How To Become An Automotive Refinish Technician: What It Is and Career Path

What is an automotive refinish technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an automotive refinish technician. For example, did you know that they make an average of $19.48 an hour? That's $40,513 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 2% and produce 2,700 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreAutomotive Refinish TechnicianUS Average

Salary

3.2

Avg. Salary $40,513

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.0

Growth rate 2%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.54%

Asian 3.33%

Black or African American 11.14%

Hispanic or Latino 22.45%

Unknown 3.99%

White 58.55%

Gender

female 1.96%

male 98.04%

Age - 41.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41.5

Stress level

7.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.2

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.4

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an automotive refinish technician

Explore automotive refinish technician education requirements

Most common automotive refinish technician degrees

High School Diploma

40.0 %

Associate

30.0 %

Bachelor's

15.0 %

Start to develop specific automotive refinish technician skills

Skills	Percentages
R	38.48%
PPG	17.14%
Dealership Procedures	15.10%
Painting Process	14.72%
Coats	14.55%

Complete relevant automotive refinish technician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New automotive refinish technicians learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an automotive refinish technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real automotive refinish technician resumes.

Research automotive refinish technician duties and responsibilities

Inspect cars, service and repairs specializing in BMW repairs, manage shop, price and order parts, customer service
Implement PLC programming and troubleshooting procedures while also initiating and executing process improvements and conducting parts research when necessary.
Disassemble components and repair or replace damage parts of engine, transmission, a/c and various other assemblies.

Prepare your automotive refinish technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your automotive refinish technician resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an automotive refinish technician resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable automotive refinish technician resume templates

Build a professional automotive refinish technician resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your automotive refinish technician resume.