Cleveland — More jobs and better pay. It’s what we all want for Northeast Ohio. But the road to financial security and career success no longer requires four years of college and a degree. Six-figure incomes are out there, for those trained with the right, in-demand technical skills.

Years ago when you had car problems, you went to your mechanic. Today, that term doesn’t fit the bill. “It’s not just the old grease monkey or mechanic these days,” said Tom King, Director of Enrollment at Ohio Technical College. “These guys are working with high end equipment, cars that have 60 to 70 computer systems on board. Some of these cars have more electronics than the original Apollo space mission. It’s a high-end field now and people need to change their perception,” King said.

The change is already evident as students from all over the world, from Shanghai China to Nigeria are coming to Ohio to train.

“The student who takes this course is someone who plans on doing this for their career.” Andrew Hewko is a student who understands what’s at stake. “If you are diligent enough, and you do something that’s specialized enough, you can easily make 6 figures,” Hewko said.

Six-figures for specialized automotive technicians, power generator technicians and even master welders. Why? Because there aren’t enough of these skilled workers to meet today’s demands.

“Job opportunities are phenomenal. And the pay is phenomenal. Because of supply and demand many of them are walking out of here, many of them with signing bonuses. They can start at a significant wage. Six figures is not out of the question for many of these students,” King added.

What you learn in the classroom prepares you to hit the ground running at your new job.

One local employer is seeking those newly trained technicians, car dealerships like Mercedes of North Olmsted.

“We’ve had a really nice flow of students from college to the dealership and it has really worked out great. As our company was growing, we had a company-wide need. And it made sense that the Technical College had a need to place students after graduation. So it was a natural match,” Joe Arno of Bernie Moreno Companies shared.

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