Whether you’ve been a diesel mechanic (technician) for a while now or are just getting started in this career, it’s natural to wonder what advancement looks like.
More importantly, you want to know what you can do now to progress down the line.
If you’ve done any research, you know there’s not necessarily a single roadmap for becoming a successful mechanic. Instead, you’ll find many routes, depending on what “advancement” means to you.
But what will universally help you advance — in income, experience, skill set, job title and responsibility? This is the question we’ll answer here.
At RDO Equipment Co., we employ nearly 1,000 diesel mechanics (we call them service technicians) in 80+ dealerships nationwide. Providing advancement opportunities for our technicians is a significant area of focus for our company. After more than five decades in business, we’ve seen countless diesel mechanics succeed both inside of our company and outside of it.
We have highlighted the six things you can do to follow in their footsteps, regardless of where you work. These six things are:
- Develop skills that make you adaptable
- Pursue and embrace learning opportunities
- Do the little things
- Take advantage of career pathing
- Pursue and provide mentorship opportunities
- Get really good at performing repairs
Tip 1) Develop Skills That Make You More Adaptable
There is a wide array of diesel-powered machinery and equipment. You could perform hundreds of different tasks when working on them. How you solve an issue on one machine may differ from how you solve it on another.
As you can imagine, all of these variables make it imperative that you are able to adapt to each new job as it arrives.
For example, you may go from doing an oil change one minute to performing a pre-delivery inspection the next. After your inspection, a tractor may roll in that needs to be diagnosed, but only after you’ve fixed the electrical system on that wheel loader. You get the point; mechanics must be able to do everything.
Though it might seem obvious, it’s really this simple: becoming a competent, adaptable mechanic and sharing this knowledge is a great way to advance your career. Not only will this give you more opportunities, but it’ll make you a key player in your organization.
Tip 2) Pursue and Embrace Learning Opportunities
Companies like hiring employees who pursue knowledge. One of the most surefire ways to progress in your career as a diesel mechanic is to take advantage of the training/learning opportunities presented to you.
This includes employer-programmed training opportunities like product training or mentorship programs.
Beyond these formal pieces of training, that everyone participates in, go out of your way to improve your foundational diesel mechanic knowledge. This could include spending time shadowing a more senior tech, asking a lot of questions or taking the time to gain a certification specific to a product line or manufacturer.
For example, RDO Equipment Co. service technicians can pursue certification programs offered by John Deere, Vermeer, Topcon and Carlson.
Displaying a hunger for learning and a willingness to expand your knowledge will go a long way toward advancing your career. This is also seen in people willing to admit when they’re wrong and take steps to fix it.
Tip 3) Do the Little Things
There are many tasks associated with working in a service shop, and challenges to overcome. This includes things that aren’t necessarily in a mechanic’s job description.
Examples of these “little” things include:
- Sweeping floors
- Cleaning work areas
- Picking up tools
- Cleaning service bays
- Helping team members
- Organizing parts
The list goes on. Being a team player and offering to help out when these things need to be done is a good indicator that you’re a candidate for advancement.
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Tip 4) Take Advantage of Career Pathing
Not every employer offers career pathing. That said, if you work for a company that does — typically this will be a larger company, but not always — take advantage of it.
Great companies are more than happy to help their team members better themselves, both personally and professionally. They do this by opening the door for conversations about professional development to take place. RDO has these conversations with employees at least quarterly, other businesses may do this more or less frequently.
As a diesel technician interested in advancing your career, initiate conversations about where you want to be in 5-10 years and ask your employer to help you come up with a plan to get there. If you’re interested, ask if there are any job shadowing options you could try or training you could enroll in.
Tip 5) Pursue and Provide Mentorship Opportunities
If you haven’t already, you’ll soon discover just how much knowledge there is within every company. As a diesel technician, seek out opportunities to learn from those around you. Some companies have formal mentorship programs for newly hired diesel mechanics. That said, don’t hesitate to extend this experience and find a few more senior technicians to mentor you.
You’d be surprised at how willing mechanics are to share their knowledge.
Find great mentors who hold the job(s) you hope to have in the future. They’ve advanced in their career the way you hope to, so they know what steps to take to get there.
As a more tenured diesel tech, consider passing on this knowledge and becoming a mentor for younger mechanics in your location.
Tip 6) Get Really Good at Performing Repairs
Whether you’re working for a service shop, on a private fleet of trucks or out in the field, efficiency is the name of the game for diesel mechanics. Some companies even pay mechanics an incentive for the number of jobs they finish.
Becoming a technician your company can rely on to complete work efficiently, while prioritizing safety of course, will set you up for future advancement opportunities.
Start Advancing Your Mechanic Career
Advancement opportunities are important to consider in any career. As an ambitious diesel mechanic, there are a lot of things you can do to get this ball rolling sooner rather than later.
These things include:
- Developing skills that make you adaptable
- Rigorously pursuing learning opportunities
- Doing all of the little things
- Taking advantage of career pathing
- Pursuing mentorship opportunities
- Getting really good at performing repairs
While nothing happens overnight, if you put effort into doing these six things, advancement is certainly in your future.
Explore Diesel Mechanic Advancement at RDO Equipment Co.
RDO Equipment Co. provides all technicians training, mentorship opportunities and career path levels to advance through.
We’re committed to creating service personnel who are the best in the business.
To do so, our mechanics can progress from Service Technician – Level 1 all the way up to Service Technician – Level 4. After a while, if you’d like to progress into management, we have those options. Or, if you’d prefer to leave the shop environment, we have plenty of field service technician openings.
Get started with RDO Equipment Co. today by finding a service technician job in your area.
Jared Mittleider
Jared started with RDO Equipment Co. in 2012 as an intern in our Aberdeen store. Over his time here, Jared has held a number of positions in multiple locations (from sales/rental coordinator in Bismark/Dickinson to field service manager in Dayton). Today, Jared is the service operations manager for the Minnesota metro where he oversees the construction technology and heavy equipment shop in this area. In his role, Jared really enjoys helping RDO’s technicians grow personally and professionally as they work to help RDO’s customers succeed every day.
