The ASE certifications were a way to get you more money and better paying jobs, however whether you could keep those jobs and that pay depended on whether you could actually do the work. And a lot couldn't.
Right now the industry is so desperate for techs that they are willing to overlook just bout everything. You don't need to certs, you don't necessarily need the formal training or experience. THEY NEED YOU. My brother in law is a service manager at a local dealership and they just can't find "qualified techs". They get people applying for mechanic jobs with zero experience and sometimes they hire them. It's like that in other blue collar industries right now as well...people don't want to work. They don't want to work hard, work in the cold, hurt their hands, breath in stuff. They want a degree, a desk job, high pay and benefits. I can't really blame them. This is what it was like to work in a dealership years ago - it's since gotten a little better - you'd get two sick days a year. You'd have to beg for raises and compete with every tech in the place for good repairs (gravy work). Your health insurance was expensive and a joke. You'd get two weeks vacation after three years. And you'd max out at three weeks after ten years. The new schedules...the open seven days a week dealers started and you'd find yourself working weekends, so your schedule was always changing. Meanwhile you'd see your white collar buddy making twice as much, working half as hard, having weekends off, five weeks of vacation a year, flexible spending account, 6 sick days, 3 personal days, Christmas bonus, sign on bonus...don't have to buy tools, get a car allowance, college reimbursement, clothing allowance. Meanwhile my "Christmas bonus" at the dealer was a cold cut platter next to the alignment machine...oh try not to get any grease on it, the sales people want some too.
And then we'd top it all off by having to spend hundreds on tools every year and spend hours trying to understand the new and "better" technology that came out every ten minutes. Not a lot of fun, but it's starting to get better...dealers can't find people...they're paying now and throwing in some benefits. It's about time.
Right now the industry is so desperate for techs that they are willing to overlook just bout everything. You don't need to certs, you don't necessarily need the formal training or experience. THEY NEED YOU. My brother in law is a service manager at a local dealership and they just can't find "qualified techs". They get people applying for mechanic jobs with zero experience and sometimes they hire them. It's like that in other blue collar industries right now as well...people don't want to work. They don't want to work hard, work in the cold, hurt their hands, breath in stuff. They want a degree, a desk job, high pay and benefits. I can't really blame them. This is what it was like to work in a dealership years ago - it's since gotten a little better - you'd get two sick days a year. You'd have to beg for raises and compete with every tech in the place for good repairs (gravy work). Your health insurance was expensive and a joke. You'd get two weeks vacation after three years. And you'd max out at three weeks after ten years. The new schedules...the open seven days a week dealers started and you'd find yourself working weekends, so your schedule was always changing. Meanwhile you'd see your white collar buddy making twice as much, working half as hard, having weekends off, five weeks of vacation a year, flexible spending account, 6 sick days, 3 personal days, Christmas bonus, sign on bonus...don't have to buy tools, get a car allowance, college reimbursement, clothing allowance. Meanwhile my "Christmas bonus" at the dealer was a cold cut platter next to the alignment machine...oh try not to get any grease on it, the sales people want some too.
And then we'd top it all off by having to spend hundreds on tools every year and spend hours trying to understand the new and "better" technology that came out every ten minutes. Not a lot of fun, but it's starting to get better...dealers can't find people...they're paying now and throwing in some benefits. It's about time.