Hey, I'm currently looking for a new job. I want to be a salesmen for an auto place. I have worked on cars as a general service technician at Firestone for over a year and I'm tired of being the lowest man on the pole. I want to be in sales. I talked to the district manager for Firestone and he told me to go get a business degree and then come talk to him about being in sales. I will be getting my associates in arts and sciences (focusing on anthropology) in winter of 08. At that time I plan to go to Renton Tech and do the auto body program to get a certificate. I would like to be a salesman at an auto body place to start learning the process, then once I start in the auto body program, be moved to the shop. Let me know if you have an opening or know of a place that does. I'm in the Issaquah/Bellevue area and would like to stay around here because of school. I am 19 years old, and have worked since I was 16. First I worked at a grocery store pushing carts and stocking shelves until I was 17 when I switched to Target where I worked as a cashier and guest service for about a year and a half. After Target I went to Firestone because of the money and a love for cars, but I no longer work with people and thats where I am strongest. Any more info just send me a message. Let me know if you could use a great salesman and future auto body tech.

-Tyler

By salesman in Autobody do you meen the guy who gives the bid on repairs on damaged cars for the shop..........If so those guys are the ones who have fixed cars for decades and could tell what it needs to reapir cost wise and hours wise in a matter of minutes.........

A degree in business to be a salesman...........not sure why you would need a degree to be a sales man.........I work for a major retailer and it is not a job for a degree.

You lost me a little. Do you want to sell cars, Or do you want to write bids for body work. Neither need a business degree. To sell cars you need to be sharp work well with people and know your product. To do body shop bids you need to be able to asses the damage correctly and come up with a accurate labor time and parts. Good luck with what ever you do. Key to life enjoy the work you do.

I want to sell. At Firestone, when you walk in the door theres the guys standing behind the desk and they talk to you about what you need or want (new tires, brakes, oil changes) they then write the tickets and the technicians do the work. That is the kind of stuff I want to do, but I don't think a business degree is necessary. I wanted to sell scions but I'm not sure how steady the income would be. And working at a shop there is opportunity for advancement and I could work on cars. Maybe I'll just stick it out at Firestone until I start in the auto body program. I'm just getting tired of how I'm being treated there.

Maybe your district manager thought you meant you were looking for a position in regional or corporate level sales, where it sounds like you want to be a store level salesperson. If you are looking for a new job I wouldn't tell your interviewers that you are looking for a sales position but want to be an autobody tech in a few years. Even if it is the ideal setup for you, for an employer it comes across as unfocused.....and unless its a place that sells cars and does body work you are basically saying I want to work here until I get my certificate and then I'm going to quit. That might not be what you want to say, but its what employers will hear.

Check craigslist, there are a ton of car sales jobs down here, maybe your area too.

yah, thanks for the advice yall!

umm tc you might be getting in over your head with this whole Autobody thing. the way it works in majority of the shops that i have seen, you will be low man on the totem pole for a while being new with a degree or cert.

i used to service body shop equipment. booth i worked on was spraybake down draft paint booths. umm new people in the shop get the gopher title. means you go for this and go for that. the way it works is you have your head body work guy and head painter in majority of the shops. if you aren't one of those two. then at times you still the low man. it is going to take you anywhere from 3 to 5 years to know what you are going on all cars.

Do yourself a favor go talk to a bodyshop about what it is like to work in one. you might get a different picture from it

i know this is what you want to do. but in all fairness. behind the desk pays you a salery. out in the shop pays you hourly. some shops pay better out in the shop then behind the desk

You don’t need a degree to be service writer, or to sell. The ability to sell thins for many people is a natural thing not something that is learned or acquired. If you are personable and can talk to people you are set.

As for the service writer, most people just look to them to recommend what needs to be done they don’t really sell anything. By the time people are there they really need something replaced, all the times I have actually asked for a recommendation I get crap back..

Apply all over the place and you will find something, you can always try best buy or retail stores for a while and then try to move back to the automotive industry. If you want to deal with car stuff try some auto parts stores.

As for needing a business degree to do sales that is BS.

Happy hunting!

the position you are looking for is a "service writer". most dealerships wont pick you up for this job unless you have buku experience in the auto trade or prior experience writing service. start at a mom and pop shop and do it in a little more of a laid back environment for a little while then go for a dealership... and trust me. working in the office does not stop s#!t from running down hill. if you are really interested go to www.carpeople.com its a website that lists just automotive trade jobs for this region.

I am a certified Autobody Tech.........well I was way back when.........I was good at it too..........that is just one side of the industry.........the other side is the guys that finish the cars and paint...........two separate jobs.......and rarely do they cross........

When you get out of school there are 10 basic things you better be good at........to even get the grunt job........

1. Being able to tear a car apart in Book Time and put it back together in Book time.
2. Being able to weld/braze, MIG,TIG,Aluminum,and Stick.
3. Being able to use a Plasma torch correctly and safely.
4. Being able to sand correctly and lay bondo correctly and in Book time.
5. Being able to correctly use the proper adhesives for Plastics.
6. Being able to use fiberglass properly with out making a mess.
7. Being able to operate a Frame machine on any car or truck and get it correct.
8. Being able to tape/tack/shoot primer without wasting any material.
9. Being able to wet sand properly and being able to feel the surface.
10.Being able to work sheet metal with a torch and water.

Now to be a painter........whole differant ball of bondo there..........
1. Be able to tape/tack/prime/shoot/and mix paint.
2. Be able to wet sand perfect the first time.....cost a lot of money to screw up.
3. Be able to work a buffer and know all the compounds to use on what.

Also you need to know how to be a glass installer and have a lot of mechanical background in taking apart suspension and brakes and such as you end up replacing them a lot of the time........

All of these things they teach you in school.........but if they tell you the class is like a year long I do not recomend it at all.......in a year of school you could not learn a fraction of what you need to know.......

I spent 9 months in school........but.........I also cmae froma family that did this for a living and grew up in my dads shop and my uncles shop working some long days for beer money.

Yeah, the program is 9 quarters I believe, Im super excited about it.

and yah, it might be called a "service writer" some place, but i know at Firestone its called a "sales associate" Im going to go to sears and find out what their process is and also go to midas and do the same.