As an automotive instructor, you will either have an already developed curriculum or may have to create one of your own. You will be responsible for everything from tracking student progress to assisting in automotive jobs placement after a student graduates. If a good curriculum is in place, you may be asked to modify or refine it depending on the class you instruct. Good automotive instructors who seek jobs should be ASE certified. What does ASE mean? The National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence prepares tests for auto service excellence or ASE every two years. These tests are full of questions created by a panel of experts and once you pass the ASE test, you are ASE certified for five years and then you must retake the test.
The ASE test can be taken by specialty to become ASE certified in one area, such as transmission repair. Or a Master ASE certification can be awarded to a technician who passes all eight ASE tests. These eight tests include engine repair, transmission repair, drive train repair, suspension and steering, brake repair, electrical systems repair, heating and air conditioning systems repair, and exhaust system repair. Many schools or manufacturers who seek automotive instructors will most likely want the instructor to be ASE certified in one area or all eight areas. So if you have five years of technician experience under your belt, try to take the ASE exam to guarantee you a good automotive instructor job. Other employers are looking for automotive teachers who have a Bachelors or Masters degree in automotive technology. If you possess one of these degrees, you will have a good chance of landing an automotive instructor job.
Who hires automotive teachers or instructors? The top four places that hire automotive teachers are technical schools, automotive manufacturers, colleges and universities, and large metropolitan areas. Technical schools that offer automotive teaching jobs offer a strong automotive technical program and graduates usually receive an Associate's Degree. Automotive instructors in these schools will teach every aspect of automotive technology and should possess an ASE Master Technician degree, but not necessarily a four-year Bachelors degree. Colleges and universities that offer automotive science degrees are more intense as a student will come out with automotive technology knowledge as well as standard classes required for a science degree. Automotive instructors who seek jobs in a college or university setting will most likely have to have a Bachelors or Masters degree in automotive science.
Automotive manufacturers also are in need of automotive instructor jobs. Companies like Chrysler, LLC will hire automotive instructors for their field technical offices to train dealership technicians in all areas of automotive repair. Again, these instructors are required to have a four-year college degree in automotive science. Large cities that have an extensive police force, transportation force, city vehicles, etc., will also need automotive instructors to train automotive technician interns how to repair these vehicles. These types of automotive teacher jobs in large cities usually only require that the instructor is an ASE Master technician and that they have, at the very least, five years of traceable technical skills under their belt.
In every one of these organizations whether it be a large city, an automotive manufacturer, college or university, or technical school, the need for automotive teachers who possess strong technical knowledge is highly needed. Good teaching skills and an easy manner are requirements as well. Students will need to understand the skills they are being taught. If they do, they may be among the good, easy to understand and inventive automotive instructors are sought in the industry.
Now you may wonder where you can find automotive instructor jobs. At AutomotiveCrossing.com, a division of EmploymentCrossing.com, they search over 10,000 websites for automotive instructor job openings and put them all in one easy searchable database. This database will allow you to browse automotive teaching jobs by area, salary offered, and relocation money offered if you are willing to relocate. At AutomotiveCrossing, they even have job openings for automotive instructors in countries other than the US.
AutomotiveCrossing also offers Job Profile Videos where automotive instructors talk about what they did to land their automotive teaching job and what duties they perform. Along with the informative videos, AutomotiveCrossing also offers numerous articles on automotive instructor jobs. In these articles that are written by experts in the automotive industry, you will find tips on how to land the right automotive teaching job as well as what skills, certifications or degrees you must possess.
If you feel you have what it takes to be an automotive instructor in today’s competitive automotive world, seek out AutomotiveCrossing today to find the automotive teaching job that is right for you and you’ll soon be on to the career change that you wanted.
