Does Working at a Car Dealership Look Good?

 Car dealerships are always hiring. But is that a good thing? And if you’re someone who is at an early point in your career, will working at a car dealership look good to future employers?

Well, first off, let’s cover the basics. What sort of work are you seeking? Are you going to be working in customer service or sales or as a mechanic?

And will you be continuing on in that career?

If you’re working at a car dealership, then odds are that you are not going to use that as a springboard into a professional environment. Car dealerships are just not aligned with corporate America.

People who work at car dealerships can use that experience to move into other service sector roles, but it’s not a job that I suggest you take if you want to move into a corporate setting. It will be a strike against you.

However, if your goal is to work in the service sector, and you want to showcase experience in a retail environment, then it can be a positive on your resume.

Is Working at a Car Dealership a Good Job?

That depends on what you are looking to get out of it. If you want high pay, then no. Car dealerships do not pay well. The only type of person who makes money at a dealership, besides the owners, are high performance sales people—and even these jobs are rough due to frequent cases of dealership owners not paying salespeople their due commission.

However, it’s a good job in the sense that there is steady work and there is very little required by way of experience. If you are someone who doesn’t have a lot of work experience, or you have a spotty work history where you moved from job to job.

It’s not unusual to find people working at a car dealership who have huge career gaps due to incarceration and time spent in prison. So, in that respect, a car dealership is certainly a viable situation for people who are seeking a workplace that is forgiving with regard to a less than professional resume.

The atmosphere is relaxed, so if you don’t like the “stuffy” atmosphere of a professional office, then a car dealership is going to be a good job environment.

I Hate Working at a Car Dealership

I am adding this section here because it’s one of the most popular terms online when you search car dealerships. People tend to search this over and over. It’s so common a search term that it shows up in the “suggested searches” for people who are looking to work at a car dealership.

The sad part is that it’s common. People do tend to hate working at car dealerships, for several reasons.

First, the pay is low. Oftentimes owners and managers of dealerships will often engage in semi-legal practices to hire people and then not pay them. It’s rampant in used car dealerships. It is less common in legitimate dealerships, but it still happens.

Secondly, there is often a dangerous work environment. People who work in car dealerships often come from backgrounds that prevent them from working in corporate America.

Aside from these factors, the problem that many find with working at a car dealership is that the business itself is so unethical. Salespeople at dealerships often have a hard time getting their commission paid out. This is so much an issue that there law firms that even specialize in this form of employer related litigation.

Finally, the main issue that people tend to run into while working at car dealerships is that it’s not what it’s cracked up to be.

People have the image of working at a car dealership and selling cars and being a top notch salesperson.

In reality, the average dealership is cut throat and many times commissions are stolen, not paid out, or simply “lost” or transferred to other people.

When you couple this with the sort of people who work at car dealerships, it’s no wonder that violence sometimes erupts between employees. Here's a few news cases from around the coutnry.

Stabbing at NYC Car Dealership

Florida Car Dealership Baseball Attack

Are There Any Pros About Working at A Dealership?

So, are there any pros when working at a dealership? Yes.

If you’re an entry level person and need a first job and are not going to college or who didn’t go to college, then a dealership can often help you land something quickly.

Also, if you are planning on a career in the service sector with the goal of working your way up to management, then working in a car dealership can certainly be a good stepping stone.

However, it’s not a fancy job where you’re going to be involved in selling flashy cars. The majority of people who work in car dealerships do low level customer support. This includes dealing with irate customers and disgruntled car owners.

The big pro is for people who are just learning to get into working as a mechanic. If you are going to work as a mechanic, then it’s certainly a boon to have a dealership listed on your resume.

In fact, working as a certified mechanic at a dealership is one of the better spots for mechanics.

Liars, Cheats, and Criminals: Be Careful About Your Rep

One thing to be careful about is your reputation. Working at a car dealership is very tricky because angry customers can go online and write negative reviews about you.

Even if you are polite to the customer, they might receive poor treatment from other service members. If you’re their main point of contact at the dealership, then they might end up going online to write about their poor experience.

It’s important to remember that buy a car is a huge undertaking for most people. If anything goes wrong with their car or the process, people are likely to complain about the business and anyone that they came into contact with. So, it’s important to maintain an awareness of this when deciding to work at a car dealership.

Here’s my advice. If you are someone in college, and you need money, and there are few jobs available, then you could work at a car dealership. However, it’s something you might want to keep off from your resume.

If you are a college graduate then stay clear from working at a car dealership because it will not help you in your career in any way.

A car dealership is a bad place to work if you have other options. Don't take the advice of online car experts, it is not something that will launch your career in sales or any real corporate field. The only reason to work there is if you are a mechanic who did not gradauted college and are looking to work somewhere until you can find a union job.