Major Monday — Automotive body technology

We all drive cars, but have you ever thought about going to school to work on them? If you enjoy working with your hands and you’re interested in cars, automotive-body technology might be the major for you. You’ll learn how to repair and reconstruct the bodies of damaged vehicles.

Education
This program most often leads to a certification. You’ll learn the fundamentals and then go on to learn more in-depth subjects such as refinishing, welding, all different types of repair and even color analysis and paint matching. You’ll also learn how to manage a body shop and learn how to budget money for tools and supplies. Most of the education is hands-on, so you’ll be mocking up models, hammering out dents and developing your paint-matching eye. You’ll show off what you’ve learned by repairing and refinishing a car to industry standards. Although you’ll have formal training to get your certification, you’ll probably have to train on the job as well. In high school, it helps to take courses such as art, English, chemistry, physics, precollege math and auto shop.

Questions to ask before you apply
Certification is necessary to work in this field – is the program certified by the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation? It’s a broad major – are there any specializations? Make sure the program includes a lot of hands-on work with state-of-the- art equipment, as well as theory. In addition to “in-the-classroom” experience, ask if there are internships or other real-world training available.

Salary
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2012, an automotive body repairer made an average of $37,680.

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