How To Become A Body Shop Technician: What It Is and Career Path

What is a body shop technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Body shop technicians repair auto bodies, which are the external parts of a vehicle such as the frame and trunk. They usually step in after a vehicle has been in an accident and try to repair it so that it is road-worthy again. Body shop technicians need to know how to use a variety of tools, from welders to glaze, in order to perform a variety of repairs. They can specialize in specific kinds of repairs, such as trucks or vintage cars. However, they need more than mechanical knowledge to succeed. Body shop technicians need excellent communication skills in order to interact with customers and work with the rest of the shop to perform repairs.

Most body shop technicians do not have many years of formal education. In fact, less than 10% have a bachelor's degree. Instead, they learn the tools of the trade by going to a technical school or on the job.

Body shop technicians earn a solid average salary of $41,014 a year. However, if they specialize in an obscure niche, such as repairing coach buses, they can earn much more.

ScoreBody Shop TechnicianUS Average

Salary

3.3

Avg. Salary $42,116

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.8

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.65%

Asian 1.77%

Black or African American 7.69%

Hispanic or Latino 19.39%

Unknown 4.14%

White 66.37%

Gender

female 5.48%

male 94.52%

Age - 44

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 - 44

Stress level

4.8

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.9

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.6

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a body shop technician

Explore body shop technician education requirements

Most common body shop technician degrees

High School Diploma

47.4 %

Associate

23.5 %

Diploma

12.7 %

Start to develop specific body shop technician skills

Skills	Percentages
Body Shop	24.44%
OSHA	11.00%
Refinish	10.23%
Hand Tools	9.54%
Customer Service	8.95%

Complete relevant body shop technician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New body shop 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 a body shop technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real body shop technician resumes.

Research body shop technician duties and responsibilities

Perform panel repairs all around with the use of bondo and glaze.
Have worked with everything from bondo and paint prep all the way to welding support pieces together.
Maintain a safe, clean work area and follow all establish safety guidelines, ensuring conformance with OSHA.
Complete prep and refinish to factory or customer specifications.

Prepare your body shop technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your body shop 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 a body shop 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 body shop technician resume templates

Build a professional body shop 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 body shop technician resume.

Apply for body shop technician jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a body shop technician job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do body shop technicians rate their job?

-/5

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Body shop technician reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2020

Pros

Working with hands, vehicle repair cost savings, tangible benefits, satisfaction.

Cons

Poor wages, physical damage to health, complicated repair procedures due to safety construction, liability due to lack of training, cost of having proper tooling, insurance companies dictating repairs. MSO’s working to monopolize shops, cost of materials