What's it all about?
Motor vehicles have changed life beyond all recognition. Twenty miles used to be a day's journey - now it's a normal commute. Vehicle transport plays an essential role in most people's lives, which explains how the industry has grown to such great size and importance. This section in the Guide covers two distinct sectors: the automotive industry (or 'retail motor industry') and passenger transport.
The retail motor industry deals with all aspects of cars, vans, and motorcycles. It's a broad area employing people who sell vehicles, fix and service them, fit new parts, and even rescue motorists. There's a wide range of jobs on offer that span from technical to customer service roles. Depending on your interests and employer, you could find yourself selling BMWs for a large dealership, fixing cars after an accident, changing tyres, or rescuing stranded motorists from the hard shoulder of the M25. All of these roles require a deep understanding - to work in sales, you need to know your product inside and out, and to fix cars, you need the practical skills to diagnose and repair faults.
The passenger transport sector is equally large, employing hundreds of thousands of people to run, drive, and support transport and travel, from aviation to rail and bus to coach. By choosing one of these Apprenticeships, you could help keep the trains running safely and on time, or help air passengers receive their luggage in one piece when they arrive at their destination. Although there are some smaller transport companies, large national and international companies (e.g. Network Rail) employ most people in this industry.
Many jobs in the sector involve some manual and mechanical skills. However, customer service and communication are important, too. You'll be coming face-to-face with the public in most jobs, so your people skills make a difference.
Lots of these roles require shift work and some antisocial hours - after all, cars break down all the time and someone has to load the baggage onto those 6am flights. However, the prospects are good and in some roles there are opportunities for national and international travel, too.
- Aviation operations on the ground (Contact www.goskills.org)
- Rail transport engineering (Contact www.goskills.org)
- Rail transport operations (Contact www.goskills.org)
- Roadside assistance and recovery (Contact www.motor.org.uk/careers)
- Transport engineering and maintenance (Contact www.goskills.org)
- Vehicle body and paint operations (Contact www.motor.org.uk/careers)
- Vehicle fitting (Contact www.motor.org.uk/careers)
- Vehicle maintenance and repair (Contact www.motor.org.uk/careers)
- Vehicle parts operations (Contact www.motor.org.uk/careers)
- Vehicle sales (Contact www.motor.org.uk/careers)