Despite snags, efforts grow to hire ex-military in service departments

A growing number of luxury auto brands are recruiting service technicians for their dealerships among U.S. military veterans returning from active duty to civilian life.

Audi of America pioneered such "vets to techs" initiatives in 2012, with a program that has placed more than 300 ex-military members at the 200 U.S. Audi dealerships in partnership with a Defense Department contractor. For a few years, veterans accounted for about 25 percent of all technicians hired by Audi dealers.

"We tapped into a pool of people who have worked on amazing machines," says Reinhard Fischer, Audi of America's vice president for strategy, who launched the veterans program.

"It's now an interesting alternative to work for companies like Audi, because we have a reputation for state-of-the-art technology," Fischer says.

Jaguar Land Rover is promoting its own Veterans Careers program. The automaker's 217 U.S. dealers have hired 120 veterans, with plans to gear up to hiring about 180 technicians a year. That pace would meet about one-third of dealerships' tech staffing needs.

"It's becoming harder and harder to get technicians, partly because there's still the stigma that it's not a good career choice," says Jeff Jennings, director of training for Jaguar Land Rover North America.

"But it is a good and respectable and long career choice," Jennings says. "Technicians can make from maybe $60,000 to $120,000 a year, which is very good for someone who perhaps didn't go and get a university degree."

Jennings' goal is for veterans to meet about half of the technician hiring needs of Jaguar Land Rover's U.S. dealers. The automaker reports that the annual turnover rate for its veterans is only 7 percent, versus nearly 13 percent for its dealerships' service techs overall.

Mercedes-Benz USA is launching a similar effort for veterans. Other automakers are said to be considering veterans programs. Dealerships hire or train some veterans as service advisers and parts department staffers instead of as technicians.

Many veterans have received a set of Snap-on Tools worth about $1,500 to $2,000, depending on the automaker. Hiring a veteran can reduce a dealership's tax bill by as much as $9,600, and the government helps pay for training.

Car companies and their dealers also favor veterans because of the increasing technological and electronic sophistication of motor vehicles. Their innards can easily mirror the complexity of a Bradley Fighting Vehicle or a fighter jet.

"More than one-third of the vets that Jaguar Land Rover is hiring are aviation types, with experience repairing jet aircraft, helicopters and avionics systems, among others," says Bernie Hyland, automotive programs manager for Calibre Systems. The military contractor and management consulting firm, based in Alexandria, Va., has worked with Audi and is Jaguar Land Rover's partner on its veterans programs.

Candidates "must have a higher math aptitude, with a strong underpinning in electronics theory as well as diagnostics," Hyland says.

Dealers report that veterans bring discipline, maturity, a focus on quality and attention to detail to service departments.

"They come into our shops and begin to set the pace," Jennings says. "Usually they're the first ones there on the shift; it's like being the last on the battlefield. They put the time in and don't complain. And when you throw things at them, they're hungry to learn them."

Dennis Woods, parts and service manager of Blue Grass Motorsports, which owns Jaguar Land Rover and Audi dealerships in Louisville, Ky., says that veterans "have that politeness about them that they've been taught in the military. That's good when you're working on a luxury line. You don't have that normal street talk."

The qualifications for hiring a veteran through the programs also include squeaky-clean personal backgrounds, extending even to good driving records and credit ratings.

"Normally, when you hire a young person they still have some learning to do and may not be responsible," Fischer says. "But veterans are battle-proven. They don't go out and drink and come to work."

Nick Justice, assessing his skills and vocational orientation, enrolled in a community college automotive-technology program in 2014, right after he ended his six-year stint in the U.S. Air Force as an aircraft armament systems technician.

Last year, Audi of America noticed his half-finished online application for its Veterans to Technicians program and asked him to complete it. Several weeks later, Audi Louisville hired him as a technician. A few months ago, Justice, 28, became the dealership's service appointment coordinator.

"Anyone who was in the military is used to following orders and doing things by the book and the right way every time," Justice says. "We are used to being under a lot of stress. Automotive is a fast-paced world, and ex-military members know how to adapt to that."

Attrition has hurt some dealerships that have invested heavily in hiring veterans. Blue Grass Motorsports hired seven veterans over the past few years, but only two remain.

One problem, Woods says, is that unlike Justice, most other veterans "don't have that traditional training in the basics of automotive that someone coming out of a trade school has."

Audi of America's program has lost some momentum since last fall, when the automaker stepped back from its role in operating and financing Veterans To Technicians in favor of encouraging direct relationships between Calibre Systems and Audi dealerships.

Fischer concedes that Audi has experienced a low rate of successful placement of veterans with its dealers. He says many ex-military members have never had experience with a regular job interview.

"We've had to build in coaching about how they can prepare for a job interview, even for understanding how a dealership works, so they don't look stupid when they're talking to a service manager," Fischer says.