Optional · 1 of 3
Skills that open more work
Aluminum and structural repair
Trucks and luxury cars use aluminum bodies that need separate tools, a separate clean room and separate training. Few techs have it.
Refinishing
Paint is its own career inside the shop.
Advanced driver assistance calibration
After a bumper or windshield repair, the cameras and radar behind it have to be recalibrated. This barely existed fifteen years ago and now every shop needs someone who can do it.
Estimating
Writing the repair plan and negotiating with insurers. Less physical, and a path to running the shop.
Manufacturer certifications
Shops certified by a car maker get sent that maker's collision work, and they need certified techs to keep it.