My Career Plans Created by: Adam Miller Instructor: Natalia Fofanova University of Houston (click to play)

Contents Introduction Service AdvisorChildhood Dreams University of Houston Weekend Graduate School Customer Relations Manager Service Director Fixed Operations Manager General Manger Dealership Owner Retirement Conclusion Plans After High School Realities Hit New Plans Title Slide

Introduction Ambition Modesty Being in charge of your own financial future means careful and realistic planning. At the same time, you have to balance ambition with modesty. If you don’t plan to succeed, you likely will not, and if you plan on just getting luckily, you likely will not. This means you need to formulate a solid plan, determine what you need to do, and get started today.

Childhood Dreams Growing up I always wanted to be a race car driver. When you’re a kid you don’t realize how difficult it will be to make your dreams come true

Plans After High School As I grew up, I determined that I could work my way into the racing world by starting with amateur club racing. But first I would need to learn about cars and working on them, so I enrolled in an automotive program at a technical school.

Realities Hit Getting into racing was way too expensive, even just building a race car out of an old peace of junk. In addition, there was no time or place for me to work on my project MR2, so I ended up selling it. I found that I really do not like working on cars for a living. Modifying and upgrading cars is a great hobby, but fixing broken cars for other people got old real fast. Time for something new...

New Plans Looking at my options, I decided I would like to stay in the industry, and even keep working at car dealership, but I wanted to move up, wear a tie to work, make more money, etc. So, I needed to go back to school to get some sort of business management education.

University of Houston TELS Senior Project Presentation The UH College of Technology offered the Technology Leadership and Supervision program, which allowed me to apply my automotive credits as a technology emphasis and start as a Junior. Also, the classes were offered in the evenings, so I could keep my day job.

Service Advisor Now that I am about to graduate, I have started looking for a Service Advisor position at another dealership. This job is a step closer to management, and it gives me the opportunity to deal directly with customers instead of being stuck under their hoods.

Evening Graduate School Once I get settled into my new job, I plan on going back to UH for the evening MBA program at the Bauer College of Business. I think I need to continue learning, building my skills, and strengthening my resume.

Customer Relations Manager The next step up, after working as a service advisor would be to become a Customer Relations Manager. Not exactly a manager (they usually don’t have any real subordinates), this job pays more and is a one step away from a true management position.

Service Director It is my goal to become a Service Department Director before I am 40-years-old. This job would basically put me in charge of the dealership service and repair facility, and I already have great plans for how I can improve processes that are typically used in the industry.

Fixed Operations Manager The next step up from the Service Director is the Fixed Operations Manager. When I get this job (hopefully before I am 45-years-old) I will be in charge of the entire dealership back- end: service, parts, express lube, body shop, and detail shop.

Dealership General Manager By the time I am 50, I will do one of two things. I will either become a General Manager, or I will open or acquire my own dealership. First I will try to take a GM position, which basically means I would be in charge of the whole dealership. But, if this doesn’t work, then I will be creating a business plan and looking for investors for my own dealership.

Dealership Owner Though I may never take on this responsibility, if the conditions are right I will not pass up the opportunity. I would need enough expertise, enough capital, and a location or existing dealership that offers potential for a successful franchise.

Retirement If I become a General Manager, then I will retire when I am 65. I have already been putting 3% of my pay into a 401k, and plan on continuing to invest how ever much my employer will match. However, if I end up with my own dealership, I will never retire, and just pass the business down within my own family when I die.

Conclusion Though things are not nearly as exciting as I had envisioned as a child, it is time to be more responsible with my financial future. If things go well, racing can easily become a part time hobby. However, dumping all of my money into racing when I don’t make much to begin with is not wise, and I am glad I realized that. After all, money doesn’t grow on trees

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