Decide on something you want to try building, then look up tutorials and videos on Google and YouTube. Start small and work with what you have or can easily acquire.

Advice

Build something!

Call a local auto shop or just drop by and ask if you can talk to someone about being a mechanic. Be ready to ask questions, like what someone who wants to work in this field should do to get started.

Interview a mechanic.

There will always be obstacles in your journey. Life is not about avoiding those obstacles, but learning how to navigate them. Get advice on how to overcome your obstacles! 

Day to Day

Watch a TED Talk about overcoming obstacles.

Automotive Engineering Technicians

Assist engineers in determining the practicality of proposed product design changes and plan and carry out tests on experimental test devices or equipment for performance, durability, or efficiency.

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.

Realistic

Third Interest High-Point

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.

Investigative

Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Conventional

Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

Enterprising

Second Interest High-Point

Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.

Artistic

Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

Social

First Interest High-Point

Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed

Engineering Technicians, Except Drafters

Mechanical Engineering Technicians

Architecture and Engineering Occupations

Drafters, Engineering Technicians, and Mapping Technicians

Build instrumentation or laboratory test equipment for special purposes.

Order new test equipment, supplies, or replacement parts.

Set up mechanical, hydraulic, or electric test equipment in accordance with engineering specifications, standards, or test procedures.

Recommend tests or testing conditions in accordance with designs, customer requirements, or industry standards to ensure test validity.

Monitor computer-controlled test equipment, according to written or verbal instructions.

Read and interpret blueprints, schematics, work specifications, drawings, or charts.

Maintain test equipment in operational condition by performing routine maintenance or making minor repairs or adjustments as needed.

Install equipment, such as instrumentation, test equipment, engines, or aftermarket products, to ensure proper interfaces.

Inspect or test parts to determine nature or cause of defects or malfunctions.

Document test results, using cameras, spreadsheets, documents, or other tools.

Fabricate new or modify existing prototype components or fixtures.

Analyze test data for automotive systems, subsystems, or component parts.

Recommend product or component design improvements, based on test data or observations.

Perform or execute manual or automated tests of automotive system or component performance, efficiency, or durability.

Analyze performance of vehicles or components that have been redesigned to increase fuel efficiency, such as camless or dual-clutch engines or alternative types of air-conditioning systems.

Improve fuel efficiency by testing vehicles or components that use lighter materials, such as aluminum, magnesium alloy, or plastic.

Participate in research or testing of computerized automotive applications, such as telemetrics, intelligent transportation systems, artificial intelligence, or automatic control.

Test performance of vehicles that use alternative fuels, such as alcohol blends, natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, biodiesel, nano diesel, or alternative power methods, such as solar energy or hydrogen fuel cells.

Calipers

Chassis dynamometers

Compression testers

Computer numerical controlled CNC milling machines

Computerized numerical control CNC turning centers

Crack detection equipment

Electronic engine analyzers

Engine lathes

Environmental chambers

Exhaust gas analyzers

Flow benches

Force gauges

Frequency counters

Function generators

High-vacuum tensile testing chambers

Ignition oscilloscopes

Leakage testers

Metal inert gas MIG welders

Multimeters

Oscilloscopes

Pin gauges

Plasma cutters

Timing lights

Tungsten inert gas TIG welding equipment

Vibration testers

A&D Technology iTest

Autodesk AutoCAD Mechanical

Autodesk Inventor

Computer aided design CAD software

Computer aided manufacturing CAM software

Data acquisition software

IBM Notes

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Office

Microsoft Word

National Instruments LabVIEW

PTC Creo Parametric

Road simulators

Save your money and go to school. If you have an education you can go anywhere and do anything. You will learn things that you never will anywhere else. 

At age 18, I decided that I needed to do something with my life, so I sold my car, applied for a visa/passport, and came to the United States looking for the American Dream. The language barrier can sometimes be an obstacle.

I help auto parts manufacturers develop products by obtaining an emissions certificate. My day is usually spent testing a variety of products to ensure they meet the state and federal emissions standards and issuing affordable CARB EOs to manufacturers. 

Emissions Lab Technician

One last question, any advice that you're gonna give us? &gt;&gt; I remember when I forget the words from one old man that told me. I was 18, I liked to go party, liked to go here. I go there, there. That was $50 in my pocket, I was thinking I was a king. You know what I mean? And the old man say, you know what? You better save those $50. Go to school. You're thinking now you're the king of $50, but if you save that money and you go to school, you're gonna have an education and you're gonna be the king forever, because education is the best. If you go to school, you can have everything you guys want. It doesn't matter where you're coming from, what you have as long as you have a heart, and you have the the dream, you have to fight for it. You know what I mean? And you guys have to dream to finish the school. You have to dream to build a car, build a engine, build whatever is in your mind, whatever is in your heart, you have to follow and you have to finish it. It doesn't matter who told you you cannot do it. It never is true. I come from nowhere. And my dream is not over, because I wanna do like you guys are doing already. I wanna go to school, I wanna get educated. But my dreams will not finish maybe right there. 

Education

Opportunity

Anything Is Possible With An Education

I was so little and all my friends have car. All my friend has nice car and everything. I don't have nothing. I was just living day by day with my family. And one of my friends helped me to buy a car, all right. So I had the car but the car not's running the car has nothing so now what? So I start working on the car little by little. That's how I start my love about the cars, because I work on the car that I buy when I was maybe 16, 15 years old, with no money in my pocket. But I started buying and selling stuff to fix my car. That's how everything start from there. It's not like I have my dad, take this one, it's yours! A brand new car. No, I started with a junk car, you know what I mean? Something that didn't have tires. 

Hard Work

Struggle

Start Small

My name is Arturo Guerra, I come from Mexico City and I've been in the industry for 20 years. I have 20 years experience with the laboratory about emissions. I have a certification about engines, turbos and all this stuff. We building the cars and we have fun in here. [LAUGH] &gt;&gt; What made you get into this field in the first place? &gt;&gt; It always starts with the cars. I was a little and all of my friends had nice cars and everything. I don't have nothing, I was just living day by day with my family. And while my friends helped me to buy a car. So I had a car, but the car was not running, the car had nothing, so now what? So, I started working in the car little by little, that's how I explain my love about my cars, because I work in the car that I bought when I was maybe 16, 15 years old, with no money in my pocket. But, I started buying and selling stuff to fix my car, that's how everything started from there. When the people showed me that it was open in the for my position. I'm like, why would I go to Encima, people from Encima has a degrees, they have English. They have everything. They're never wanna look at me, and they're looking at me. They give me the opportunity. Now, I'm here and I'm so happy to be here. It doesn't matter where your family is from, what you have, as long as you have the heart, and you have the dream, you have to fight for it. You know what I mean? And you guys have the dream to finish school, you have the dream to build a car, build the engine, build whatever is in your mind, whatever is in your heart you have to follow and you have to finish it. Doesn't matter who told you you cannot do it, it is never true. I come from nowhere, you know? And my dream is not over, because I want to do what you guys are doing already. I wanna go to school, I wanna get educated, but my dream is when I finish maybe right there. 

Arturo Herrera Highlight

Whats your favorite part of this industry? &gt;&gt; It's really nice when you work with the device, they don't even know if it's going to pass the standards. When somebody comes with the device, like hey I have this, so let's see if it passes, lets see what it does, you know what I mean? It's crazy how it works. That's my pay, you know what I mean? Something that's really passionate, you know? It's not just pass the car, or fail the car. It's like my car, my product. You know what I mean? It's like something that goes in me. When I see the products in the shelf, when I see the stores, like I test that product. So now every time I see that car, it's like it's part of me in that car. We work hard to make it pass that problem, you know what I mean? That's my passion, I know you can feel it, but- &gt;&gt; Yeah, I think that's why we're all here is 

Passion

Passion Project

My name is Arthur Rivera. I come from Mexico City and I have been in the industry for 20 years. I have 20 years of experience with the laboratory about emissions. I have a certification with engines, through bolts, and all this stuff. We build the cars and we have fun in here. &gt;&gt; What made you get into this field in the first place? &gt;&gt; It's how it started with the cars. I was little and all my friend has a car, all right? All my friend has a nice cars and everything. I don't have nothing. I was just living day by day with my family. And one of my friends helped me to buy a car. All right, and so I had the car but the car is not running, the car has nothing, so how what? And so I started working in the car little by little. That's how I started my love about the cars. Because I worked in the car that I buy when I was maybe 16, 15 years old with no money in my pocket. But I started buying and selling stuff to fix my car. That's how everything started from there. It's not like I have my dad say, take this one. It's yours, your brand new car. No, I start with a junk car, you know what I mean? It was something that did not have tires and I have to work to make it work. &gt;&gt; What was your motivation [INAUDIBLE]? &gt;&gt; Well, since I was a little kid I always play with cars. And all my friends, they used to own body shops or mechanic shops. And I don't have any education, like certification. I never go to school to learn all the things that I know, everything I learned in the shop, everything I learned in this industry basically. And when I come to the United States from Mexico, I find this friend is my friend's friend brother before he passed away. He's the one that introduced me to the laboratory. It's in Santa Ana, and that's how I started everything. My dream started right there. &gt;&gt; What's your favorite part of this industry? &gt;&gt; It's really nice when you work with the device. They don't even know it's gonna pass the standards. When somebody come with the device like, hey, I have this, so let's see if it pass. Let's see what it does, you know what I mean? It's crazy how it works. That's my pay, you know what I mean? Something in me that is really passionate. It's not just passion for if I fail the car. It's like my car, my product, you know what I mean? It's like something that goes through me. When I see the product on the shelves or when I see it in the stores, it's like, I test that product. So now every time I see the car, it's like, it's part of me in the car. We work hard to make it pass that problem, you know what I mean? That's my passion. I don't know if you can feel it, but it's [INAUDIBLE]. &gt;&gt; Yeah, yeah, I think that's why we're all here. &gt;&gt; You know what I mean? &gt;&gt; Did you have anybody ever tell you that you couldn't get into the field, or try to put doubts in your head that you weren't gonna make it, or anything like that? &gt;&gt; To me, the deal is it doesn't matter if people tell you if you cannot do it. If you listen to whatever people say, you don't go nowhere. You know what I mean? You have to listen to your heart, you have to listen to your self. Whatever people say, it doesn't matter. I mean, a lot of people is good people, but it's more about people, the people who say that guy [INAUDIBLE]. I don't listen to nobody, I don't care. I just do what I like. I like to drive, I like to learn, I like to do these things. You know what I mean? And I think that people notice that I like what I'm doing, that's why I'm here. Because they know my passion about the cars, that I deal with the customers, the members, with the people that bring their product [INAUDIBLE]. But I don't listen to nobody. I just listen to God and listen to myself and that's, I think kind of being selfish, but it's a selfish positive, you know what I mean? &gt;&gt; [LAUGH] Yeah. &gt;&gt; Being good selfish, you know what I mean? &gt;&gt; A good selfish, yeah. So what were your main struggles? Were they coming up transferring from Mexico to here? &gt;&gt; What do you mean, the- &gt;&gt; Just the whole struggle of you coming up in the field and everything? &gt;&gt; The first thing was the language. The communication's been really hard for me. When you come to the United States, and you don't have the language. And you working at these kind of places, by communication, you talk to engineering, you talk with the people who did the education and everything. The most difficult for me is the language. &gt;&gt; Not having any college experience or anything, did that ever hold you back or just from having kind of street smarts about cars? &gt;&gt; When the people tell me that it was open at [INAUDIBLE], all right, there's a opening here for my position. &gt;&gt; Why do you want to go to [INAUDIBLE] people that go [INAUDIBLE] have degrees like English, everything. They're never gonna want to look at me. And they looked at me, they gave me the opportunity. Now I'm here, and I'm so happy to be here. But now my dream is when I get to go to school. &gt;&gt; One last question, any advice that you'd wanna give us? &gt;&gt; I never wanna forget the words from one old man that told me. I was 18, I liked to go party, liked to go here, go there, there, there. With $50 in my pocket, I was thinking I was a king, you know what I mean? And the old man said, you know what? You save those $50, go to school. Yeah, you think now you're the king with $50. But if you save that money, and you go to school, You're going to have education, and you're going to be the king forever, because education is the best. If you go to school, you can have everything you guys want. It doesn't matter where you're coming from or what you have as long as you have the heart and you have the dream and you have to fight for it. You know what I mean? And you guys have to dream to finish school. You have to dream to build a car, build an engine, build a whatever is in your mind, whatever is in your heart. You have to follow and you have to finish it. It doesn't matter who told you you cannot do it. It never is true. I come from nowhere. And my dream is not over because I wanna do like what you guys are doing already. I wanna go to school. I wanna get educated. But my dreams when I finish may be right there. 

Interview

If you were looking down at yourself at our age, what would you tell your younger self? &gt;&gt; Stay with the good people. &gt;&gt; Yeah. &gt;&gt; Believe in whatever you wanna believe, believe in God, believe in your bug, believe in whatever your religion, whatever I don't care. Believe in something, believe in yourselves, never give up. 

Beliefs & Faith

Values

Stick With The Good People

When you were our age, did you know what you wanted to do? &gt;&gt; My God. &gt;&gt; [LAUGH] &gt;&gt; No. &gt;&gt; No, no clue? &gt;&gt; No, no, by that time I was, how old are you right now? &gt;&gt; 18. &gt;&gt; 18, by that time I was fighting for some money to take home. You know what I mean? I was fighting to go and and make some money and survive. My country is a place it's not that easy to live in. And I was at school and my mom my dad was pushing me to go to school. I gonna go to school, but I have bad friends. &gt;&gt; Yeah. &gt;&gt; You know what I mean. And when you have bad friends, everything goes bad. &gt;&gt; It can go south in a hurry, yeah. &gt;&gt; Look at me. [LAUGH] &gt;&gt; When you have good friends United States. And thank God that my friends from United States, all my friends. They've been really good friends. That's why I'm here. I have a civil life. I have a good job and I have a family and I have a staff because I learn something. You go with the bad people, you're gonna be bad. You go with the good people. You always gonna be good. Your life's gonna be successful. You go with the bad people. Maybe one of the hundred is going to be good. But mostly likely you're going to be dead or jail or something else, you know what I mean? So everything is about family and friends, you have to be careful about your friends. 

Support & Encouragement

Choose Your Friends Wisely

Changing Gears

Technicians Roadtrip

INSIGHTS FROM THE FILM

Hitchhike along for a supercharged adventure as Alexandra, Dylan, and Michael—three aspiring auto and diesel technicians—go from monster truck rallies to high-tech labs to discover the growing possibilities in automotive and diesel tech. As they speak to gearheads in every corner of the field—from tractor builders, to Porsche collectors, Fast and the Furious technicians, and more—they learn that the stereotype of the grease monkey mechanic is outdated. Being a technician means being on the frontlines of technology, racing towards the future.

Auto and diesel technicians hold the keys to the future of human movement. We set out to see where the industry is going—and the people who are driving it forward.

Our cars and trucks are high-powered and high-tech—and they need an elite workforce to keep them running. That’s why we’re sending three aspiring auto and diesel technicians on a road trip that will give them an exclusive look at what’s happening under the hood of their industry. They’ll meet with professional technicians, hear candid stories of struggle and success, and of course, check out a ton of cool cars along the way. Ride along with the crew as they explore this rapidly accelerating field—and see if this turns out to be the spark that ignites their future.

We’re not just showing auto and diesel technicians what’s on the road ahead—we’re putting them in the driver’s seat.

FUELED BY:

Tech Force Foundation

SEMA Garage

So this Spring I'm traveling with two other students. >> A little over two weeks, we're gonna be living in a RV. >> With two people that I have never met, but I know that they share a passion that I have in cars and automobiles. We're gonna be going to a bunch of different places. >> And we're gonna go talk to people who work in the auto or diesel industry. Kind of get some advice from them. >> Ask them what they did with their lives, and how they got there. >> [NOISE] >> The automotive field is a legitimate field with a lot of opportunity and worthy of respect. The people in it are incredibly intelligent and have to be to work on today's rocket ship car. And today's cars have more control modules than the first space shuttle. >> [NOISE] >> That car is insane. >> [SOUND] >> If you're interested in mechanics right now, I will guarantee you that in another 40 years down the road, you're still gonna be interested. You don't outgrow it. >> People do it as a pastime and I get to get paid for it. >> Actually, just happy to go to work every day. I never thought it would be like that. >> Some of these people are living my dream. [LAUGH] And I'd like to know how they got to where they're at. >> Nice to meet you. >> I can remember taking bicycles apart and then motorcycles and then cars. >> From the moment I bought my first car, I was just out in the driveway wrenching on it and trying to do stuff to it. >> [NOISE] >> For every one thing that I learned that worked I'd do ten other things that failed, that broke, that caught on fire. So it was a hobby that got out of control, continued to feed my need for speed. >> When I found out that something like this was available to me, it was a dream. I wanted to fix cars and have fun. >> I really want to figure out what I wanna do next. >> You guys are the future, because you know those old-timers are not gonna be around forever. Whether you're a Sport import to in a guy, a American muscle car guy, a European sports car guy, or a truck off road playing around in the dirt type of person. I think what connects all true car enthusiasts together is the thrill of the drive, the build, the chase. And I think we all speak the same language. It doesn't matter what you drive. You share that same passion. [MUSIC] >> We're pretty much gonna get in an RV and go interview some pretty crazy people. >> Kind of trying to find myself a little bit more from this. >> Get insight on where we're gonna go from here. Cuz right now, I'm just kinda lost and we need guidance on where to go. Kinda like a GPS on what we should do with our lives. [MUSIC] 

Arturo Herrera

Emissions Lab Technician

Videos

Arturo Herrera

Milestones

Career

Career Roadmap

My work combines:

My work combines:

Engineering

Technology

Learning / Being Challenged

Day to Day

Skills & Qualities Beyond School

Advice for Getting Started

Hurdles

The Noise I Shed

From Society in General:

Challenges I Overcame

First-Generation Immigrant

Interviewed By

Changing Gears

Arturo Herrera

Emissions Lab Technician

Videos

Arturo Herrera

Milestones

Career

Career Roadmap

My work combines:

My work combines:

Engineering

Technology

Learning / Being Challenged

Day to Day

Skills & Qualities Beyond School

Advice for Getting Started

Hurdles

The Noise I Shed

From Society in General:

Challenges I Overcame

Interviewed By

Changing Gears

Related Leaders

Rohan Amin

Heather Opp

Walt Logan

Stuart McClure

Scout Gillick

Sabry Tozin