Motor Vehicle Technician (Mechanic & Auto Electrician)
🚙Diagnoses and fixes cars: engine, suspension, wiring, electronics. Plugs in a scanner, finds the fault and fixes it by hand.
Prospects & pay
What the work is like
💼 Job market
🇺🇸 $55.6k a year on average · +5% jobs by 2035 · 66,200 openings a year
Automotive service technicians & mechanics — US: Census ACS 2020–24 (full-time), BLS projections 2025–35
🇬🇧 £37.3k median a year · 91,000 jobs
Vehicle technicians, mechanics and electricians — UK: ONS ASHE 2025 (full-time)
🤖 AI & automation
AI diagnostics find faults faster and EVs are changing repairs, but taking parts apart and fixing them by hand will be human work for a long time.
Who it suits
Interests: 🔧 Making things by hand, ⚙️ Tech and engineering, ✈️ Transport, flying, sea.
Key strengths: manual dexterity, logic, strength and stamina.
Where to study
- Apprenticeship Motor vehicle service and maintenance technician apprenticeship, Level 3 (UK)
- Apprenticeship Kfz-Mechatroniker/in (Ausbildung, DE)
- Vocational Automotive technology associate degree + ASE certification (US)
Key school subjects (A-level / IB / AP): Maths, Physics.
🧗 A 3–3.5-year apprenticeship at a garage or dealer (Kfz-Mechatroniker Ausbildung in Germany), or US college plus ASE certification. Work on EVs needs extra high-voltage training.
Things to know
🛢️ Dirt, noise, smells
Similar careers
Not sure what to choose?
A ~100-question quiz builds your interest profile and matches you with careers and universities in Europe, the UK and the US.
Take the quiz →Scales are expert estimates; tuition and admission rules are for 2026/27 from official sources — always check the university website.