Car mechanic courses down at your local college are always snapped up early, and for good reason. not only does a fully qualified car mechanic earn a substantial income, they also have a much sought after skill that can grow into a fully fledged business if the desire takes you.
So what choices do you have? How far do you want to take your training, and what about the thorny subject of funding your course? Let’s take a look at some of your options…
Apprenticeship
An apprenticeship is like the holy grail of car mechanic courses as you get both the college theory as well as practical experience in a safe, supervised environment. Of course, the cherry on top is that you are paid as you learn and your course if usually funded by the company.
The best car mechanic apprenticeship you could have is usually as a factory trained mechanic in a main dealership. If you land this, make the most of it! However, don’t look the lesser car mechanic courses in the mouth, so to speak. Any apprenticeship is worth its weight in gold, so take whatever opportunities come to you.
College Courses
Full car mechanic courses at college are usually fully subscribed almost as soon as they are announced, so keep your ear to the ground when they announce the new intake. Unless you can find a willing sponsor, or take advantage of a government scheme, you will usually be expected to fund the training yourself. This can be a costly exercise, so get the full details before you commit yourself. Don’t forget to include the cost of exams as they can be quite pricey too!
If a full car mechanic course is too much for you, consider one of the many evening classes that focus on common skills for the DIY mechanic. While they are not a full qualification, they are useful training for teaching you how to maintain a car, thereby reducing your auto repair costs. They can also be used to show initiative if you ever get the chance to apply for a full apprenticeship.
Correspondence Courses
A number of correspondence courses have sprung up in recent years, presumably to cash in on the growing desire of people to learn hard skills. Unfortunately, these courses can vary in quality from useful to downright useless. If you get a mailshot or spot an advertisement in a motoring magazine for car mechanic training, do your due diligence before commiting yourself to what could be an expensive purchase.
As you can see, you have a number of options when it comes to car mechanic courses. But the advice is usually the same. That is, weigh up the full costs as well as the final qualifications to ensure that it is the right choice for your circumstances.