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"Body work is an art."
Auto collision repair technicians set things right when a vehicle has
been damaged. They straighten frames, remove dents and dings,
replace parts, resurface damaged areas, paint, and refinish the
vehicle's body. When they are done, the vehicle looks like new!
"Most of the customers are extremely picky.
If I spent $40,000 on my car, I'd be extremely picky, too.
But I don't get intimidated because I know I've done my job right."
These are the words of a woman who was so unsure of herself that she made her younger brother sign up for the Auto Collision Repair program with her. He was still in high school, but she talked him into it anyway.
Alicia Geminiani fixes wrecked cars. She straightens frames, returns the metal to its original condition, applies plastic filler and sands the surface until it is ready for paint. She loves the challenge of tackling a twisted mess and making it whole again. It's a workable compromise to her original dream of designing cars, a field that required resources she didn't have and offered a very limited job market. Her love of cars began in the traditional way, in her own garage, working with her brother. Mechanical work didn't appeal to her, but body work did, and it was a practical approach to working at something she liked. She began at the community college right out of high school. She's been working at Kuni Cadillac BMW for two years.
"I still have three classes to go at Portland Community College. I was financially on my own, so I had to get a job. One of my buddies interviewed here. I thought it sounded like a nice place to work, so I applied, came in quite a few times, got an interview. I got the job. [He didn't get hired.] He was kind of hurt for a while, but we're good friends."
Alicia works flat-rate, a widely used system that assigns each task a certain number of hours to complete, at a certain pay rate and pays the worker only that amount. If a door can be replaced in two hours, and a technician is rated at $14 per hour, then the technician gets paid $28 to replace the door, whether it takes two hours or all day. Experienced techs earn a higher rate than apprentices. A tech is only paid for working, not standing around.
Women are few in this field, but Alicia likes working with men. "They tell you what they think, right to your face." She gets along well and feels accepted. In her spare time Alicia is putting a car together with a friend and taking algebra at the community college. "Body work is an art. My brain wants to do something, too!"
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