School Profile: Ocean County Vocational Technical School
Published in New Jersey Automotive – Thomas Greco Publishing
As auto body shops continue to face a workforce shortage, some collision repair instructors report a lack of interest in their programs, but that’s not the case everywhere!
Ocean County Vocational Technical School’s (OCVTS) ASE-certified auto collision course receives more interest than it can handle. The school offers two daily classes with capacity of 24 students in each class, but “we have over 100 students on a waiting list because so many kids are interested in being here,” shares OCVTS Collision Repair Technology Instructor Mike Lundin.
“We’re one of the only shared-time programs in the state, meaning students attend a regular high school and then get bussed here for a two-hour session before being returned to their full-time school,” he explains how his program is different from other collision education programs.
After 22 years of teaching, Lundin has seen a lot of changes in how students respond to learning the skills needed for a collision repair career. “It’s a different world now. When I first started teaching, students often had some kind of background in cars; some of their parents even did this for a living. About 10 years into my educational career, this shifted, and we slowly started to enter the ‘computer age’ where most students’ parents worked in the IT field. They had no idea how to use a screwdriver or wrench, but watching movies, like Fast and Furious, sparked their interest in learning about cars. That slowed us down a bit because their education began at the ground floor with an introduction to those basics before I could actually teach them collision repair and welding skills.”
Although these students are less “ability-savvy,” they are much more tech-savvy than older generations. “They were basically born with iPads in their hands, and that knowledge offers some pros and cons since today’s vehicles are basically mobile computers,” Lundin reflects. “The car’s centralized computer handles basically everything, so familiarity with technology plays a large role in repairing them. It doesn’t always require a hands-on approach like in the past, but students still need to learn skills like fabrication and painting.”
Students spend two years learning entry-level skills in class at OCVTS, but it’s incredibly beneficial for those skills to be supplemented by on-the-job training, so near the end of their first year, students are eligible to go work in a shop. Lundin uses his network to find employment in shops local to each student to ensure they’re able to get to work. “My intention is to send every kid out to work, but some find that this career path just isn’t for them. In a class of 20, we may have three or four who are capable of doing this for a living, whereas we used to have five that continued in collision.”
Matching the right students with the right employers is one of Lundin’s biggest challenges. “When I place these kids in shops, I want to choose the right students – someone who shows up and wants to work, who wants to learn – yet I often find that the shop is a big part of the problem. They hire these students, but they don’t want to invest time in teaching them anything. They send them on errands or assign them tasks like cutting cardboard or taking out the trash. The same shops that complain they don’t have enough employees are unwilling to do their part to mold future employees into what they need. It’s sad when I send a good student out to a job and worry that I’m lying to them about what a great career they can have in collision repair.
“Don’t get me wrong; students can have great experiences in shops when we find the right situation, but too often, I’m finding them discouraged from pursuing collision careers due to the lack of support they receive on the job,” he continues. “A lot of older shop owners just don’t understand that this generation is different than ours. They think they can just fire a kid and easily replace them, but they fail to realize someone’s potential and leave him or her disenchanted with this field – shops need these entry-level technicians, but they repeatedly turn them off from working in shops.”
And shops often fail to recognize that these students have plenty of other opportunities in the industry where they can use the skills they’re learning at OCVTS. Lundin is fortunate to have a strong advisory committee that meets twice each year to discuss expectations for the program and what the industry currently needs; however, the majority of participants are representatives from refinish manufacturers and tool companies. “They’re a huge support and always willing to donate the systems, tools and materials we need to educate our students. Our committee is great, but I’m always open to new members who are willing to offer their guidance and advice to improve our program.”
It’s also beneficial to the students when industry professionals come to speak to the students. “They love to see new technology and compare it to the older technology we use, and that engagement proves to them that the industry does need them to come to work, that there is a place for them in collision repair.”
Students and presenters enjoy the results of these collaborations. “We get a lot of supply companies and refinish manufacturers who come in, so that gives the students a perspective on different avenues of employment,” Lundin notes. “It makes them feel important, and if they do wind up working in shops, they’ll remember those companies and often deal with them on a professional level, relying on their products.”
But just like when it comes to the advisory committee, body shops are often missing from this equation. “We really only have shops come in when they’re in desperate need of employees, so these shop owners just want to talk about their individual business and what they need; they don’t want to tell these kids about the industry as a whole and encourage them with tales of how successful they can be if they work hard,” Lundin laments, suggesting, “A lot of OCVTS graduates are now working in shops as technicians and painters, and it would be really great if their bosses would send them in to talk to my current students – they once sat in these seats, so they could really inspire students by showing how far they’ve come.”
And many of Lundin’s students do go far! “The most rewarding part of my job is hearing from a student who has been working in the field for a few years and is now making a good living, so they’ve bought a house or a new car. Over the years, many of my students have invited me to their weddings; throughout their time in my class, a lot of them become like family, so it means a lot that they see things the same way and want to stay in touch. We even have a few past students who now work as instructors at our night school collision class.”
That type of success, though, is only possible when young collision professionals receive the support they need when they begin working in the field. “We’re dealing with a different society, and often, body shops are their own worst enemy – they want workers, but they don’t want to invest time into them. They need to take a different approach than they did in the past, they need to have patience, and they have to show that they care about their employees. Beginning a career in a shop requires a significant investment in tools, and students don’t want to put that money out if they can’t see a future in this field. They want to work, but if the shops aren’t matching their desire by helping them grow and cultivate the skills they’ve begun developing, they’ll leave and find an employer who does care – and tragically, that’s often in an entirely different industry.”
