An auto electrician is a professional who is well trained and earns a living working on the electrical parts of motor vehicles. If you have great interest in cars and vehicle modifications, you may be a good fit for becoming an auto electrician. Perhaps this could become a great career for you.
What Do Auto Electricians Do?
If you are an auto electrician you will be able to diagnose the electrical problems in a car and fix them by either rewiring the faulty parts or replacing them altogether so that the vehicle runs properly. The electrical parts in a car include the alternator, headlight, starter motor and a circuit board.
An auto electrician is also able to install or fix car alarm systems, audio and entertainment units, phones and communication gadgets such as a navigation systems, car locking systems and electric windows. With new technology being introduced nearly every day, an auto electrician keeps up with and knows how to diagnose and fix all sorts of problems relating to new and old technologies.
Qualifications Needed to Become an Auto Electrician
To become a qualified auto electrician you must have a high school diploma to begin in order to be enrolled in a trade or tech school that offers courses in auto electrical work. You must have a certificate or an associate degree and you must receive certification from the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence.
A certificate course will take one year to complete while an associate degree will take two years to complete. You must also do an internship or apprenticeship so that you can hone your practical skills, as they are extremely important in this line of work.
You can also get a job as an auto electrician without formal education through on the job training but you will not advance as fast or have as many job opportunities as a person with formal training. You can enroll in online courses as well as go to college to get information on auto electrical work from qualified persons.
Auto Electrician Salaries
The average salary for an auto electrician in United States is well over $60,000. This is an average pay of around thirty dollars per hour. The highest pay for an auto electrician is $80,000 per year and the lowest is $45,000 annually. A beginner auto electrician will earn between $45,000 and $60,000 annually. The more experienced you become, the higher your salary and wages go.
More Salary Information
The lowest paying electrical sector is the electronics and appliance store field where an auto electrician is paid on average $45,000 per year. The auto parts sellers industry pays an average salary of $60,000 per year.
An auto electrician who works in the auto repair and maintenance sector will expect to earn an average of $60,000 while a government employee will earn the highest amount averaging $75,000 per year.
Geographic areas can really have an affect on your salary. Auto electricians is Utah get an average of $85,500 per year while those in Louisiana average about $45,000. Other high paying states are Washington and Wisconsin. The states where you can expect the lowest auto electrician salaries are California and Nevada with a yearly average pay of $45,000 and $48,000 respectively.
Auto Electricians perform valuable technical work and are highly valued in the automotive sector.