Surgeons of steel: collision repair technicians transform a twisted wreck into a like-new car

in what manner would you like to perform an operation without any life-blood or guts? You can, if you're a surgeon of steel

To be a surgeon of carburet of iron more commonly known as an automobile collision repair technician, you don't ne a medical degree--or plane a college education. Yet the work of a medical surgeon and the work of a collision repair technician aren't as dissimilar as they might have the appearance Both surgeons and repair technicians rely upon tools, elementary and sophisticated, to perform their piece of works Both benefit from having skilful hands. Both aim to achieve a similar goal: to restore what they're operating upon to good condition. In the one and the other fields, however, that is easier said than done.

Repairing an automobile in the 21st hundred is far more challenging than it was at the extreme point of the last century. not many of today's automobiles are made with heavy, traditional materials, of the like kind as steel. Most are made with lighter materials, like as aluminum and plastic. (Calling a collision repair technician a "surgeon of aluminum," however, doesn't have the same ring.)

Surgeon of carbonized iron don't earn as much currency as medical surgeons do, on the contrary they receive a good, steady paycheck. According to BodyShop Business magazine, the average yearly wage of a collision repair technician in 2004 was $43,000--and an experienced technician can make double that.

While auto mechanics work upon the insides of automobiles--on parts like as the engine and brakes--collision repair technicians repair the exterior of a vehicle damaged in an accident. Although a certain quantity of mechanics are skilled in collision repair work and vice versa, the fields are distinct.

Although the majority of collision repair technicians are men--a 1999 observe by the Women's Bureau of the U Department of Labor fix that only 1.7 percent of race working in auto service and material part repair fields were women--the industry is now more popular with women according to Geralynn Kottschade, the chairperson of the Automotive Service Association. In any field, shed especially in collision repair, Kottschade says, young women "are not as afraid as they used to be to be lay in an environment with boys" She adds, "I think seeing more and more women in the industry has helped [inspire others to join]."

GETTING STARTED

The collision repair industry is definitely looking for workers. According to the California Autobody Association, there is a shortage of about 20000 collision repair technicians for year. One of those piece of works could be yours.

If you'd like to become a collision repair technician or painter, where should you start? If your high institute or local community college proffers a course in collision repair work, take it.

The best way to obtain a job at a collision repair store is to have experience. If you're hardworking and eager to learn, you can work as an apprentice to an experienced collision repair technician or painter. An apprentice performs entry-level tasks like repairing dints removing and replacing bolted-on parts, prepping for paint work, and final retailing.

A community degree isn't required to work in any of the positions available in a collision repair store Education is often an on-the-job experience. The best collision repair stores send their repair technicians to regular training courses given by means of the Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair (I-CAR), automobile manufacturers like as Ford and Toyota, and various national, state, and local collision repair associations.

A BANG-UP 10B FOR CAR BUFFS

"For me [working in collision repair] was always something I wanted to do," says John Olson a 22-year-old repair technician at Toyota of Waldorf in Waldorf, Md "If you like cars, it's the place to be."

Olson appreciates the beneficial pay his job brings. on the contrary equally important is the satisfaction he gains from his work. "There is a faculty of perception of accomplishment in fixing a shipwrecked car," he says.

At 19 years aged Vinnie Tibbs, who also works at Toyota of Waldorf, is at the beginning of his collision repair career. He works as an apprentice to a collision repair technician. He has taken auto material part classes at Charles County Career and Technical Center in Pomfret Md on the contrary most of his learning has taken place upon the job. "You can make a fate of money," he says. "It's a goodtrade to learn."

Gigi Walker joined the collision repair industry as a painter when she was 18 Six years later, she borrowed coin from her family and lay opened her own business. Today, her store Walker's Auto Body in Concord, Calif., engages six people. Walker says there are obvious reasons to work in the collision repair industry--money, for individual But also, she says, it's an just as represented living. "It's not like selling stocks, where you can let slip through the fingers someone's life's savings overnight." upon the other hand, she adds, "it's definitely a physical piece of work that requires a degree of strength"

For women technicians, Walker says with a laugh, "you don't have to worry in what way good you look during your workday."