If you want to become a car paint repair Sydney specialist in Australia, you should understand that you will be mixing and applying automotive paint. There is high competition for these jobs so it is very important to go through formal training and attain certification. Though becoming a car painter is not a walk in the park, these employees enjoy some of the highest salaries among repair technicians and automotive service. Read on to understand what you will need to do to become an automotive car painting and land a job in the car painting industry in Australia.
School programs
You should have your HSC, or at very least Year 10 if you want to qualify for automotive painting jobs. If you want to learn how to paint vehicles, you should go through post-secondary school training programs. These programs cover the basic painting techniques of sanding vehicles, masking and refinishing. They also cover types of automotive paint, paint mixing techniques, on the job safety, applying automotive paint and the necessary equipment required to get the job done.
Programs lead to either an associate degree or a certificate of competition. Certificate programs last from six months to a year. If you study full time, associate degree programs will last two years.
Entry-level paint jobs
Before you become a professional painter in Australia, you should start as a painter’s helper. The positions of painter’s helper allow you to gain the necessary experience in car paint repair near you without the longer experience requirements needed for the automotive painter positions.
Painter’s helpers do a lot of jobs of automotive painters excluding the application of coats of paint. These jobs may include refinishing, sanding, prepping vehicles to be painted, applying primer, matching colors, applying topcoats or inspecting car paint jobs.
Attend training programs whilst you work as a helper. Once you have at least three years of experience, you can now begin applying for positions of automotive painter.
Certification options
Paint shops and auto body shops prefer applicants with proper certification. One of the most recognized certifications for painters is refining and painting certification. This certification requires that you have at least 2 years of experience and pass a certification examination. The refining and painting exam contains sixty-five questions and you will have one and a half hours to complete the exam. The topics include spray guns, surface preparation, paint mixing, safety and defects.
Employment prospects
Just because there is a lot of competition in the automotive painting industry, it doesn’t mean that you will not be able to get employment. There are also a lot of jobs with more people buying vehicles. with the right experience, you can be employed by an auto body shop or you can start your own business.
What you need to know
It is important to know that car paint repair Sydney requires a lot of physical work, standing and sometimes working in the open exposed to the weather. Apart from the above qualifications, you should be healthy and physically fit for the job.
