Day 3: Automotive Salary Showdown
Lesson Overview
| Time | 50 minutes |
| Objectives | Compare salaries for at least 3 automotive careers using H&L, BLS, and CareerOneStop; calculate the salary-to-education-time ratio; preview tomorrow's cross-cluster comparison |
| TEKS | d(5)(E), d(2)(B) |
| Deliverable | Completed Automotive Salary Comparison worksheet showing 3 automotive careers + 1 cross-cluster preview career |
| Materials | Chromebooks, H&L accounts, BLS Automotive Service Technicians page, BLS Diesel Service Technicians page, CareerOneStop Compare Occupations tool, printed Automotive Salary Comparison worksheet, calculator (or phone calculator), projector |
Warm-Up (5 min)
WARM-UP: Guess, how much do you think an experienced diesel mechanic earns per year in Dallas? Write your guess.
Take 5-6 student guesses. Most students wildly underestimate (typical guesses: $25K, $30K). Reveal : experienced diesel mechanics in DFW earn $55K-$75K, with master diesel techs at large fleets making $80K+. Bridge: today is all about replacing guesses with real numbers.
Activity 1: Three-Career Salary Research (35 min)
Source: H&L Hat profiles + BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook + CareerOneStop Compare Occupations
Distribute the printed Automotive Salary Comparison worksheet. Students fill in salary data for 3 automotive careers:
- Auto Service Technician (the standard mechanic)
- Diesel Service Technician (heavy trucks, buses, construction equipment)
- Collision Repair Technician (bodywork, painting, frame straightening)
Students who finish early add a 4th: Automotive Service Manager (the technician's path to management).
The worksheet has these columns:
| Career | DFW Entry Salary | DFW Experienced Salary | Education Time | Education Cost | 10-Year Job Demand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auto Service Technician | |||||
| Diesel Service Technician | |||||
| Collision Repair Technician |
Students gather data from three sources for cross-validation:
- H&L Hat profile: DFW-specific salary if available > [H&L PLATFORM] The workbook (Ch 15: Transportation, Hat Research template, p. 256) provides a structured sheet for recording salary and demand data from the H&L Hat Finder.
- BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: national median pay and 10-year job outlook
- CareerOneStop Compare Occupations: side-by-side career comparison with state-level data
After filling in all three rows, students calculate one ratio for each career:
Salary-to-Education Ratio = Experienced DFW Salary ÷ Years of Education Required
This ratio surfaces something important: a career that requires a 6-month certificate and pays $50K has a much higher ratio than a 4-year degree career that pays $60K.
Facilitation Tip
Walk the room with a checklist. Verify each student has used at least 2 of the 3 sources for each career. Students who fill in only the H&L numbers are doing single-source research, push them to cross-check on BLS.
After completing the 3 automotive careers, students preview Day 5 by adding one career from a different cluster they explored earlier this year. Examples: Software Developer (1SW IT), Registered Nurse (2SW Health Science), Veterinarian (3SW Ag), Architect (5SW preview). They fill in only the salary and education time columns for the cross-cluster career, the full comparison happens Day 5.
DOK 4: If you were advising a student who cared most about earning potential with the shortest education time, which automotive career would you recommend? Use specific numbers from your research to justify the recommendation.
Activity 2: Quick Class Tally (5 min)
Take a quick verbal poll: which of the 3 automotive careers had the highest experienced DFW salary? Most students will be surprised that diesel often outpaces auto repair, especially at the experienced level. Discuss for 1-2 minutes why diesel pays more, fewer technicians, more demanding work, larger equipment.
Exit Ticket (5 min)
EXIT TICKET (Comparison Matrix) · Printable PDF:
Use your Day 3 worksheet to fill in the matrix below for the 3 automotive careers.
| Auto Service Tech | Diesel Service Tech | Collision Repair Tech | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DFW experienced salary ($) | |||
| Years of education required | |||
| Salary ÷ years (ratio) |
Bottom line: Which career has the BEST salary-to-education ratio? Name it, and write the ratio you calculated. Then explain in one sentence why that ratio is important for someone who wants to earn quickly. (d(5)(E), d(2)(B))
Differentiation
- Support: Pre-filled worksheet with one career row already completed (Auto Service Technician, with all 3 sources). Students replicate the process for the other 2 careers. Provide a calculator.
- Extension: Research the salary trajectory across a 20-year career, what does an automotive technician earn at year 1, year 5, year 10, and year 20? Plot it on a simple line graph.
- ELL: Bilingual salary worksheet with Spanish column headers: Salario inicial = Entry salary, Salario experimentado = Experienced salary, Tiempo de educación = Education time, Costo = Cost, Demanda = Demand. Sentence stem for the ratio analysis: "El _ tiene la mejor proporción porque ___."