Find Why a Truck Won't Start, and Write the Repair Order
Maps to: Mechanic · Diesel Mechanic · Service Advisor · Auto Body Repairer · HVAC Technician · Electrician
Find why a truck will not start, and write it up like a mechanic.
Sam's pickup clicks and will not start on cold mornings. You pick the tests, read what they found, and write the repair order a shop hands the owner: what was wrong, why, and what fixes it.
How this shows up on a resume or college app
I worked through a car repair the way a mechanic does: a pickup that would not start on cold mornings. I asked the owner your questions, picked your tests for the half hour I had, and found the cause because the reading that proved it. I wrote it up as a repair order with the complaint, the cause, the fix and its price, and left the choice about the other thing you saw with the owner. I learned that finding a fault is a string of quick tests, and that a repair is only finished when the owner can follow what was done and why.
When you finish you have the thing itself, plus a Common App activity description Sidequest drafts from what you actually built.
Not sure yet? Play 5 minutes as a mechanic first and see how the work feels.
See what this career pays and what it takes to get in.
The plan
- 1
Step 1
Write down what Sam says is wrong, and the three questions you ask him
Read Sam's message about his truck. Write his complaint in one line, in his words, and the three questions you would ask him before you touch it.
- 2
Step 1 (cont.)
Pick the test you run first, and plan the half hour
You have half an hour before the next truck. Pick the test you run first, then write all your tests in the order you run them, with why each one comes where it does.
- 3
Step 2
Read what your tests found, and write the cause in one line
Your tests are done. Find the reading that is not right, choose the fix, and write the cause in one line a customer could follow.
- 4
Step 2 (cont.)
Write the repair order Sam takes home
Put everything you found on one repair order, the sheet a shop hands the owner.