Pub. 1 2018-2019 |Issue 3

12 ADVANCEMENT OPPORTUNITIES It’s not uncommon for automotive technicians to advance significantly within a dealership over the course of their careers. Common ways to advance are through increasing certifications to perform more complicated work — starting as a level 1 technician doing maintenance work and advancing eventually to become a level 4 master technician certified to service virtually all systems in the vehicle. On a separate career track, some technicians transition to the customer service side and become service- writers, working with customers to identify their needs and schedule service and maintenance. Still others progress into management, some moving into the parts department of a dealership, others managing entire service operations. Service operations at some dealerships can involve managing dozens of technicians and hundreds of service and maintenance orders each day. Still others become owners of local dealerships. Mike Jackson, chairman of America’s largest dealership group, AutoNation (which operates more than 230 dealerships nationwide), started his career as a service technician in Cherry Hill, New Jersey! Ben Left, Clark Right Mike Jackson, chairman of AutoNation  SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES Local dealerships and associations fund hundreds of scholarship opportunities for aspiring technicians each year. Many of these scholarship opportunities can fund a prospective student’s entire enrollment in an automotive service training program. For a listing of automotive technician scholarships, visit nadafoundation.org/join-workforce/find-scholarships.