The A.S.E certification; will it make that much of a difference in automotive job options?

[NARFALICIOUS]

Originally Posted by need4speed2012

In my opinion NO.

ASE is great but at the same time just about anyone can pass these tests and many people can find the answers to the questions on-line.

I was in automotive repair for 35 years and I would always hire someone that had hands on experience rather than a patch on their shirt.

People who are serious about their craft will have both and that's who I'd hire. Of course it's not always easy finding the best people.

[tropicare]

I spent 7 years in car dealerships, I have worked for Cadillac,Chrysler,Dodge,Jeep, Suzuki. I worked in the service dept, and the parts dept, and in 7 years, working for different managers not once did the question ever come up are you ASE certified, it was always whats your Dodge experience, whats your Cadillac training? I seen techs that would ask to go and further there education and would the dealer pay for there tests and they can promote they have ASE master tech and the answer was always NO! so like I said ASE is great if you want to work at a tire store, or independent shop, but at a dealership, they want factory experience. We had one guy that signed on at 18 with us and started changing oil and helping the techs by cleaning there bays and taking out trash, a year later he moved up to tire tech and alignments, and getting trained for free and going to school paid by the dealer. So at 21 he is almost ready to move into the shop as a flat rate tech with no expense to him and getting paid the whole time. Another kid want to a real expensive trade school that you see on t.v all the time, at 22, he is changing oil and starting fresh. Maybe if he went the independent route he would be hire up.

[NARFALICIOUS]

Originally Posted by tropicare

I spent 7 years in car dealerships, I have worked for Cadillac,Chrysler,Dodge,Jeep, Suzuki. I worked in the service dept, and the parts dept, and in 7 years, working for different managers not once did the question ever come up are you ASE certified, it was always whats your Dodge experience, whats your Cadillac training? I seen techs that would ask to go and further there education and would the dealer pay for there tests and they can promote they have ASE master tech and the answer was always NO! so like I said ASE is great if you want to work at a tire store, or independent shop, but at a dealership, they want factory experience. We had one guy that signed on at 18 with us and started changing oil and helping the techs by cleaning there bays and taking out trash, a year later he moved up to tire tech and alignments, and getting trained for free and going to school paid by the dealer. So at 21 he is almost ready to move into the shop as a flat rate tech with no expense to him and getting paid the whole time. Another kid want to a real expensive trade school that you see on t.v all the time, at 22, he is changing oil and starting fresh. Maybe if he went the independent route he would be hire up.

Of course they'd rather hire someone with same-brand experience. It's good business. They know the common failures and have worked on the same cars multiple times.

I love how "experienced" techs always lambaste techs who went the school route and/or got certifications. That's the real problem with the field is there's no seriousness with education and training. It's pretty much, learn as you go. That's why there's little trust by the general public.

I'd prefer technicians that can diagnose a problem correctly the first time and fix it right the first time and not overcharge customers for their learning mistakes.


Of course ASE isn't the end all solution. In fact it's actually quite silly with most tests being 60-70% passes. But it's a start.


Also people who decide to go to school, not just Lincoln Tech or UTI but possibly a community college get education in other things such as writing, communication, which helps in the longer term. To be honest, though I'm still in Automotive, I'm glad I got out of being in the shop. Though I'm only in my 20s, I'd hate to have brittle hands and a hurt back by the time I'm 40, and have to wash my hands 18 times before I touch my child (future child).