How to kickstart your automotive career

In this article: The motor industry offers huge diversity of career options, Julia Muir, gives her six points to consider when looking at starting out

The motor industry offers a plethora of options for potential career paths, from sales on the dealership floor to technicians maintaining vehicles and everything in between and beyond.

With so many opportunities it can be overwhelming taking the first step into joining the industry, but it needn’t be.

Julia Muir has worked in the industry since joining Perrys Motor Group from university, going on to work for companies including Ford and PwC, in a career that has taken her from the UK to Germany and Spain and back again.

She’s now CEO of Gaia Innovation, a non-profit social enterprise she founded to accelerate positive interactions between students and employers, get young people inspired, equip them with higher-level skills, and to connect employers and universities to a diverse talent pool.

Here are her six points to consider if you’re thinking about joining the motor industry:

1. There are thousands of different roles to choose from in the manufacturers, retailers and suppliers that most people have not even heard of so if you have the right skills set there will definitely be a job for you in automotive.
2. Automotive employers place a high level of importance on how you interact and communicate with people, and how enthusiastic, willing to learn and positive you are.
3. Be willing to embrace new technology and skills, and learn new tasks.
4. Be aware that what your teacher may tell you about the automotive sector is probably outdated – they often don’t know that it’s are at the forefront of the forth industrial revolution, with exciting advanced technologies such as self-driving cars, electric vehicles and alternative fuels, and the focus on personal mobility. They certainly don’t seem to know how highly paid the jobs are in the motor trade.
5. At Gaia Innovation we advise schools students to Connect. Try. Apply; interact with automotive companies and employees online, at skills shows and school visits, see what it’s like to work there by visiting the workplace or doing work experience, and then apply for as many roles as possible.
6. There is an amazing job for you in the motor trade no matter what level of qualification you have, no matter which educational pathway you have followed, and no matter which subjects you have chosen.

Check out the latest apprenticeship vacancies and other opportunities to kickstart your automotive career.