Auto Body Schools

Auto body schools, auto college, automobile repair, and careers in diesel engine repair are good options if you like to fix engines or work on other parts of automobiles.

Auto body schools are exactly what you would expect them to be: schools where you go to learn how to work on automotive bodies. This doesn't include engine repair and so on and so forth, rather, this is a field restricted solely to repairs and customization on the body of the car itself. In other words, getting out dents and dings and such, adding fins and the like and things of this nature. Right now, it's a hot field because of the interest in customizing and "pimping" one's ride. Automotive body and related repairers are also called collision repair technician. Auto body collision repair training is both an art and a science, with the key being to be able to restore a vehicle to the original condition after a collision or incident. Automotive body training programs are offered primarily in technical colleges, community colleges, and vocational schools that focus on hands-on training and experience.

Auto Body Repair Training and Education

Auto body repair and customization is the kind of career that may or may not require certification depending on your state regulations. However, you shouldn't expect to find much work without some sort of qualification or training at auto body schools. Nonetheless, it is to your advantage to hold formal qualifications. That way you are more likely to get their profession covered by insurance companies.

Trade and technical school programs usually provide certificates after six to twelve months of training. In some programs such as community colleges two-year programs lead to an associate degree in collision repair. Automotive body training courses might include:

• Painting and Refinishing
• Auto body Welding
• Structural Damage
• Nonstructural Damage
• Plastics and Adhesives
• Special Finishing
• Mechanical and Electrical Specialties

If you have the qualifications, you can typically apply for work with any garage. Some may pay you by the hour while others may pay you on commission. It may be a good idea to have other qualifications in addition to body repair, with body repair being a specialty.

Auto Body Repair Careers

Typically, you'll be working for a higher end, higher paying clientele. For those of us just making a living, we don't have time to worry about customizing the look of a car, and we don't really worry about minor dents and cosmetic damage to our vehicles. The people hiring you to work on their auto bodies are going to be people with a little more money to spend and people demanding a certain look to their rides.

A garage may already have a body repair specialist employed, in which case, you would need to find somewhere else or offer your services through personal ads, referrals, or similar. If you can only work on auto bodies, then your skill set may be limited. On the other hand, if you're a competent mechanic and a world-class auto body repair and customization expert, then imagine how good that looks on an application no matter the position you're applying for. Some responsibilities, as noted by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS):

• Review vehicle damage, prepare cost estimates, and plan work
• Remove damaged body parts
• Repair structural damage
• Grind, sand, buff, and prime repaired surfaces
• Apply finish to restored body parts

Incidentally, this isn't a field heavily affected by the recession and economic downturn. The people who spend money on body repair are people who are passionate about their vehicles. You may want to consider "competitive pricing" in order to fetch their business over the competition, but don't expect business to simply "dry up" for auto repair and customization specialists anytime soon. The fact is that if you have the qualifications, the opportunities are there but enrolling in auto body schools is the first step toward gaining entry into this career.

Estimated Income and Projected Career Outlook

Working on commission? Quite a bit. Working for wage or salary? Still quite a bit. The fact is that an auto body expert is an artist, not just a mechanic, and it is so incredibly tricky to get out dents and dings to the point where you can't tell they existed at all that a truly capable body specialist will fetch a high price if they really know what they're doing. These are skills you will learn at auto body schools.

As reported by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports the median annual wage of automotive body and related repairers was $38,130 in 2010. The lowest 10% earned below $22,990 while the top 10% earned over $64,320. Further, the employment of automotive body and glass repairers is expected to grow 19% from 2010 to 2020 (BLS) meaning that those who graduate from auto body schools are more likely to remain competitive than those without formal credentials.

Auto body schools and related automotive repair training programs