Is Being a Mechanic Fun: What Can I Expect from This Career?

Mechanics. You’ll find them on Main Street and motorways and anywhere people rely on vehicles to go from here to there.

They work on, repair, maintain, and rebuild engines inside cars, trucks, SUVs, and everything in between. They know their way around Ferraris and Fords, Chevrolets and Subarus, and anything with a gas-powered engine, whether it has two, three, four wheels, or more wheels.

They’re trouble-shooters, super sleuths, technological wizards with exceptional customer service skills who can tear a car apart and put it back together without missing a beat.

But is it fun?

That’s the question most prospective students ask when they are debating whether to enroll in an automotive technology degree program.

The answer usually lies somewhere in these five facts:

There are jobs to be had

If there’s one thing on which everyone looking for a job can agree, it is this: It’s a lot more fun being employed than it is being unemployed.

And there are plenty of mechanic jobs to be had.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment opportunities for automotive service technicians and mechanics are expected to grow by about 6 percent between now and 2026.

So if being employed is fun (and it is, if you’re in the market for a job), then being a mechanic certainly gives you the opportunity to have a fun career.

Every day brings something fresh, new, and exciting

Some people are meant to work in an office or cubicle, where they sit at a desk all day, shuffling papers and talking to people on the telephone. Each eight-hour shift brings the same predictable tasks and rarely anything unexpected.

Mechanics are not these people.

For mechanics, every day is an opportunity to do something fresh, new, and exciting. One day you could be doing oil changes, the next you might be trying to figure out what’s wrong with the engine under the hood of a classic, ’67 Camaro.

Never knowing what challenge might pull into the garage makes being a mechanic fun.

You can go big time or work in a little town

This is a fact: Everyone in the United States of America depends on mechanics, whether or not they own an automobile.

Mechanics work on cars, trucks, SUVs, motorcycles, and all-terrain vehicles all over the country. They work on buses, taxi cabs, mail trucks. You’ll find mechanics working in the nation’s biggest cities and smallest towns.

And that means you’ll have the ability to live anywhere you want throughout the course of your career. There are nearly 230,000 motor vehicle repair and maintenance facilities spread out all over the country, according to Statista. Each represents a place you could work.

Having the opportunity to decide whether to work in big-time cities or experience small-town living is an awful lot of fun.

You’ll get to work with your hands, mind, and heart

A lot of people tend to think mechanics are just people who are good with tools. In reality, they are a lot more than that.

Yes, being a mechanic requires the ability to work a wrench, but it also takes an analytical mind, communication skills, and strong technical aptitude. A good dose of passion doesn’t hurt, either.

Today’s vehicles still use nuts, bolts, cylinders, valves, pistons, and rods. But they are also equipped with cutting-edge technology. There are on-board navigation systems, apps, high-tech safety features such as rear cross-traffic alert and lane departure warning systems, and cameras.

That’s why today’s mechanics need to know how to work tools with their hands and computers with their minds. As with any profession, being passionate about what you do and throwing your heart into the work always helps makes you more successful.

There’s no cold calling required

Some sales people make a living by cold calling on companies. They spend their days trying to setup meetings and track down the right person to speak with. It’s not very much fun.

Their paychecks depend on their ability to get people they’ve never met before–people who may not even know that their product or service exists–to hire them.

Mechanics never have to make cold calls. As long as there are old cars, trucks, and SUVs rolling down the roads–and new ones rolling off the assembly lines–people will always proactively seek out mechanics to repair, maintain, and upgrade their vehicles.

Steady work equals a steady paycheck. And a steady paycheck is always fun.

Ready to have some fun?

If you’re ready to start a fun career as a mechanic, connect with the Advanced Technology Institute to learn more about our Associate of Occupational Science Degree in Automotive Technology with Service Management. Do that sound like fun? Call today!