a motor mechanic, or perhaps after gaining qualification, many of us unfortunately lose track of this original motivation. The daily grind sinks in easily, and many technicians find themselves wondering if their choice of career was the right one.

We’re not here to say that the answer is always yes – everyone is different after all. However, some of the motor mechanics we speak with often overlook the range of skills and experiences their career has allowed them to develop, and they undervalue themselves and the years of dedication their careers have taken to build. If this sounds like it might be you, consider that aside from fixing cars, trucks or motorbikes, you might also have learned:

• Strong communication skills. Have you worked through challenging situations with a disgruntled customer, or gone the extra mile to ensure a technical problem is properly and easily explained to another staff member or vehicle owner? If you’ve been a motor mechanic for awhile, we bet the answer is yes and most people weren’t doing that on the first day they grabbed a spanner. These skills don’t come easy
• How to work under pressure and meet targets. Is there a more modern skill than that? Every motor mechanic knows what it’s like to have 15 minutes to finish a job that should take 60, or to chase an end-of-month target when it’s all on the line. There aren’t many valued professional roles that don’t require this sort of experience
• The value of teamwork. This is another modern consideration, and certainly one that pretty much every job under the sun lists as a requirement. If you were to change your path and pursue a new career, wouldn’t the skills and experiences you’ve picked up working with others in the workshop to solve complex problems, meet shared targets and overcome challenges likely be important?
• Leadership skills. This doesn’t mean you have to have been a foreman, or to have supervised an apprentice, or to have been getting paid the big bucks as a manager – far from it. Most motor mechanics at some stage have realised that when they do their jobs well (whatever that means in their workshop), people often pay attention and the way they get treated changes for the better. Leading by example, even if just to prove something to yourself, is an easy skill to master as a motor mechanic because you can do it all by yourself. The great thing is that every employer no matter the industry loves to see this in action

Even if you’re new to the trade or considering getting into it, don’t assume that you too will hit a wall where inspiration drops and you’ll be stuck in a rut. Look to things like the list above (and others of your own that could be added) as a reminder that a career as a motor mechanic is more than just fixing vehicles, and that these skills have value well beyond the confines of the role. Your motor mechanic career is what you make of it.

Perhaps you’re at a stage in your career that you’re looking for the right role to push your career forward, or to continue to develop these skills as you work toward goals you have set for yourself? If so, or if you’d like to talk more about what this could mean, we’d love to get in touch – it all starts here: https://app-au.techsonthemove.com/job-seekers/register-with-us-candidate/

If you work in the aftersales department of a commercial dealership, whether it be cars, trucks or motor bikes, chances are you know your managers are feeling the pinch at the moment. As a result, you might be too!

It’s no secret that the Australian automotive industry is not performing as well lately as it had been over the past half a dozen years or so, and this mostly comes down to large changes in the national economy that businesses can’t control. The bulk of this has been felt in sales, and to compensate for lower numbers of sold vehicles, there’s a greater focus now than ever before on extracting maximum value from aftersales. It’s a big adjustment for Aussie businesses to make, but one that other markets like the UK have long since figured out.

What does this mean for technicians now though? All around the country, we’re hearing of changes to shift structures, bonus programs, and overtime patterns, all normally aimed at increasing the workshop’s profitability. It’s easy sometimes as a technician to feel challenged by these changes, as not only does it often mean a shift in the way the job is done, but it can remove some earning potential too, and no one likes that!

However, it’s not all doom and gloom. If anything, whilst some dealers are doing it tough, now might be the ideal time to step up and push your career forward. Our clients around the country tell us that their most valued team members are those that are using this period of change as an opportunity to show everyone around them what they’re made of, and lead from the front.

They’re not just talking about foremen, master techs or their most experienced people either. It could be someone just out of their apprenticeship, going out of their way to push for efficiency targets or to inspire the technician next to them to smash a team goal; it could be a great tech that’s putting effort into better communication with their service advisors, delivering better customer service and boosting CSI outcomes. That’s the beauty of acting as a leader – anyone can do it, it tends to rub off, and the right people notice.

And, importantly, when the pressure on aftersales eases, or a manager needs to select a tech for promotion or training, who do you think they’ll be rewarding?

If you are seizing the chance to drive yourself forward and you’re looking for the next challenge, or you’re looking for a role where you can show what you’re made of, we’d love to chat about it: https://app-au.techsonthemove.com/job-seekers/register-with-us-candidate/