Automotive Technician: What is the cost of hiring?

Why hire an automotive technician?

Hiring an automotive technician can be beneficial for your business in many ways. Their detailed knowledge of auto parts and common fixes makes them excellent at assisting customers. Additionally, an automotive technician knows industry standards for inspections and safety concerns. This means your customers will leave with a safe vehicle and peace of mind.

Contributions of a great automotive technician:

• Professional repair assessments
• Detailed auto part knowledge
• Industry experience about best practices for repairs

Deciding between a full-time vs freelance automotive technician

Whether a business needs to hire a freelance automotive technician or a full-time one depends on the type and size of the business. Companies that often require full-time automotive technicians on staff include auto shops, automotive manufacturers and car dealerships. These companies, however, may hire freelance technicians if they’re facing a sudden increase in work or if one of their full-time techs couldn’t make it to work. 

Businesses that have company vehicles may need to hire freelance auto techs if those vehicles get damaged. They can also hire a freelancer to perform regular inspections and maintenance on the vehicles to prevent major breakdowns and damage. 

What are the types of automotive technicians?

Automotive technicians can specialize in repairing and maintaining different aspects of vehicles. Some of the specialized jobs in the industry include:

• Service technicians: Service technicians perform routine maintenance to prevent clients’ automobiles from breaking down. They can also identify issues with the ignition and engine systems and perform minor repairs. 
• Diagnostic technicians: Diagnostic techs work closely with service technicians. They work to figure out what’s wrong with specific parts of the car in order to get it repaired.
• Brake technicians: These technicians replace brake pads and rotors, adjust brakes and diagnose issues with damaged braking systems. 
• Body repair technicians: A body repair technician is responsible for fixing minor dents and scratches in the bodies of automobiles. They can also perform major body repairs on vehicles that have been in accidents. Body repair techs may have to decide if some parts are too damaged to repair and must be replaced. 
• Vehicle refinishers: A vehicle refinisher’s job is to redo painting and finishing on old and damaged vehicles to make them look newer. 

Where to find automotive technicians

To find the right automotive technician for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Post help wanted flyers. Hanging notices around the neighborhood is a proven way of attracting potential candidates.
• Network. Building and maintaining relationships with auto shops in the area can generate leads for quality candidates for your automotive technician position. Reach out to these individuals to inquire about their interest in the position. 
• Hire from within. Employees in your company may already have experience working on cars. Meet with these individuals to see if they’re interested in doing work as an auto technician. Hiring from within can also be cheaper than hiring outside candidates.
• Post your job online. Try posting your automotive technician job on Indeed to find and attract quality automotive technician candidates.

Skills to look for in a great Automotive Technician

A great automotive technician candidate will have the following skills and attributes as well as work experience that reflects:

• Training in automotive repair
• Extensive knowledge about auto parts
• Customer service skills
• Works well under pressure
• Ability to learn from constructive criticism
• Confidence

Writing an automotive technician job description

A thoughtful description is important to finding qualified automotive technician candidates. An automotive technician job description includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your automotive technician job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting . These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on automotive technician jobs, according to Indeed data:

• Automotive technician
• Mechanic
• Automotive
• Technician
• Automotive mechanic
• HIring immediately
• Auto mechanic
• Auto technician
• Auto
• Dealership

Interviewing automotive technician candidates

Strong candidates for automotive technician positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• How they work under tight deadlines
• Their customer service philosophy
• Their steps for assessing repairs

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of automotive technician interview questions for examples (with sample answers).