Automotive parts advisor
Motor vehicle parts persons supply individuals, dealerships and garages with spare parts.
What you'll do
Day-to-day tasks
As a motor vehicle parts person you'll:
- advise customers on which parts they might need for their vehicle
- take orders in person, over the phone or by email
- check stock availability
- get parts from the storeroom or order them from suppliers
- put together orders and send them by courier or deliver them yourself
- deal with payments, raise invoices and issue receipts
- maintain shop window and shelf displays
- order supplies, put stock away and update records
Working environment
You could work in a warehouse, in a stock room or at a car manufacturing plant.
Career path and progression
With experience, you could progress to a supervisor or service adviser job, or move into service and repair.
You may be able to become self-employed and run your own business as a parts supplier.
What it takes
Skills and knowledge
You'll need:
- the ability to work well with others
- customer service skills
- the ability to sell products and services
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- the ability to use your initiative
- excellent verbal communication skills
- the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
- active listening skills
- to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently
Restrictions and Requirements
You'll need a full UK driving licence if you have to make deliveries to customers.
How to become
You can get into this job through:
- a college course
- an apprenticeship
- applying directly
You could take a college course to get some of the skills and knowledge needed for this job.
Courses include:
- vehicle systems maintenance
- vehicle fitting principles
- vehicle repair and technology
Entry requirements
Entry requirements for these courses vary.
More Information
You could apply to do an intermediate apprenticeship with a car spares supplier.
You could follow apprenticeship routes like:
- Customer Service Practitioner Level 2
- Trade Supplier Level 2
These take around a year to complete and are a mix of learning in the workplace and off-the-job study.
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship
More Information
You may be able to apply for jobs directly if you've got experience in vehicle servicing, retail or stock control. You'll also need good technical knowledge of car parts, motoring accessories and how vehicles work.
You can get more advice about working in the motor industry from Autocity.
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This page contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.