As collision repair businesses continue searching for the next generation of technicians, many shop owners are finding some of their strongest candidates in an unexpected place: student competitions.
Each spring, SkillsUSA students from across the country compete in state championships for the opportunity to advance to the organization’s National Leadership and Skills Conference, where the nation’s top career and technical education students test their skills against one another. For collision repair programs, the competition season offers a glimpse of the industry’s future workforce and the talent preparing to enter the profession.
Programs such as SkillsUSA are helping to prepare future collision repair professionals not only through technical training but also by developing the professionalism, work ethic, and confidence that employers say are essential for success in today’s repair environment.
For Jessica Stegner, president of the Oklahoma Auto Body Association (OKABA) and owner of Tim’s Body Worx in Guthrie, OK, the value of SkillsUSA extends far beyond medals and trophies.
“I think SkillsUSA helps prepare students for the working world in ways that go far beyond learning how to repair a vehicle,” Stegner said. “It gives them opportunities to build confidence, develop leadership skills, and learn how to communicate and work with others.”
Stegner has hired several graduates of Oklahoma CareerTech collision repair programs, including technician Colby Wilder.
Learning under pressure
Wilder’s experience with SkillsUSA helped lay the foundation for the career he enjoys today. He competed in the state-level automotive refinishing competition, earning a second-place finish.
“It helped me learn the fundamentals of auto body,” Wilder said. “I come to work wanting to be better than yesterday or faster at working on a car.”
Colby Wilder is a SkillsUSA state refinishing competitor and technician at Tim’s Body Worx. He credits CareerTech and SkillsUSA with helping prepare him for his dream job in collision repair.
“SkillsUSA was a great opportunity for me to go compete with other students with the same skill set as me,” Wilder said. “It allowed me to show the knowledge that I learned from my instructor.”
Perhaps most importantly, he said the competition taught him a lesson that continues to motivate him today.
“It taught me that someone out there is going to be better than you,” Wilder said. “It might be by a lot or just a little bit, but you can always work harder to be better.”
That mindset is one reason employers value students who participate in SkillsUSA.
Stegner said competitions, hands-on training, and industry partnerships expose students to many of the same expectations they will encounter in professional repair facilities.
“They learn the importance of time management, limiting distractions such as cell phone use, respecting supervisors, and working efficiently under deadlines,” she said. “Competitions encourage both quality and productivity, while hands-on training and industry partnerships teach students how to work alongside people with different personalities and skill sets.”
Those experiences help students transition more smoothly into the workplace.
“One thing I really appreciate is that SkillsUSA exposes students to real-world expectations before they ever step into a full-time job,” Stegner said. “They learn professionalism, responsibility, teamwork, and the importance of showing up prepared and giving their best effort.”
From the classroom to the shop floor
In an industry facing an ongoing need for qualified technicians, educators are seeing similar benefits.
At Collin College in Allen, Texas, SkillsUSA has become an important part of preparing students for careers in collision repair.
Raven Luna, discipline lead and professor of collision technology and the program’s SkillsUSA advisor, said the competition framework emphasizes both technical and workplace skills.
“We do think there’s a strong correlation between SkillsUSA and career placement because SkillsUSA emphasizes workplace skills as part of its framework,” Luna said.
In addition to demonstrating technical abilities, students prepare resumes and participate in mock interviews as part of the competition process.
“All of our students who are preparing for a SkillsUSA conference spend additional time outside of class to refine their skills, which means they have strong entry-level skills when they are finished with the program,” Luna said. “We do see a high drive to succeed and a strong work ethic with this group of individuals.”
That dedication often translates directly into employment opportunities. Several recent SkillsUSA medalists from Collin College have secured positions throughout the collision repair industry.
This year’s state medalists, Marcelo Vazquez Ochoa and Jorge Nava-Reyna, have both gone on to careers with Tesla. Previous medalists have joined organizations including Gerber Collision, Randal Reed’s Planet Ford 365 Collision Center, Dallas Collision Center, Dusold Designs, and Complete Customs.
Building confidence for a career
Among those former competitors is Joshua Meza, who earned a state gold medal before advancing to the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in 2025, where he placed fifth nationally in automotive refinishing.
Today, Meza works as an auto body technician at Gerber Collision, where he credits SkillsUSA with helping him develop both the technical skills and confidence needed to launch his career.
Joshua Meza, a former SkillsUSA national competitor who placed fifth in automotive refinishing, now works as an autobody technician at Gerber Collision.
Meza believes the competition helped accelerate his career by proving to employers — and to himself — that he could perform at a high level.
“Competing in the SkillsUSA competition and placing in the ranks that I did allowed me to be seen as someone who has the potential and capabilities to be someone great in the industry,” Meza said. “It also gave me the confidence to come into the industry with the mindset of knowing I can be better and will be in the tasks given to me by my peers and manager at work.”
Since entering the collision repair industry, Meza said the skills and confidence he gained through competition have helped him advance quickly.
“I’ve been doing well on my own in the industry so far and have been given opportunities most might not come by for years after entering the collision world," he said. “I’ve been able to grasp these positions I’ve been put in and climb the ranks from apprentice to technician within a short period of time due to my skills.”
His experience reflects what educators and employers alike say is one of SkillsUSA’s greatest strengths: providing students with opportunities to test themselves against high standards while preparing for the expectations of a professional career.
While Collin College did not produce a national medalist during this year’s SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference, Luna said students are still awaiting detailed scoring results. Regardless of placement, the experience itself remains a valuable part of their development.
Creating the industry’s next generation
As students return from national competition and prepare to enter the workforce, employers like Stegner see SkillsUSA as an important bridge between the classroom and the collision repair shop.
“I would tell them to do it,” Wilder said when asked what advice he would give students considering CareerTech and SkillsUSA. “I had fun going to CareerTech, meeting new people and learning new skills to work on cars. Work hard and stay focused in the classroom, learning everything that you can, because now I’m working at my dream job that I never thought I would be working at 10 years ago.”
Leona Scott