August 17, 2012 - Making the Switch from Retail Sales to Auto Technician Leads to Success for UTI-Orlando Grad

After a few years in retail sales, Aamir Virani saw the writing on the wall in 2008. The Great Recession was decimating the retail sector and Virani wanted to find a new career path that offered stability and advancement opportunities. He then saw an advertisement for Universal Technical Institute (UTI) and decided to pursue training as an automotive technician.

Virani didn’t immediately enroll at UTI; he conducted thorough research into the job outlook for the automotive industry, even visiting car dealerships to ask management about their perspective on future employment opportunities. He also toured the UTI-Orlando campus more than once before he was convinced that he was making the right choice.

Friends and family were surprised at Virani’s decision because he had no technical or automotive experience. “They told me I was crazy, but I had thoroughly investigated the opportunities. I knew that the job outlook for auto technicians was good and wanted to find a long-term career, not just a job like the one I had before,” Virani, 27, explained. “My father asked for a couple of days to think about it, but he came around because he knew I had done my due diligence and wasn’t making this career change lightly.”

Virani admits he was challenged at first by UTI’s rigorous curriculum and wondered if he had made the right decision after all. “My teachers knew I was struggling and convinced me to keep trying, even tutoring me after class hours,” he said. “By the time I had completed half of the coursework, it was like something clicked. My confidence began to build and I started to excel.”

With his hard work paying off, Virani decided to add the Nissan Automotive Technician Training (NATT) elective to his course load and was the recipient of a scholarship from Nissan. The scholarship also provided hands-on experience at a Nissan dealership.

As graduation approached, Virani began his job search employing the same methodical approach he had used to research career prospects for automotive technicians. With support from Employment Services at UTI, he targeted Nissan and Infiniti dealerships in the Central Florida area. One month after graduating from UTI in March 2011, Virani went to work in the service department at Orlando Infiniti.

Virani is proud to work at Orlando Infiniti, which boasts the number one Infiniti Express Service Team for efficiency in the nation. “After a year, I still love what I do and am excited to go to work every day,” he said.

Recognizing that he has successfully reinvented himself in the workforce, Virani offers advice to those faced with doing the same.

“It does take a great deal of hard work and determination, but in the end it is worth it if there is the potential for a long-term career,” he said. “If you want to succeed, write down short-term and long-term goals for yourself and you’ll achieve them. My next goal is to be a master technician within five years.”

For more information about program offered at UTI, please visit: www.uti.edu