Carter Myers Automotive employees attend ceremonies where new apprentices get tools and dealership gear.
June 19, 2024 08:00 AM UPDATED A DAY AGO
CARTER MYERS AUTOMOTIVE
A signing ceremony for Lavar Charity Jr., left, Shad Malloy and Danny Medina, who joined the Carter Myers Automotive apprentice technician program. It’s not uncommon to have more than 100 attendees cheer the recent high school graduates on in an event that mimics college athlete recruiting events.
To celebrate students who choose to become auto repair technicians — as well as raise the profile of such careers — Carter Myers Automotive partners with high schools in its stores’ markets to hold signing ceremonies for those students.
Participation in the festive ceremonies enables Carter Myers to promote the many benefits of careers in the trades, which for decades have played second fiddle to white-collar jobs that require four-year college degrees. It also helps the dealership group make headway in mitigating the nationwide shortage of technicians.
“We want to celebrate these students as they enter a career path and earn a living wage — with no college debt and great earning potential,” said Beth Lucchesi, talent acquisition specialist at Carter Myers, of Charlottesville, Va. The dealership group owns 24 stores in North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.
Lucchesi: “No college debt and great earning potential”
The events are patterned after signing ceremonies typically held for high-profile athletes when they sign commitment letters to attend colleges on sports scholarships. As such, the apprentice technician ceremonies feature all of the attendant hoopla routinely accorded those athletes.
Anywhere from 100 to 150 people attend the events — including family members and friends of the apprentices — local media outlets, local and state school and education officials, and state and local politicians. And, of course, officials from Carter Myers.
“In the last few years, we’ve seen an uptick in celebrations and recognition of and focus on the trades,” Lucchesi said. “We’re not taking anything away from anyone who wants to be a lawyer or a doctor — that’s fantastic. But for the many students who don’t know what they want to do or who want to work with their hands … there are plentiful jobs within the auto industry that can provide a great living without a college education.
APPRENTICE ACTION PLAN
Developing an auto technician apprenticeship program is time-consuming and expensive. But the benefits make it worthwhile. To build a strong program, here are some suggestions from Beth Lucchesi, talent acquisition specialist at Carter Myers Automotive.
- Develop strong relationships with officials at high schools and trade schools.
- Visit vocational classrooms and explain the program and performance expectations to students.
- Take a master technician along to answer questions from students.
- Engage parents of interested students with a presentation about technician career paths, compensation, benefits and so forth.
- Let prospective candidates shadow a technician for a day to get a true feel for the work.
- Set high application requirements and make sure students are a good fit for a dealership’s culture.
- Ask vocational instructors at high school and trade schools to recommend good apprentice candidates.
- Honor incoming apprentices with a “signing ceremony” to make them feel special — and underscore the benefits offered by a career in auto repair.
- Make sure the technician who will instruct an apprentice is a good fit personality-wise.
- Celebrate apprentice achievements and milestones to keep them engaged.
“The auto industry has very low barriers to entry and is a very welcoming field.”
The ceremonies also celebrate the families that support students in trades education, she said.
Get the party started
Carter Myers’ participation in the signing ceremonies came about after CEO Liza Borches hired Lucchesi in 2021 to launch a technician recruiting initiative and an apprenticeship program. While developing relationships with local high schools, as well as a few trade schools and community colleges, Lucchesi heard about the signing ceremonies and was invited to attend one.
Carter Myers began participating in spring 2022 and relishes the opportunity to put auto repair careers on equal footing with other, more high-profile careers, as well as eliminate the stigma that often accompanies trade careers, Lucchesi said.
“We piggy-backed on the school celebrations,” she told Automotive News. “We want the students to feel as excited about coming to [Carter Myers] as we are about having them — that’s super important to us.”
Apprentices receive a starter set of hand tools that the service and shop managers feel are most critical. If apprentices already have tools, they receive a gift card that’s equal in value to a tool set so they can buy more tools. They also receive branded gear, such as hats and a shirt, Lucchesi said.
CARTER MYERS AUTOMOTIVE
Apprentice technician Danny Medina on the job at Brandon Chevrolet in Chester, Va.
An emcee presents a short biography for each apprentice and announces the value of the benefits they’ll receive from the dealership group. Then they sign commitment papers as people cheer and cell phone camera flashes go off.
“It’s a pretty big deal,” Lucchesi said.
Carter Myers has established strong relationships with 17 high schools. Lucchesi said the auto group has recruited around 30 apprentices, and 26 of them have evolved to flat-rate technicians, she said.
15 minutes of fame
Two apprentices at Colonial Chevrolet in Chester, Va., were honored in April during a ceremony in Richmond, Va.: Danny Medina, 18, and Lavar Charity Jr., 17. In May, Medina graduated from Freeman High School, and Charity graduated from Highland Springs High School, both in Richmond.
“It was really exciting,” Medina said of the event. “There was a time when I was really worried about not knowing where I was going to start a career. So it was great finally seeing myself here and having a career set up for me.”
Medina, who earned an Automotive Service Excellence, or ASE, certification from the Advanced Career Education Center at Hermitage in Henrico, said a number of Carter Myers employees attended his signing day, “which made me feel like they thought it was important. They definitely make us feel special,” he said.
Charity said he felt “proud and excited” at his signing ceremony.
“It’s nice to have that kind of support and nice for people going into the trades to get that kind of attention, not just athletes,” he said.
Medina started his apprenticeship in April, and Charity started in January.
Comprehensive program
Lucchesi exposes students to the apprenticeship program through regular classroom visits, during which she explains how the program works and lays out the group’s expectations for apprentices. A younger master technician accompanies her to handle “real-world questions” from students, she said.
Carter Myers also invites students to shadow a technician for a day. They get the royal treatment, including a tour of a store and introductions to managers and other employees. Then they shadow a master technician for the rest of the day, Lucchesi said.
CARTER MYERS AUTOMOTIVE
Lavar Charity Jr.: “It’s nice to have that kind of support and nice for people going into the trades to get that kind of attention, not just athletes.”
“It’s all hands-on, so students get an opportunity to help master technicians with whatever they’re working on that day,” she said. “They get a great feel for the shop as well as what it’s like to work at [Carter Myers].”
A week or so later, the dealership group meets with the parents of students who are interested in apprenticeships. They hear presentations from instructors in the apprenticeship program who are certified master technicians; Lucchesi also talks about career paths and other opportunities at Carter Myers.
Parents then get to ask questions about compensation, future education opportunities and other benefits, which hopefully “facilitates kitchen table discussions” among parents regarding their child’s future at Carter Myers, she said.
“This step hopefully gets the parents engaged and helps them understand we don’t want Johnny to just work in the quick-lube lane for $20 an hour for the rest of his life,” she said. “We want him to create a true career for himself.”
Careers in the making
After that, students apply for apprenticeships. They need to be at least 16 years old, hold a valid driver’s license and have a good driving record. Carter Myers also looks for students with more than five ASE student certifications, which indicates they’re committed to a career in auto repair, Lucchesi said.
“We also look to see if they’re a good fit for our culture, just like any other job applicant,” she said. “They need to be team players, enthusiastic and life-long learners.”
Carter Myers also works to develop good relationships with students’ instructors and school administrators and asks them to recommend good apprentice candidates.
“We want reliable and honest feedback about who would be a good fit for our team,” Lucchesi said.
Apprenticeships can be as short as six months or as long as two years, depending on apprentices’ experience and aptitude. Most apprentices start working part time in January or February of their senior year in high school and start full-time work after they graduate, she said.
It typically takes an apprentice five to seven years to become a master technician. But they can become a certified technician for certain vehicle brands within a year and a master technician for those brands in three to five years, Lucchesi said.
So far, so good
Thus far, turnover among the 30-some apprentices has been low. Two decided to join the military, for example, and one moved out of the area. Lucchesi said working at dealerships isn’t for everybody; some migration to an independent repair shop is expected.
“But we try to minimize that by having many touchpoints during the year, which gives students a realistic idea of what it’s like to wrench for a living at [Carter Myers],” she said.
To minimize turnover, it’s important to match an apprentice with a master technician that’s a good fit personality-wise. Service managers also have latitude to keep apprentices engaged by celebrating achievements such as ASE certification, for instance, or perhaps completion of a car manufacturer’s training certification program, Lucchesi said.
It’s also critical to consistently communicate with and visit high school and trade school instructors, she said.
“The more they see you and the more that students see you, the more they’ll trust that you’re invested in their future and that you’ll be a good employer,” Lucchesi said.
In addition, it’s helpful to join advisory boards for those high schools and trade schools, which gives people like Lucchesi the chance to provide input about what to teach students.
“The reality is that developing an apprenticeship program takes a lot of time and costs a lot of money,” she said. “But in the long run, it’s providing us with future master technicians.”
Lucchesi said she feels attitudes toward the trades are slowly changing for the better, and things like the signing ceremonies can only help the movement gain more momentum.
“Decades ago, students in vocational education were stigmatized as troublemakers,” she said. “But that’s starting to shift now. Not everyone needs to go to college. And for those who don’t, why shouldn’t they be celebrated?”
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