Placement Assistance for Students

Attention graduates! Did you know that you can receive placement assistance from us even years after graduating? California Career School maintains connections with various employers that are always on the hunt for OTR drivers. Have you picked up driving experience since your graduation and are now thinking of going local?

Auto repair, security, and CNC students– don’t stop there, we can also assist you in your search for work.

Call us today to jump start your job search!
(800) 499-6585

Here is just a partial list of how we can help:

  • Interview practice
  • Resume improvement
  • Exclusive job leads for you to apply for

What’s Wrong With This Engine?

Just another day in auto repair tech class! Students Miguel, Vicente, and Mario are tearing down this V8 to find out what’s wrong. Utilizing the Corvette as a training aid, Instructor Rick Powell said that the motor lost compression and that the students are first going to inspect if it’s a head gasket problem or if some other issue is the culprit. Everyone’s looking pretty happy!

Author: Sarah Bantay

Workforce Investment Act Pays for School

Have you recently lost your job and are finding you may need additional training? Have you looked into vocational training and thought that you may need assistance with funding?

Many California Career School students utilize assistance available through area workforce centers and the EDD in order to fund training programs. One type of assistance is the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). Passed in 1998, this law was enacted with the intention of compelling business to help develop the workforce. The name itself explains it as an act that invests in the workforce.

CCS graduates like Kirk Wahrman and David Hinds from our security guard program both obtained funding through this method. Trucking grad Jose Hunter and auto repair grad Tin Nguyen paid for school in this fashion as well.

Funding qualification is determined by your local workforce center.
Contact the Admissions Department today at 1(800) 499-6585 for a list of local workforce centers
You can also email us at admissions@californiacareerschool.edu.

Author: Sarah Bantay

Course Completion… And Perfect Attendance!

California Career School wants to congratulate our automotive repair student Cesar Rodriguez for not only completing the 24 week course, but for achieving perfect attendance for being in class every single day! This is a very exceptional achievement, especially given the length of the course.

Additionally, Cesar regularly earned high grades on his tests from CIAT, the California Institute of Automotive Technology. “For any prospective employer,” says instructor Rick Powell, “I would strongly recommend adding Cesar to your team. He has proven to me to be very dedicated and dependable.”

Cesar was coming out of Fresno, CA and had been experiencing various difficulties affecting his employment. During his enrollment, he was unemployed. “When I came here,” Cesar described, “[I] wasn’t even looking at [the automotive repair] course.” We asked him then, why did he end up choosing the tune-up/emissions course? “I started out with low riders,” he said about his previous interests. “I took my car to a shop and didn’t know what was wrong.” Cesar explained that if he could fix something himself, why not learn how to do it?

To pay for the course, Cesar was awarded a full Pell grant. “He came in to the financial aid office,” said Michelle Markling, financial aid advisor, “[and] complied to all of my requests expediently. He was like, ‘boom, boom.’ Seriously, in record time!” When students apply for federal aid, the process is often lengthy and requirements are much more stringent. “He has done a fabulous job with himself,” remarked Michelle.

Now that Cesar is done with his course, again we want to congratulate him on his exceptional achievements at California Career School!

Passing the Bureau of Automotive Repair Exam

Tin Nguyen and Frank Ovalle came in today looking for some help with their resumes and job prospects. Both in very high spirits, it turns out that yesterday they had passed the state Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) exam and are now licensed Smog Check Technicians. We had a moment to talk to them about how the automotive repair class went for them over the duration of the long 24 weeks.

“The course was really intense, teacher was always on top of me,” said Tin. Frank expressed that class was actually rather overwhelming at times. The multiple modules that needed to be covered included not only the basics of automotive performance but also the diagnosis of complex problems, the Clean Air Car Course, preparation for alternative BAR tests, and an extensive list of the systems common to all vehicles today and into the future. In the end, however, Tin and Frank were successful.

There was a lot to do but, “everything that [Rick] taught us was exactly on the exam,” noted Frank. Rick Powell has been teaching for nearly 30 years and is a part of the California Auto Teachers Association. “[He was] always very informative– any questions we had, no matter how dumb we thought it was, he would always have a good answer.”

Frank and Tin went on to describe that Rick used visual tools to get the point across rather than focusing solely on the textbooks provided to the students. “Hands on was very important, which helped a lot,” remarked Tin. In an automotive course, learning from the textbook is one thing compared to learning hands on. Students were able to bring in their own vehicles and familiarize themselves with both the course’s content and the specific workings of their car, truck, SUV, or van.

Tin said, “We were here everyday, I liked studying.”

“Every morning, it was motivating to show up, you wanted to be here,” expressed Frank.

Right now, Frank and Tin are working with the placement department to get their resumes ready for the job market and finally put their knowledge to use.

Congratulations to the both of you! You both persevered and completed a big course. We hope to see you again.

Author: Sarah Bantay

Auto Tech I & II Southern CA

Auto Tech I & II – Are Either of These Right for Your Career Choice?
Watch this video and call us at 800-499-6585.

Why Is Automotive Repair Technician Training So Vital To Your Success?

There are many careers you can choose as you grow up, but one that is very popular and rewarding is being an automotive repair technician. This type of career is perfect for anyone that likes to solve problems and is not afraid of getting your hands dirty, but you have to have the right training in order to be a success in this career.

Without the right training you will not have a full understanding of automotive’s and this will mean you struggling every day to be good at it. By taking the time needed to get a good automotive technician education, you will be setting yourself up for success because you will be gaining all the important knowledge that you need.

There are many different aspects of an automotive career that you need to know. Some people choose to be a technician for air conditioning, brakes and alignments. Other people prefer to be a technician tune up/smog.

The first thing you have to decide is what type of technician you want to become so you know what to start looking for when it comes to training. Once you know what career you want, it is time to find the training that will help you achieve that goal.

There are many schools that you can attend for the training that is needed. You just want to be sure that you take time to find one that fits your needs. In other words, make sure they have a good program and that they have more than one schedule available for you to receive the training.

Not everyone can go to school at the same time because you will still have to pay your bills. This means that you want to find a school that has training offered in different class schedules. This will allow you to still continue to work, but also to receive the education needed so you can move on to a better career in the future.

Training is vital because of the many different things you have to know in order to be a successful technician. Training will provide you with the knowledge for maintenance and repairs on different types of vehicles, how to use specialized electronic diagnostic equipment, diagnostic computers and so many other things.

Without the right training, there is no way you can gain all the knowledge needed for this career. Did you know that you can find a driving school that can train you to be an automotive technician? These schools are popular because they are usually more affordable than colleges and they still provide you with all the knowledge needed.

Just be sure that you find a school that is in the state you live in such as, California and not one you will have to travel to. The training will be an ongoing process for a while, so you have to make sure you can easily get there.

Now that you know why training to become an automotive repair technician is so vital, you can see why you must take time to find the right school for you to attend if you want to be successful with this career.

Call our office today–so we can get you started on your new Automotive Repair Technician training.

How To Find The Right Automotive Repair Technician School To Train You

Do you want to be an automotive repair technician, but are not sure how to find the school that will train you for this career? There are a couple of different places you can use to find the best school for you to attend.

To help you get started with your search, here are some of the best ways to use to find the school that is right for you to get your automotive training from.

One: Driving schools – There are many driving schools that you can find that will help you get the education you need. Many people don’t realize that these schools teach this career, but if you take time to look, you will see that there are many of them that do.

One good reason to go with this type of school over colleges or Universities is because it is more affordable. It will not be cheap, but it is definitely not as expensive as going to an actual college.

Plus, most driving schools know exactly what you need to know to be good at your new career because they not only teach it, but they also deal with it every day in their driving business.

Two: Colleges – Look at the local colleges in the town where you live. You can also look at Universities in the state you live in. For example, if you live in California, then you need to find a college or University that is easy for you to get to.

If you can’t easily get there every day, then you will find it difficult to complete your education for this career. There are many colleges and Universities you can attend, but be prepared for it to be expensive.

Three: Internet – This is one of the best ways to use to find the right school because it allows you to look at many different options and compare them. You can even find driving schools, colleges and Universities online that you can research to help you make an informed decision about the right one to go to for your education.

Now that you know how to find the right school for you to learn how to become an automotive repair technician; all that is left is for you to get started with your search. It is not hard to find a good school, but it will take time. Just be sure to choose the school carefully so you can get the best training possible for this exciting career.

Call us today to get started on your career–800-499-6485