Junior High Careers Visits Bahns Automotive
Launch the media gallery 1 playerBahns Automotive
By: Wyatt Langhorst
In Junior High Careers Class we have been learning about different careers. On Tuesday, February 28th, the class was lucky enough to hear from Michael Bahns from Bahns Automotive. We were glad he could make the time to teach us about his business, which he started in Clarkson about two years ago. Prior to owning his own shop, he got experience from other mechanic shops and dealerships he worked at.
He graduated from Milford with an Associate’s Degree in General Automotive Technology opposed to specializing in brands. He was third in his class and a dealership he worked at sent him to lots of trainings. He went to places like Texas and Kansas City and learned about new vehicles.
The best and most challenging part of this job is problem solving and diagnostics. There is a lot of gratification when you solve a problem. Having his own business, there are a lot of pluses like making your own schedule and good pay if you can establish your own business and customer base. Dealerships are also competitive and will pay for the skills of a valued employee.
While Mr. Bahns enjoys being self-employed it is also challenging because of taxes and keeping information for the state. He also has to balance the mass of customer’s big and small jobs with the workload necessary to get everything done. Although it can be chaotic, he enjoys the relationship he has with customers and his parts vendors.
Mr. Bahns recommended that getting into this field, you should work for someone first. This will let you learn from their experience and build your own. When he looks for an employee, he wants someone ambitious, willing to learn, punctual and someone able to develop a skill set. He wants someone who wants to learn and grow over the course of the job.
In high school Mr. Bahns was interested in computer programming and robotics, but he was also interested in the automotive industry. What really drove home to him that this was to be his career, was working on his own vehicle. This experience with his own vehicle showed him that one day he wanted to own his own shop.
His advice to the Careers Class was to plan ahead and figure out what it is you want. Owning his own business was a lot of work and he wouldn’t have been able to do it without proper planning but he believes it was a worthwhile investment.