Stewart is an In-house mechanic at ClickMechanic. He tells us about his experience as a hands on mechanic and what it was like to make the switch.
How did you get into your role?
I noticed the vacancy and decided to hang up my spanners for my health. Having been a member of the ClickMechanic network, I was keen to see how it worked ‘behind the scenes’. There were still a lot of kinks to work through as the team was very new and remote. Everyone gets on quite well so it was easy to join in on discussions and projects.
What does a typical day in your role look like?
We take calls all day handling people who aren’t 100% sure about what the issue with their vehicle is. We don’t view ourselves as a sales team. We give honest feedback from our experience to help diagnose issues. We can then give them an accurate price using the ClickMechanic quote engine, which pulls together industry data on the time required to complete the repair, parts prices, and a regional labour rate. They can then choose to book in with us, getting a mechanic out to them the next day, or go to another independent. Most mornings are usually a scramble as people are going to work and notice something a bit off about their vehicle.
What do you love about your role?
The remote work means I can be at home by the beach, with my dogs, rather than roaming around the UK as a mechanic or stuffed into an office. It’s fantastic to be able to help people all over the country from the comfort of my own home. I enjoy getting to the bottom of each problem, with the customer giving as much information as they can. The mechanic in residence, MiR, team is plenty of fun and can be very helpful when solving a difficult issue. The rest of the ClickMechanic team are also very supportive, helping to get customers assigned.
What sort of qualities does a person need for this role?
Remote work isn’t for everyone, there isn’t a manager physically standing over you pushing you towards certain tasks. Owning my own business set me up well to be self-motivated enough to work remotely. Having to communicate complex mechanical issues over the phone is also quite a challenge, as often there will be key symptoms that the car owner may not have noticed. Your technical knowledge should be incredibly in-depth, being able to advise on issues with fairly limited information.
What advice would you give to someone looking to move towards a role like yours?
There are plenty of challenges to what we do, but it’s all exciting and interesting to get involved with. The transition from a hands on mechanic to a adviser was difficult at first, as you only have a customer description of the fault, So take your time, ask the questions and advise accordingly.
View our mechanic vacancies here.
