{"id":4341,"date":"2018-01-10T07:58:17","date_gmt":"2018-01-10T00:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/studentmedia\/?p=4341"},"modified":"2018-01-17T22:05:40","modified_gmt":"2018-01-17T15:05:40","slug":"honda-pact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/honda-pact\/","title":{"rendered":"Honda PACT"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Written by Nate Torres<\/em>
\nVideo by Amanda Lanclos<\/em><\/p>\n

There is no shortage of people considering going back to school. The associated, and often deterring, question is often, \u201cis it worth it?\u201d Many weigh this by considering if the time and money invested will lead to better job opportunities.\u00a0<\/span>The determining factor is often the area of study. <\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the bumps in the road that the auto industry has been going through, there is no shortage of cars on the road. Vehicles, eventually need repairs. To service those repairs, automotive technicians will be in demand. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the need for auto technicians will grow at a steady rate of 6 percent over the next ten years, averaging 2,300 new positions a year in Texas, alone.<\/span><\/p>\n

In response, ACC has been training students to help meet the demand for technicians. Many students are finding work even before they complete the program. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAll of our students get jobs,\u201d says department chair Mike Schoebroek. \u201cEmployers are calling all the time looking for employees. Typically it’s one of three different types of employers. Of course the dealerships, then independent repair shops, and then franchises like Firestone, Jiffy Lube, and Christian Brothers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

ACC is certified by the <\/span>National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation (<\/span>NATEF). The department offers four certificates and an associate degree in automotive. With the certification, the school makes sure to keep the instruction evolving as the quickly as vehicles. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI went to trade school in the seventies,\u201d says adjunct professor Kevin McNeil. \u201cThese kids have to learn a lot more in the same amount of time that I did. [Cars] are getting more technical\u2026 it ain’t the seventies. You have to hook with a lab scope and a DBOM, read a schematic and do pin checks.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For soon to be graduate Mike Lopez, the more instruction ACC can get him on the automotive industry the better. \u201cI plan to further my career and come back to get the advanced certificate; which I advise everybody do. They have automatic transmissions II, alternative fuels, and diesel classes which they don’t teach for the regular certificate or degree so you come back and finish that while you’re working.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Advanced degrees or specialization is a great advantage for those who are already in the industry. According to the Bureau of Labor, specialization is a wise commitment reporting an increase from the average wage of $18 per hour to upwards of $30 an hour ($60000 per year) for those who specialize. <\/span><\/p>\n

Honda has shown great interest in students looking to specialize with their PACT program through their partnership with ACC. This semester PACT is investing in ACC with a fleet of cars and specialty tools, so students are learning and working on Honda\/Acura vehicles specifically. This program\u2019s intentions are to provide students with many opportunities, especially those looking to find work at a dealership.<\/span><\/p>\n

Howdy Honda\u2019s shop foreman, says, \u201c[Students] who come out of school with a PACT certificate are more likely to be hired here than the guy with the associate degree, because they\u2019ve been working on our products.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That’s not to say a generic automotive associate degree isn’t valued but as a former TSTC student, Bone says, \u00a0\u201c… when I came out I was ASE certified in all 8 areas and I didn’t have a clue how to work on a Honda. I had an idea how to work on a GM transmission or a Ford transmission but a Honda transmission is completely different.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

PACT will offer a 16-week certificate course as well as a two year associate degree similar to ACC\u2019s generic program. Either way, time spent in ACC\u2019s automotive programs seems to be a sure way to open doors to an automotive career. Bone says, \u201cI like word of mouth but education, you can’t beat it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Pick this story up in the Spring 2018 Life4U magazine<\/a> on campus<\/em><\/p>\n

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Written by Nate Torres Video by Amanda Lanclos There is no shortage of people considering going back to school. The associated, and often deterring, question is often, \u201cis it worth it?\u201d Many weigh this by considering if the time and money invested will lead to better job opportunities.\u00a0The determining factor is often the area of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4103,"featured_media":4252,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,656,23],"tags":[719,753,752,755,754],"class_list":["post-4341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career","category-life4u","category-technology","tag-amanda-lanclos","tag-automotive-technology","tag-honda-pact","tag-nate-torress","tag-vehicle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}