Motor Age and PTEN are committed to supporting young technicians in the automotive aftermarket and we want to shine a spotlight on those who are paving a successful path in the industry. This is part of a monthly series to showcase the best young talent in our industry.

When David Schulz first started as a technician at Matt’s Automotive Service Center in Fargo, North Dakota, his general manager, Vern Newman, would have described Schultz as a “B technician”.

Not exactly someone one might picture as making it into the top ten candidates for the first annual PTEN and Motor Age Best Young Tech Award, a program that aims to recognize innovation, dedication, and excellence in the industry’s technicians aged 35 and younger.

However, Schulz made it his mission to fill the gap left behind when the shop’s A technician moved on. Through countless hours spent studying, he was able to prove himself capable of taking on a lead technician position at the company’s busiest location in just six months.

“David’s knowledge of how the vehicle operates and his ability to understand any make or model is second to none,” Newman says.

In addition to his role as lead technician, Schulz has also become the to-go guy for advanced diagnostics and calibrations. He often lends his expertise to the company’s various locations, and though he is pulled “a thousand different ways during the day…he always comes out the other end with a smile,” Newman notes.

“His attitude for the automotive world and his passion for helping people is something we cannot train and is truly special to find,” Newman says.

Schulz sat down with PTEN and Motor Age magazines to talk about his career path, offer guidance to other young technicians, and share some anecdotes.  

What is the best piece of advice that you’ve received during your career?

Be confident in yourself even if others think you're wrong.  Move forward, make that step, and go from there.

What is the most random item in your toolbox?

I have a magnifying glass. It’s to see really tight spots. My vision isn't super great, so it does come in handy actually quite a bit.

What are your career aspirations?

Right now, I'm the lead technician of five stores and what I'm moving into is more of a management role. I’m striving to do mainly ADAS systems and diagnostics or vehicle testing and to be a trainer within the industry.

I do the training for all our newer techs, and then we're moving towards, getting a new location set up for strictly ADAS and testing and stuff. And then I'll have an apprentice there. I currently have an apprentice, but the goal is that I'll have the younger technicians and do training strictly out of that location.

How did you first become interested in the automotive industry?

So I grew up on a farm and we kind of fixed our own things and that's kind of what started to spark it. Then what really set it off was when I was about fourteen or so there was a small shop where I grew up that was looking for just someone to help out with oil changes and stuff like that. So, I signed on there and then that really sparked my interest and started me on my career path. I spent a lot of time there during the summer and then I did an apprenticeship with them before college.

What is your favorite tool?

I would say my favorite tool would be one of my lead sets. I’ve got a really inclusive lead set from ASE wave that has a lot of terminal tools and connects to pretty much anything you want it to. It really speeds up testing and it works with my lab scope.

What is the most challenging or memorable repair you’ve worked on?

I'd say the most challenging was about four years ago or so we had a seventies Cadillac El Dorado that needed an engine and that was a 500. We couldn't find one anywhere, new or used. So we ended up finding one that fit this application that didn't need a ton of modification because that year range had a really specific block build. So we found one and it was in really tough shape. The exhaust manifolds actually were so heavily rusted they had spaced themselves away from the block at this point so you could see air between them. I spent about a day getting those off and drilling all the bolts and getting them tapped, stuff like that. This was also my first really large job. More than just an engine R&R, this was we resealed the engine, timed it. It was an older car and it was one of my first really big jobs.