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Under The Hood
Is the shop heated? Air conditioned?
The shop has oil heaters to keep the shop temperature comfortable during the winter time, along with a smaller shop space and doors down to retain heat easier. During the summer we have multiple large fans and a massive Portacool setup to keep the shop cool. The break room is Air Conditioned.
What is the size of the team I’d be working with?
We have one parts & service director, four service advisors, two service schedulers, one porter, one master shop foreman, two master technicians, one A technician, three B technicians, two C technicians, three lube techs, one parts manager, three parts advisors, one shipping and receiving, and two drivers.
What are the shop hours and what are the shift timeframes?
The shop is open 7:00 AM EST -7:00 PM EST Monday-Thursday, Friday is 7:00 AM-6:00 PM EST, Saturday is 8:00 AM-4:00 PM EST. Shifts are rotated for the team.
What tools does the shop provide that are available for all technicians to use?
All required Volkswagen OEM special tools are provided along with certain Audi tools. We have a tool fund that is setup per technicians that grows in value each year of employment as well.
What type of break room facility is provided?
Refrigerator, air fryer, microwave oven, toaster, blender, Keurig, cold & hot water filtered station, utensils, materials to clean and dry dishes, 65" TV, grill & griddle, electric single burner, couches, lounge chairs, three tables, 12 chairs.
How many bays does your shop have?
4 EV bays, 11 bays, one alignment rack, one flat stall, two wash bays.
How many repair orders do you average per month?
739
What is your parts ordering process?
Using Xtime as our digital MPI process, the technician will use a shop provided tablet to take pictures and videos of recommended items to repair, add recommended line items with a description and photos, look up labor times with VW's labor guide, alldata, or SPG, then send the estimate to parts. Parts will then look up the components and price any additional necessary hardware, provide ETA's, a quote number, and send it to the service advisor.
What is your policy on side work?
We allow side work as long as it doesn't impact our shop and work flow.
Are there any other unique features of the work environment worth noting?
Being a technician can frankly, suck. We try to make it suck less by providing an atmosphere where people don't hate showing up to work, easy communication with management, offsetting warranty labor times with a customer pay multiplier on rough jobs, we push training so hard that the pay structure is based on you going to training, we help offset tool costs by allotting a certain amount of funds per year to our technicians, flexibility in terms of taking time off that's paid or unpaid, we allot a fund for your footwear yearly, and we take care of each other.
Do you offer any skills training or continuing education opportunities?
We send our technicians through Volkswagen's certification process. Going to class is all based on the technicians drive to learn more. Volkswagen has started an Apprentice Program which is six months of training: One week per month. We participate in this program.
Can you describe opportunities for career growth at your business?
As we grow, we'll be looking to grow team leads to help offset our shop foreman's workload. If you're not enjoying being a technician or the career is causing too much bodily damage, we've grown technicians into parts & service advisors roles as well.
Can you describe your performance review process?
We do an annual performance review, going over Productivity and Efficiency, fix right first time, average survey score, and photos and videos taken.
What type of safety training is required?
Basic shop safety, electrical specialty training, and high voltage EV training. Recommend basic first aid & stop the bleed classes.
Can you describe how Techs work with and mentor younger techs?
We pair new technicians and non-certified technicians with our one A technician, two Master technicians, and Master Foreman for a month, then we rotate each person to learn each style our top techs have so they can take the good habits and skills from them and learn to build their own process.
How does your shop get involved with the local community?
We participate in local clubs and events like Volktoberfest, hosting golf outings for cancer donations, and local grill outs!
Do you do anything with local high schools or tech schools to encourage more students to enter the profession?
We have worked with youth at a local career center for high school students to give them summer jobs learning about technician work & life. We also hire directly from our local tech school, giving prospects a real world shop outlook while going to school.
Do you phone screen applicants before doing in-person interviews?
We reach out via phone, text, or zoom to have an initial short discussion.
What do your in-person interviews entail?
Desired income, hours turned, productivity and efficiency, DMS usage, how was work dispatched, digital multipoint, benefits package, what we're looking for, a walk through, getting free time to meet and chat with any members of our team
Do you perform background checks, drug screening, or personality tests before hiring an applicant?
We're not required to.
Do you perform a skill assessment before hiring an applicant? If yes, what does it entail?
No, skill set is determined during interview process
After an in-person interview, approximately how long should I expect to wait for a rejection or an offer?
24 hours
Approximately how long does the full hiring process take from submitting the application to the time of the hiring decision?
It can be as fast or as slow as the applicant wants. We hire same day and start the following.
A Level Technician
Pay Range: $83,200.00 - $110,000.00/year
($40.00 - $52.88/hr)
This is based on our structured pay plan, being master certified with a varying level of experience, turning 40 hours per week.
B Level Technician
Pay Range: $54,080.00 - $66,560.00/year
($26.00 - $32.00/hr)
This is based on our structured pay plan, being three to six certifications in to your VW training, turning 40 hours per week.
C Level Technician
Pay Range: $41,600.00 - $49,920.00/year
($20.00 - $24.00/hr)
This is based on our structured pay plan, being zero to two certifications in to your VW training, turning 40 hours per week.
Student Tech / Apprentice
Pay Range: $15.00 - $18.00/hour
This is based on our structured pay plan, having zero certifications and none to little technical experience, while being a student either in high school with a vocational class or in technical school.
Lube Technician
Pay Range: $31,200.00 - $37,440.00/year
($15.00 - $18.00/hr)
This is based on our structured pay plan, having zero certifications and none to some lube technician experience.
Service Advisor
Pay Range: $40,000.00 - $100,000.00/year
($19.23 - $48.08/hr)
Pay plan is setup on a daily paid salary with a varying individual gross % based on individual and warranty gross, and a separate individual gross % based on internal gross. Low end is for a new advisor, high end is for an experienced advisor maximizing their pay plan.
Parts Advisor
Pay Range: $31,200.00 - $80,000.00/year
Ranging from new to parts to master certified. Low end - hourly, high end - salary + commission, biweekly paid salary on monthly commission.
Service Porter
Pay Range: $15.00 - $18.00/hour
Entry level position to get the foot in the door.
- Health Insurance Offered
- UMR Medical Insurance - HSA & Consumer Driven Plans are available. Eligibility for enrollment is after 60 days of continuous employment. Health screenings are also available to potentially lower the cost of your health insurance plan.
- Dental Insurance Offered
- NAP Plan through Guardian Dental with a Dental Maximum Rollover included to roll over a portion of your unused annual maximum into your personal MRA. Our dental plan also offers a College Tuition Benefit that may be eligible to pay for one year of college tuition!
- Vision Insurance Offered
- Vision through Guardian Vision.
- Retirement Plan Offered
- A 401k plan through Voya. Has a up to 6% match.
- Sick Leave Offered
- Two paid sick days per year.
- Vacation Offered
- Five vacation days after first year of continuous employment. Additional time earned through additional time employed.
- Paid Holidays Offered
- Yes!
- ST / LT Disability Offered
- Voluntary Long Term Disability is offered.
- Life Insurance Offered
- $20,000 provided at no cost to our employees. Benefits will reduce according to age! Additional AD&D is available.
- Uniforms Offered
- We provide Cintas uniforms, along with wearing Volkswagen Drivergear as an alternate.
- Other Offered
- EAP - Confidential counseling sessions available 24/7 Legal Resources - Unlimited phone access and an initial consultation at no charge with a local attorney and discounts on additional services Financial Resources - Unlimited phone access to financial professional for information regarding personal finance and related issues Work-Life Resources - Information and referrals on child care, elder care, adoption, relocation, and other personal convenience matters. Guidance Resources - Online access to a health risk assessment survey, and a variety of health management tools and information.
Shop Talk
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We've officially partnered with the Area 31 Career Center. We've provided this beautiful 2018 Tiguan to the school program. We will be providing an OEM scan tool & OEM catalog for the students to learn and utilize while working on this vehicle. This is how we grow technicians in a field that is hurting: by bridging the gap.
It hasn't even two full days since we got our certificate of occupancy and we're full steam ahead. We received our upstairs shelving order from Lista today. In a few weeks we'll have our downstairs drawer units. Our team is working daily to get moved in and utilizing our investment to the fullest!
