Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics
Skills & Knowledge
Most Important Skills for Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics
- Maintaining Equipment—Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Repairing—Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
- Troubleshooting—Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
- Monitoring Equipment—Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Controlling Quality—Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Operating Equipment—Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Thinking Critically—Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- Listening—Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Solving Complex Problems—Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Choosing Equipment or Tools—Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
Most Important Knowledge Areas for Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics
- Mechanical—Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Computers and Electronics—Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Engineering and Technology—Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Customer and Personal Service—Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Chemistry—Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal m
- English Language—Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Administration and Management—Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Physics—Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub- atomic structures and processes.
- Education and Training—Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Mathematics—Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Interests
Different careers may be a good fit for your personality or interests. This career is:
- Realistic—Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
- Investigative—Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.
Learn more about your interests. Take the MnCareers Interest Assessment.
Describe Your Skills
People who have worked in this career typically perform the following tasks.
These statements can help a prospective employer understand what you can do, on a resume or during an interview.
- Collecting information from different sources.
- Keeping up-to-date with new knowledge.
- Operating vehicles or equipment.
- Making decisions or solving problems.
- Repairing and maintaining mechanical equipment.
- Identifying information by categorizing, comparing, or detecting changes in circumstances or events.
- Handling and moving objects.
- Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to find or fix problems.
Careers that Use Similar Skills
The following careers use skills, knowledge, and abilities that are similar to those used for Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics.
View more careers in the Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics cluster
View more careers in the Facility and Mobile Equipment Maintenance pathway
This page includes information from the O*NET 24.2 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Source: You can learn about our data sources in the About Us section.
