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2022 HIGHER EDUCATION FOCUS
After earning certi cations, graduates can take a variety of career paths.
CAREER BEGINS
Industry In the industry sector, graduates can work as a vendor, in parts sales, as a program recruiter, in tool sales, with the supply chain or as an instructor.
Tech
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In the tech eld, graduates can work for a car dealer or a private shop or become a at-rate technician, a parts sales manager, or a service adviser or manager.
P a r k e r R NEW!
Premier Dr.
Fleet
Former
Fleet eld options include work as an automotive eet technician or manager, in the private or public industry, or as an instructor.
NEW: 3425 Premier Dr., Plano, TX 75023 half mile north
SOURCE: NORTH TEXAS AUTOMOBILE DEALERS COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
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Fueling a shift The accreditation has created even more student interest in the program, Alba said. During the spring semester, the Automotive Technology Program at Collin College had about 123 new and continuing students enrolled in the program, according to data from the college. At the start of the new fall semester, the program had 189 new and continu- ing students, including general popu- lation college students as well as about 25 dual-credit high school students, Boyll said. Since the program began in 2020, enrollment has more than doubled, data shows. Jobs in automotive technology can- not be outsourced, Alba said, so stu- dents going into the program know they will have jobs available right at home. In addition, a career in the eld can be high-paying, he said. The career paths in automotive tech vary as well, Boyll said. “You can go any direction you want; you don’t have to turn a wrench,” Boyll said, adding that people can go into customer service with their certi ca- tions, automotive engineering or work- ing with automotive manufacturers and the various positions that can o er. “The sky’s the limit for somebody coming into this industry,” Alba said. Andrew Norsworthy contributed to this report.
Drive in Plano, said he believes that the Collin College program’s focus on educating the next generation of tech- nicians prove useful to Plano and the region. While Gaden said Ewing Buick GMC has not had the same issues hiring technicians that others in the indus- try have experienced, when they are needed it is important to nd skilled and well-trained employees. “We’ve been pretty fortunate [with being] able to keep our technicians, but as demand increases and service departments become more busy, [ nd- ing] good, quali ed technicians is so di cult,” he said. “If someone does retire or change career paths, it’s hard to nd someone else to build that kind of position [experience].” One of the key challenges with nd- ing skilled workers in this eld is that cars have become more electrical than they were two decades ago, said Sean Boyll, professor of Automotive Tech- nology at the college. The develop- ment of electric vehicles has added a new element to repairing vehicles, but also gas-powered cars now have elec- trical components to consider. “All the mechanical parts have got- ten to a point where the maintenance is fairly minimal,” Boyll said. The challenge associated with elec- tric vehicles not only adds an extra layer of training, but it also can require more time spent by technicians performing scans and calibrations, researching repair methods and even recharging electric vehicles, the CCC study stated.
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PLANO SOUTH EDITION • SEPTEMBER 2022
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