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Aftermarket magazine Top Technician Competition - Whats involved #

Posted by Nigel Yardley on April 7, 2014, 7:19 am
Edited by board administrator April 10, 2014, 10:03 am

As I have been lucky enough to reach the final 12 I thought i would post whats been involved so far, to convince any of you thinking of entering next year to go for it.

First online test...follow the link from the website, register, then you get an email link to the online test. All questions are multiple choice with a 1 hour time limit. I thought it was harder this year than last.

Second online test... If you get through to the final 24, you are then sent the link to the second online task. Again 1 hour long, but a mixture of multiple choice, fill in the blanks, and open ended questions that require a little writing. Questions are in 4 sections (bare with me as I can't remember much, the panic had set in at this point) Electrics, hybrid, chassis, and something else... Time restraint was a huge problem, I left at least 3 questions unanswered, after using the first 25 mins on the first section.

Semi finals - the final 12 get an invite to the Delphi Training centre in
Leamington Spa, 6 in the morning, 6 in the afternoon. There were six 20
minuet practical tasks to complete...

1)measurement task- You are given a list of tappet measurements taken from a
v8 engine, and a box of 8 shims, say wether the measurements are within
tolerance, and if not which shim would you use. Basically use of a
micrometer.

2)scope, information and observation- Renault scenic, use autodata to find
tyre pressures and wheel nut torque. then use pico to produce waveform
captures of inlet air temp, cam sensor, and injector. Then check for
lighting fault and other faults on vehicle.

3)Petrol non start- cranks but non starter, multiple codes with a common
theme. Use wiring diagram and multimeter to find the common element.

4)Diesel Start then cuts out- no codes present, use live data, then
practical assessment to find fault.

5)ABS- Fault logged for rear ABS sensor, use multimeter to find fault.

6)Engine and abs mil on- no communications with abs ecu, use multimeter and
vehicle information provided to find fault.

My biggest problem was the time factor, 20 mins disappears in the blink of an eye. I'm not expecting to reach the next round, but enjoyed the day out. If you're thinking of doing the competition, go for it, I don't think that I'm anything special in the workshop and look how far I got....
The faults are all induced, so the test is of your logical sequence, not your diagnostic knowledge, if that makes sense.

Re: Aftermarket magazine Top Technician Competition - whats involved

Posted by Mark Carter on April 7, 2014, 12:59 pm, in reply to "Aftermarket magazine Top Technician Competition - whats involved"

And your point in sharing the assessment to that depth with the world is ?

Mark Carter (Accredited assessor for the ATA programme)

Re: Aftermarket magazine Top Technician Competition - whats involved

Posted by Nigel Yardley on April 7, 2014, 3:23 pm, in reply to "Re: Aftermarket magazine Top Technician Competition - whats involved"
Nigel Yardley

I've shared it with the hope that anyone who has not entered in the past due to fear of the unknown, may read this and enter next year.
If you or anyone else thinks this post is inappropriate then I will of course delete it.

Re: Aftermarket magazine Top Technician Competition - whats involved

Posted by Mick Gormley on April 7, 2014, 3:46 pm, in reply to "Aftermarket magazine Top Technician Competition - whats involved"
Mick Gormley

Hi Nigel

Great post and good luck in the competition.

Re: Aftermarket magazine Top Technician Competition - whats involved

Posted by Les smith on April 7, 2014, 4:45 pm, in reply to "Re: Aftermarket magazine Top Technician Competition - whats involved"
Leslie Smith

Good to know and good luck.
Les

Re: Aftermarket magazine Top Technician Competition - whats involved

Posted by Pete Mutlow on April 7, 2014, 5:07 pm, in reply to "Re: Aftermarket magazine Top Technician Competition - whats involved"
Peter Mutlow

Greetings,

Agree with Mick and Les. Although I would never enter, it is good to have an insight into the competition for all potential hopefuls who may be daunted by the unknown. Excellent post and thankyou.

Best of luck in the finals.

Regards

Pete M

Re: Aftermarket magazine Top Technician Competition - whats involved

Posted by Mark Carter on April 7, 2014, 5:53 pm, in reply to "Re: Aftermarket magazine Top Technician Competition - whats involved"

I tried to PM you but it would not work so I have sent an message to: www.yardleys-garage.co.uk

Mark

Top Technician 2014 down to the last 6

Posted by Peter Warman on April 7, 2014, 5:58 pm, in reply to "Aftermarket magazine Top Technician Competition - whats involved"

The last 6

Jerry Carroll
Andrew Gravel
Mike Harding
Stephen Harrison
Peter Melville
Anthony Pickering

See more at: http://www.aftermarketonline.net/News/Industry-News/2014/29781-/Top-Technician-2014-final-six-announced#sthash.S0GieIcN.dpuf

Peter
PS: Great post Nigel, good insight to the Top Technician competition, to scary for me

Re: Top Technician 2014 down to the last 6

Posted by Tommy Forrest on April 7, 2014, 7:35 pm, in reply to "Top Technician 2014 down to the last 6"
Thomas Forrest

Well done to the final six.

Tommy

Re: Aftermarket magazine Top Technician Competition - whats involved

Posted by Nigel Yardley on April 8, 2014, 7:46 am, in reply to "Re: Aftermarket magazine Top Technician Competition - whats involved"
Nigel Yardley

Sorry Mark, checked all my inboxs, but not found any messages. Try nigel@yardleys-garage.co.uk

Re: Aftermarket magazine Top Technician Competition - whats involved

Posted by Mark Carter on April 10, 2014, 5:50 pm, in reply to "Re: Aftermarket magazine Top Technician Competition - whats involved"

Thanks for your time and understanding earlier today Nigel, It was good to talk to you directly.

Regards

Mark

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