4 Top Paying Jobs People Don’t Know About In The Auto Industry

The population is growing at a rapid pace, and with more people comes more vehicles on the road. More vehicles on the road means that there are more accidents, more fender benders, more rocks being thrown through windshields, and more people are needed to fix these problems. If you like to work with your hands and like to be around and help other people, these are four jobs related to the automotive industry that are worth considering.

Some may require more than a high school diploma, but none require a four year degree, and all are attainable by people with a desire and will to succeed and work hard.

Just like with people who do body work, someone has to fix all of the cracked and ruined glass on vehicles. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that these people can make $33,000 a year with a high school diploma and on the job training. The work day of a glass tech is rarely boring. They may install new glass in a vehicle involved in an accident. They may fix cracks or other damage in vehicles. They may go to a jobsite and fix one or several windshields that suffered from hail or other damage.

Glass techs who work on their own could make $100,000 a year. With more than 250 million cars on the road, and one in four having windshield damage, that means that 63 million vehicles need repairs. At $55 a repair, if a tech can fix seven a day, five days a week, they can earn six figures a year.

An unsung automotive job is headlight restoration technician. Think about it, every car, SUV, and pickup in the United States has at least two headlights on it. What happens if one of those headlights burns out? The driver runs the risk of getting a ticket.

A burnt out or broken headlight is not the only problems headlights cause. Headlights can also dim, become cloudy, or yellowed so that they are useless to the driver, and they can become next to impossible for other drivers to recognize. A growing job market is headlight restoration. In the hands of an expert restorer, headlights can shine like they are new which will extend the headlight’s life before it burns out.

Depending on what other jobs a headlight restorer is conducting, the wages can be between $25,000 a year and $65,000 a year. As part of a car cleaning team, a headlight restorer might be lower on the wage scale, but as skill used by a mechanic, the pay can be higher.

With regard to our vehicles, the recent Great Recession taught people that they could drive their vehicles longer than was customary in the past. Although cars might have lasted longer, that did not mean that people did not want their older vehicles to look as good as possible for as long as possible.

The tasks a detailer must do are often fairly simple. They include vacuuming, shampooing, and generally cleaning carpeting within a vehicle. The detailer may empty ashtrays, clean the engine, and wax vehicles.

Detailers work longer hours in the summer and often work holidays as that is when the public has time to get their vehicles cleaned. Although there is no formal education required for car detailing, sometimes a detailing job is an entry level position at a mechanic shop or at a vehicle body shop. According to PayScale.com, the average pay for a car detailer in September, 2014 was just over $29,500 per year.

With more than 250 million vehicles on the road, it is inevitable that two cars will find each other periodically and require a trained technician to remove dents and other body problems. A collision repair technician may work on two new cars that ran into each other, or vehicles damaged from potholes, or vehicles damaged in some other way. Sometimes, a collision repair technician will be hired to take an older model vehicle that has been neglected and will be asked to restore it to its former glory.

Part of the work of a collision repair specialist is providing estimates to customers regarding how much it will cost to fix a dent or make other repairs. Although best known for fixing dents and scratches, more important work involves ensuring that vehicles are structurally sound and safe to drive on the road. The average pay for a collision repair specialist is $43,870, and there is a forecasted job growth of 13% according to TradeSchools.net.

Not every job in the auto industry involves being a mechanic or sales. Check out these more unusual jobs and see if one would be right for you. There is an opportunity to make great money without extensive training.