Automotive technicians inspect, repair and maintain vehicles. They diagnose problems with customers’ vehicles, calculate the cost and time required for repairs, and perform the necessary work to get the vehicles running again.

As technology advances and vehicles increasingly have more computers on board, the scope of the job continues to grow in complexity. Due to the technical training required for the upkeep of modern cars, trucks and SUVs, the experts who work on these vehicles are known as automotive technicians rather than auto mechanics.

“Technicians are highly trained and skilled,” says Jason Spohr, automotive mechanics instructor at Western Nevada College in Carson City, Nevada. “Mechanics are somebody who (says), ’Hey, I’ve tinkered with my car. I know how to change a tire. I know how to change oil.’ Automotive technician is the professional term. To become a professional technician, you have to be pretty resilient and kind of be a chameleon. You have to really be able to adjust to your environment.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 1.6% employment growth for auto mechanics between 2022 and 2032. In that period, an estimated 12,800 jobs should open up.

While it’s not necessary to earn a degree before becoming an automotive technician, earning an associate degree can be helpful, and many employers prefer to hire technicians who have completed a program at a college or vocational school.

“I’m a big fan of at least getting a two-year degree,” Spohr says, adding that many academic skills learned in school can help an automotive technician succeed. Reading comprehension is important for understanding repair manuals from auto manufacturers, speech and communication classes can come in handy when interacting with customers, and writing skills are essential for creating repair orders that spell out what’s needed to fix the vehicle.

Even some psychology can come into play when dealing with customers, according to Spohr. After experiencing car trouble, a customer’s first point of contact may be the automotive technician who has to deal with a range of possible situations. “Their car just broke down on their way to work, and they had to take their kids to school and they had a doctor’s appointment. Now they have to cancel all that,” he says.

One way for students to determine their interest in exploring auto mechanics as a career is attending a high school auto shop class. Post high school, Spohr recommends finding and enrolling in a training program, even if that means moving to a new town to be nearer to the college or vocational school where the program is offered.

“Having advanced training is absolutely mandatory,” he says. “Ten, 20, 30 years ago, you could pretty much fumble your way around fixing a car, and (now) it’s just not so. With the computer controls and the amount of electronics that are in vehicles today, you do have to find some training sources.”