When it comes to hiring at dealerships, character before schooling

In many industries, a job applicant without a university degree or college diploma won’t clear the initial resume screening, let alone come away with a job offer.

But automobile retailing has long been an exception to educational hurdles. In fact, a retail employee with a high school diploma is likely to earn a six-figure-plus income, according to recent Automotive News Canada findings.

And dealers say the reason — that auto retail is a business about people — won’t change as the industry steers into the electric era.

“It’s not like we’re closing the door on anyone with an education. If you have an education, that’s welcomed, but it’s not something that we look for,” said Laura Zanchin, principal and executive vice-president of Zanchin Automotive Group, which owns 38 new-vehicle dealerships in Ontario.

In the car business, she said, being good with people trumps post-secondary schooling.

“Common sense and a good head on someone’s shoulders is even more important,” Zanchin said.

The same applies at Winnipeg-based Birchwood Automotive Group.

MaryAnn Kempe, chief human resources officer at the 24-dealership group, said that aside from technical roles that require apprenticeships or college, most career paths at the dealership group are accessible right out of high school.

“We say we hire for character and develop competence,” she said.

FROM DETAILER TO BOSS

Both Kempe and Zanchin said large portions of their companies’ ranks are filled with people who began as detailers, lot attendants or in other entry-level positions, only to climb the ladder.

“All of a sudden from detailing, they go to service writer,” Zanchin said. “And then they get service adviser. Then... they’re assistant service manager. You know, it just builds from there.”

Not accounting for technicians, Zanchin estimates that between 25 per cent and 35 per cent of the dealership group’s 1,700 employees have a post-secondary degree or diploma. Kempe puts Birchwood’s rate in the same ballpark, estimating that about 30 per cent of the company’s 1,200 employees have attended university or a nontechnical college.

This percentage at both dealership groups is climbing as younger employees, who tend to have more education, filter into the automotive work force.

Kempe said at Birchwood the rising number of staff with post-secondary diplomas or degrees is largely a result of company partnerships with universities and colleges.

The group brings in interns from local business schools, employing as many as 20 across its new-vehicle stores and range of other automotive businesses each year. It rehires about 60 per cent of the interns full time once the students have wrapped up their studies.

Zanchin, likewise, said the younger generation often has “a little bit more of an education,” though not always in directly applicable fields.

Often people “fall into” the car business as opposed to seeking it out, she said. But once there, they find few barriers to advancement.

“You don’t need a degree, aside from your Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council [certification], to move on in the car business,” Zanchin said, “and that’s another thing that attracts people.”

SIX-FIGURE SALARIES

According to the 2023 Automotive News Canada Retail Salary Survey carried out last fall, the average pretax income, including commissions and bonuses, for auto retail employees with a high school education or less was $134,700 in 2022.

The figure exceeds graduates of trade or technical schools, who reported earning an average of $89,600 last year, as well as those with a college education, who earned an average of $130,200.

However, it falls short of auto retail employees with a university degree, who the survey found earned an average of $156,300 in 2022.

The sector’s earnings potential and minimal barriers to entry are also attracting newcomers to Canada, Zanchin said.

“I can’t tell you how many people that have just come into the country are applying for sales positions,” she said. “And they’re excellent.”

Without stringent educational requirements, dealerships offer immigrants a place to embed themselves within the community and learn the language, as well as the opportunity for a rewarding career, Zanchin said.

EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES

As staff move through the ranks, dealership groups step in with continuing education.

Being on the floor of the company’s dealerships is a great form of education, Zanchin said, but the group leans on Georgian College, based in Barrie, 110 kilometres north of Toronto, to sharpen the managerial skills of employees working toward leadership roles.

The Automotive Business School of Canada, at the Barrie campus, helps aspiring managers from Zanchin — and many other dealerships across Canada — broaden their automotive knowledge base.

“That’s a great option for our talented people that want to kind of expand, or we’re hoping that they’re going to grow within us,” Zanchin said.

Birchwood also runs its own nine-month leadership development program, known as Birchwood University, with assistance from Georgian College. The program — catered to midlevel managers who want to jump to the next rung as general sales managers, fixed-operations managers and, eventually, general managers — focuses on leadership and team-building skills, Kempe said. Nearly 20 employees take part in each cohort to work through the program.