Screech...crash! Uh, oh-someone better call the auto body shop. There, skilled auto body repair technicians will be ready to receive your poor damaged car and work on it to make it look like new again. If you enjoy working on cars, consider working as an auto body repair technician and have a career that revs your engine every day.

As an auto body repair technician, no dent or scrape is too much for you to take care of. On any given day at work, you will straighten out bent automobile frames, smooth out dents, and replace any parts that are too crumpled to be fixed. Whether you work on a team in a large shop, where you'll likely be in charge of one part of the repair process, or you work in a smaller auto body shop where you'll do every step of the repair process yourself, you'll need lots of hands-on experience under the tutelage of a veteran technician in order to get you there.

There are many sizes and makes of cars on the road today, which is why each time a car is damaged, it poses a very different challenge for an auto body technician. That is why you must undergo extensive training both in the classroom and in the shop to learn the ins and outs of how a car is put together so that you can replace and repair parts effectively.

Auto body technicians must first realign the frame of a car after a collision. After a successful realignment, the technician can go about replacing or repairing the damaged body structure. Some minor dents can be corrected by banging from the other side of the section with a hammer or anvil, while other more serious dents must be removed entirely and replaced by welding in a new body section.

Crash Into a New Career and Enroll in an Auto Body School
As automobiles become increasingly more sophisticated, employers want new hires to have successfully completed a formal auto body certification program. In addition to classroom work, these programs also offer apprenticeships at an auto body shop.

While no college degree is necessary for employment, it is helpful to have a good understanding of electronics, physics, chemistry, math, and computers so that one can use the tools and understand the methods necessary for auto body repair.

Trade and technical schools often offer auto body repair programs that lead to certification within six months to a year. You can also enroll in a two-year program at a community college that offers more advanced study in auto body collision repair, which may be helpful considering newer cars often require different skills.

Although it is not always necessary to have certification in order to work, the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) is a very good credential to have, as it proves your competence to future employers. The certification program allows technicians to study other parts of auto body care and repair, allowing them to become certified in other areas and advance in their careers.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there will be a large number of older workers retiring from the auto body industry over the next few years, making room for younger workers. Therefore, job prospects are good if you are looking to become an autobody technician. The BLS also states that the median hourly salary for those working in auto repair and maintenance was higher than $16 in 2006, with highly trained and experienced workers making upwards of $30 per hour.

If you want a career that will keep your motor running, then look into auto body schools and consider your options for a career as an auto body repair technician.

In addition to formal classroom training, an auto body repairer must also complete many hours of on-the-job training under the supervision of a seasoned auto technician.

Crash into courses at an auto body school today.