Race Car Driving Is a Dream Job for Many Student Auto Techs, but a Hands-On Job Ranks Highest Overall

DEARBORN, Mich.--May 9, 2006--A hands-on job in the automotive field is the dream job for most participants in the Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills national competition, including engineer, designer, test driver, and automotive technician.

That's the result of AAA's survey of high school students and graduates who participated in the contest between 2003 and 2005.

More than three-fourths of the 92 respondents said they wanted the chance to work in a hands-on capacity. One third of the former students wanted to be employed by an auto manufacturer. The single largest vote getter (37 votes) was a position as an automotive technician.

Other high-ranking jobs included auto dealer, auto repair shop owner, professional racing pit crew member and automotive instructor. Thirteen of the respondents (14 percent) said their number one dream job was to be a race car driver, while 21 (23 percent) preferred to be a member or chief of a professional racing pit crew.

The annual Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills requires participating high school juniors and seniors to apply their auto tech classroom skills to a written exam and then a hands-on contest. Two-person teams race against a clock to repair identically bugged vehicles, with the winning team from each state going onto the national finals to square off against 49 other teams in the ultimate test of student auto technicians.

Auto Skills Manager Allan Stanley is not surprised participants want careers in a similar environment.

"Learning in the classroom and preparing for the competition helps students realize that becoming an automotive professional requires intense training, superb skills and a good education," Stanley says. "Clearly they understand that the knowledge gained from the competition and automotive technology classes helps prepare them for careers with excellent employment and pay prospects."

Entry-level technicians earn between $30,000 to $35,000 per year, and master mechanics in some areas can earn $70,000 to $100,000 annually.

The Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills provides students the opportunity at the state and national level to earn scholarships to attend technical programs after graduating from high school, which prepares them for the entry-level positions.

The survey also showed that nearly 60 percent of the students plan to continue their education in the automotive industry. Forty percent of respondents already work in the automotive field - some while attending school - and almost half are employed as some type of technician.

Among the more creative dream jobs participants listed were Jay Leno's mechanic, Hollywood stunt car driver, touring band bus mechanic, professional race car team owner, and auto magazine editor.

State competitions for the 2006 Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills begin in mid-April. The winning team from each state will compete in the national finals in Dearborn, MI, June 26-27. http://www.aaanewsroom.net