5 Must Follow Tips For New Auto Mechanics

hey everybody Charles for humble mechanic comment today I'm gonna give you guys five tips for being a successful new technician this is episode 143 of the humble mechanic podcast alright so I get asked all the time Charles what does it take to be a successful technician I'm coming out of school I'm getting out of school I'm still in school and I'm petrified about getting a job at the dealership at an independent shop whatever so it's a question I've answered a lot of times so I thought I'd you know what put some of these tips in all one video that way you guys have it all in one compact spot so I'm going to be giving you guys five things that you can do to be a better new technician hey this might even apply to being a better old technician and remember that these are not the only five things you need to do these are just five of the top things you need to do there's a ton of things ton that it takes to be a successful technician and as a new technician sometimes it'll just take you some time to learn so let's get right into it number one is knowing your role look let's be honest you're the new guy right you're the FNG for you guys I know what that means so you're the new guy you're going to be doing things that you think this is dumb and has no relevance to me learning how to fix cars and well some of that is true some of it doesn't have any relevance to you fixing cars stacking tires doesn't teach you how to fix cars but these are important things because these are things that need to get done in a shop a lot of times the new guy is the hourly guy so some of those tasks will go to the new guy it's great when you're on flat rate because then you don't have to do it and basically not get paid for it but it's good for you to become part of the team if you're the one willing to stack the tires without crying about how you don't like stacking tires if you're the one that's willing to run cars down to the car wash and get them washed that says to the team right to the rest of the technicians I know this isn't the like learning how to fix cars type stuff but I'm part of the team I'm putting in my work I'm doing my part to show you guys look willing to do this because I want the end goal I want to be a technician so we all did it right I remember doing it as a new guy it sucks but keep your mouth closed get your work done and show the rest of the guys and gals in the that you're willing to do this because that they will see and becoming part of like the shop click is incredibly important you need all the rest of these guys more than they need you and remember that sometimes you know a little bit of a blow to the ego but you do need them you need someone to learn from so like I said it stinks but it's part of the job number two never ever ever stop working if I give you a task to do let's say stack the tires and you finish great don't stand in that one spot and wait for me to tell you something else to do I'm laughing because I've seen this happen so many times find something else to do come find me and we'll figure out something else to do but don't just stand there like a zombie and wait wait for someone to tell you what else to do look around the shop and see what people are doing see what tasks need to get done right does the trash need to be taken out does a car need to be ran through the carwash we just talked about that last example of of doing all those little things that you are doing as the new guy it doesn't really matter just always keep working because when I see you standing around to me that just says I am either too lazy to think something to do or I really don't care and both of those are two examples two mindsets that you don't want the rest of the shop to think that you're in because if you're not willing to put in the effort to help them a lot of times they're not going to be willing to put in the effort to help you alright number three try it first this goes for anything that if you try it and mess it up will not cause the shop to be in a bad spot so what I mean by try it first is let's say I tell you hey new technician go set the clock on that car and you say I don't know how to do that and I say okay well why don't you try and then you tell me I don't know how to do that go freaking try to set the clock the worst thing that's going to happen is you're going to reset the customers trip meter and while that may be a hassle it's really not that big of a deal so just try it if you mess it up it's okay look you're going to make mistakes anyway as a new technician as an old technician everywhere in between mistakes are going to get made if not getting the clock set right is the worst thing that happens throughout the day that is a good dang day give it a try you're never going to be able to figure out the answers to the questions that you don't know if you don't just try it sometimes it's going to work out poorly and you're going to screw stuff up most of the time even if it doesn't work out perfect you're gonna at least learn how to do it so just give it a try if you're not willing to try at all you're gonna have a hard time in a shop because technicians are gonna see that instantly he's too lazy to try she's too lazy to try she doesn't care enough to even try how to set the clock just give it a shot if you screw it up ask how to do it open the owners book all the answers to most of the situations that we run into the information is somewhere owner's book repair manual other technicians it's all out there but you got to go get it don't expect someone to grab you by the hand and put you in the car and say okay mr. technician here's how you set the clock we save that for customers customers get that kind of treatment you don't you have to figure it out on your own and while that can be frustrating if you can figure out how to set the clock when you didn't know think about all the other things that you can figure out how to do that you didn't know rebuild an engine rebuild a transmission reprogram a computer I don't know you name it if you're willing to put in the work to try the little things my mind you're going to be able to or willing to put the work in to try the big things but if you won't even learn how to do a little thing like reset pinch protection on the windows or set the clock or program radio presets in what world do I think you're going to put the effort in to do the hard stuff number four be patient this takes time you are not going to come out of school a master certified technician you're not going to come out of school with 10 years of automotive repair experience despite the sales pitch that you may or may not have gotten from your tech school you're still coming in as the new guy right go all the way back to to tip number one you're still coming in as the new guy this takes time learning takes time it took me about a year to 18 months before I felt comfortable coming in every day I wasn't worried oh god what job am I going to get now am I going to be able to figure it out and didn't know what job I was going to get but I knew I knew I'd be able to figure it out because I tried and I didn't stop working and I was patient right so understand that this takes time you are not going to come out of tech school and be the fastest tech in the shop if you are you're probably doing a hack job so that would raise a red flag for me the big thing for you is do your work correctly take your time do it 100% correctly first then worry about speed speed comes speed comes with repetition speed comes with analyzing how you're working and fine-tuning it speed comes with not standing at the parts department for 15 minutes waiting on someone that's not their speed comes with going to work doing what you can do and then walking by and hopefully the parts department is available at that point in time dealing with parts a whole nother separate issue we'll say for another day but if this is on you right this is about you you have to be patient you have to understand this is going to take time I care a lot more about a new guy doing work correctly than I care about them doing it fast now there's times where I need it done quick but that's my problem right that's not a learning situation that's not a situation I try and put new technicians in because I want them to take their time I want them to follow the repair manual want them to do bolt by bolt step by step I want them to do it correctly because if it's not then it takes even more time and then I have to get involved so just understand that it will take you time to be a good technician all right that was four tips number five is actually going to be coming from someone else but him and I agree 100% on this fifth one this is going to be coming from Todd Gordon who's Joey Logano screw cheap so professional race team crew chief and I asked him what does it take for a new technician to become part of your team to get on a race team like yours you know at the highest highest level and his answer was awesome very much in line with how I feel and what I think it does take to be a really good new technician all right so Todd thank you for taking a few minutes to chat with me about this topic and guys check out his answer because I think you're gonna love it work ethics the biggest piece I think in racing it's still those those that your effort is rewarded finding a way to get to that point but it's work ethic and keen attention to details that's the biggest thing in any position if you can take care all the details and make sure that they're they're covered no mistakes you'll be successful people will want you to work on stuff and it's that's one of the things I think is this whole team the 22 team does a phenomenal job of our guys going we make sure that we don't have these things that cost us in stupidest things it's its attention to detail it's having or having a system and it's be able to backtrack yourself to make sure this work all right guys there you have it five five tips for being a new technician remember these are not the only time things that you need to do understand that this is a process and it will take time so if you have any questions or comments post it in the comments section below hey if you liked the video throw the thumbs up on YouTube I always appreciate that you can also subscribe on youtube or on the blog at humble mechanic comp you can follow me on Facebook Twitter Instagram the blog and obviously right here on YouTube alright guys thanks for watching and I will see you next time

Channel: HumbleMechanic

Views: 241,349

Rating: 4.9116373 out of 5

Keywords: mechanic, auto mechanic, automotive mechanic, car mechanic, technician, automotive technician, auto technician, car technician, universal technical institute, UTI school, tech school, mechanic school, car repair, becoming a mechanic, how to be a mechanic, good mechanic, vw mechanic, audi mechanic, vw tech, truck mechanic, automotive podcast, car podcast, automotive blog, auto blog, auto vlog, car vlog, automotive vlog, mechanic vlog

Id: -FlmD5mnA2M

Length: 10min 6sec (606 seconds)

Published: Wed May 18 2016