Every day really is a school day, each day we venture into work we pick up a new piece of information, a new tool to use,
a new method for testing etc. etc. However some days are just a whole different level and none more so than when we attend a full time training course. We constantly upskill using some online resources but also we often attend full time courses here in county Wexford, Dublin and even in the UK.
The latest of which was when I attended my EV (electric vehicle) level 4 course, which is currently the highest level certified course available for electric vehicles. The course was presented to us by Rob Drinkwater in Technical Topics HQ, which is in Bridgwater, south west England. There is an excellent training team here, headed up by James Dillon, who’s credentials are well known throughout our trade, and the facility he has developed here is an excellent training environment. This course is just one part of a bigger qualification in the form of a Master technician accreditation that I am working on with the help of James and his team. Along the way I have gained accreditation for ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems), attended courses in advanced vehicle electronics, oscilloscope and pressure analysis, manufacturers specific diagnostics, vehicle communications & networking and so much more…
There is a commit
ment financially and time wise to the training side of our work but having said that, it is, in my opinion, essential. We could just read an odd book or article, even do a little research when a difficult job comes in but to me that is not enough. I believe we need to be trained and focused to be above and beyond where we need to be most days, motivationally and skill wise, so when the difficult job comes in we can deal with it efficiently and without alarm bells going off, we need to be really professional! When the awkward job comes in then all we are looking for is the information specific to that particular vehicle, our skill set, testing and diagnostic procedures are already engrained in our brains and ready for use.
Another advantage of attending the training courses is to network with like minded technicians and business owners, we can learn so much from how others approach their work and run their business and in turn we can give the same back to them. Point to note here is that not all our training is vehicle related, we also do business and customer service training with some amazing people like Andy Savva, whom I have leaned so much from.
Another event myself and Jim attended recently was a prime example of this opportunity we get to talk to others in the trade. We recently went down to Ryans Automotive, in Ballywilliam for a presentation on some of the excellent equipment they offer, Jim had recently attended an electric vehicle training course here also which he came back from with his EV certification. On the day a number of presentations were held, though we regularly speak to Seamus & Brendan Ryan and their team it was great to get down there and have some face to face conversations with the lads and the other attendees. Myself and Jim had our heads spinning with ideas and changes we wanted to make in the garage on the car journey home.
To anyone wanting to join this trade, a lot of folks think its just oil and spanners but the amount of different types of jobs we do, training we attend, equipment we use would really blow your mind
. Even better is the diverse range of people we meet, their backgrounds etc but one thing we find, when we attend really good training is that the folks attending are like minded, focused and motivated just like us. If you want to learn more skills, want to learn from and help others I can highly recommend getting onboard this school bus, every day is a school day!