Justin Smith

OTC Auto-Diesel graduate, Justin Smith, is working his way through BMW training since he was hired on at Kelly BMW in Columbus, as an apprentice. Smith was specifically looking to relocate to the Columbus area, and Kelly was a good fit for both of them. One of the biggest obstacles dealerships face is acquiring good talent and preventing the competition from luring them away. Service Managers need to maintain the volume of service customers require and that means maintaining staffing levels to meet that demand. Hiring the right technician means hiring someone is willing to keep on learning, and who will stay long-term. Smith says the work is challenging and he is regularly attending BMW specific training to be more skilled and confident with the sophistication of the product. When we stopped in to visit with him the one piece of advice Smith had was to invest in your personal work tools as soon as possible. Once you are in a professional setting the tool requirements can set you back financially very quickly. Be prepared for the investment, because like any job you can’t do it quickly, efficiently or sometimes not at all, without the right tools.