Future Careers, Today: Mentorship Program Opening Doors to Automotive Careers

Workforce shortages have been a hot topic in the auto service industry for years now, with shops across the country facing difficulty in finding talent to recruit. But what solutions are being put out there to counter this?

With more schools shuttering automotive programs, shops like Grease Monkey of Ruskin, Florida, are stepping up to ensure students aren’t missing out on what could be their calling. Having her own kids in the local school system, the shop’s owner, Melissa Canfield, saw firsthand the lack of support for automotive careers. Around three years ago, she decided to step up and fill that void herself.

Canfield now impacts hundreds of students through events she attends each year and her shop’s impressive mentorship program, which has streamlined multiple students into automotive careers already. She shares with NOLN what her journey of getting involved with local schools looked like, and why that should matter to shops like hers.

Connecting With the Community’s Needs

For Canfield, having options other than four-year university hits close to home. Her husband had his own experience of enrolling in university, thinking it was the only path forward but realizing it just wasn’t a good fit for him. Exploring other options is how he found his calling in the automotive industry. 

Getting involved with local schools hadn’t been Canfield’s focus until around three years ago, after raising her children through college and seeing the lack of opportunity most kids have in school to explore trades like automotive service. 

“Our kids grew up in this area, in the public school system, and we saw a need,” explains Canfield. “Not all the kids that graduate from high school are ready to go to college. And, of course, being in the automotive industry, we realize that. My husband started college, and was like, ‘This is not really for me.’ And he found his way in the automotive industry. We wanted to instill that in kids.”  

This realization led to Canfield doing some research on what she and her shop could do to help address that gap in education. She discovered Future Career Academy: a program that aims to connect high school seniors with jobs and training opportunities in their communities. According to the program’s website, it began in 2015 as a partnership between Hillsborough County Public Schools and the business community. The program is running in 37 schools across Hillsborough County.

Getting Involved, All Year Round 

Getting involved with the program has opened several ways for Canfield to connect with local students. Each spring, FCA hosts a business expo and job fair, which thousands of students attend. There, Canfield participates on a panel with other local industry leaders, representing the auto service industry. She answers questions from students about career paths, pay, benefits, and daily work in her field.

Later, in the fall, the shop hosts annual student field trips. Groups of students—around 50 at a time—will visit the shop in rotations. Upon arriving, the students are divided into subgroups of 15 each that are rotated throughout the facility.  

Students meet with both technicians and service advisors, and even learn about other parts of the business, like marketing and networking. Canfield emphasizes that even if someone isn’t mechanically inclined, there is still a place for them to succeed in this industry.

“Our goal is to tell them that in automotive, you don't necessarily have to work on a car in order to be in this industry,” says Canfield. “I'm not changing anybody's oil. I know that's probably surprising, but there's other aspects of automotive that they might be interested in.” 

But possibly the most impactful project Canfield’s shop has taken on is its mentorship program. Though it isn’t held in conjunction with FCA, the shop has seen several students from FCA come after graduation to join Canfield’s mentorship program. Due to insurance, most apprentices need to be 18 or older and have a driver’s license.

A Culture of Learning

Mentorship is a concept rife throughout the shop, even apart from the designated mentorship program. Even seasoned employees of the shop are encouraged to broaden their horizons and to learn something about the industry they may not have known before. This is accomplished through having employees familiarize themselves with each segment of the business and fostering an environment of growth.

“We really work on having the kids just look over the shoulders of the master techs, do some of the work—supervised, obviously—but it's very much a team mentality and a mentoring type of atmosphere where they're all working together. And that includes the front of the house, back of the house, management—everybody's got to work together in order for the cars to get out. So yes, we definitely encourage mentorship,” tells Canfield.

When introducing entry-level employees to the industry, this can be especially important, as they’re still figuring out where they may best fit in the shop. One of Canfield’s service advisors can attest to this. Having started out as a general service tech, he showed dedication, but became increasingly doubtful of how satisfied he was working on the shop floor.

Rather than discourage him, Canfield opened up a conversation with him, and decided to let him try working in the front of the house. It was a great success—not only has he remained with the shop, but has become a superstar service advisor who inspires incoming apprentices with his story.

“He said, ‘I don't love it out here. It's hot.’ I mean, welcome to Florida, right? It's definitely hot,” acknowledges Canfield with a laugh. “And so, we said, let's, let's try you inside. Very good communicator. He was well spoken. And he's now moved into a role as a service advisor, and he loves it. The customers love him. He's been a great asset for us.”

With this service advisor being one of Canfield’s younger employees, he often will speak to apprentices in the mentorship program. Having someone closer to their age who has shown that not only a successful career is possible, but that you don’t have to be technically inclined to find your place, is something that has interested many apprentices.

This gets at the heart of what this apprenticeship program does: empowering future professionals and breaking down assumptions they may have had going into the industry. Nowhere can this be seen more than with young women, many of whom assume they aren’t welcomed in the automotive field. But, as Canfield can attest to, that is not remotely the case.

“A lot of the girls will be like, ‘Oh, I can't do this.’ But we've had female technicians. You can do the job,” says Canfield. “And so, it's breaking down that barrier, too, because it’s seen as a guy scenario, I guess. But it's really not. So, I think breaking down those stereotypes is really beneficial as well—just as a girl myself.”

Shops like Canfield’s stepping up and providing the resources for students to explore automotive careers have undoubtedly filled a hole within their community. Canfield herself has seen her efforts come back to help her, with multiple apprentices from the program having been hired to work at the shop.

Her work with students and apprentices has shown her that the incoming generation is ready and willing to put their talents to use—and they’re looking for the right environment that will let them grow alongside the business. In an industry in desperate need, Canfield sees that initiatives like her mentorship program are what’s needed to help more kids see the potential in an automotive career.

“A lot of negative things have been said about the next generation, but that's really not what we're finding. I gotta tell you, the kids that are coming to us just really want to learn, and we're happy to teach,” says Canfield. “As long as we are keeping up with the times, and keeping the youth motivated and focused on how they can be part of the change in the future of vehicles—I think that that's really what we're about, is helping that next generation find their niche like we did.”