How To Become A Body Shop Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is a body shop manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a body shop manager. For example, did you know that they make an average of $36.66 an hour? That's $76,262 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -3% and produce -17,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreBody Shop ManagerUS Average

Salary

6.0

Avg. Salary $76,262

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

9.3

Growth Rate -3%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.24%

Asian 2.10%

Black or African American 8.23%

Hispanic or Latino 15.73%

Unknown 4.50%

White 68.19%

Gender

female 17.01%

male 82.99%

Age - 50

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 50

Stress Level

9.3

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

9.4

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

2.6

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Newest jobs for Body Shop Manager in Columbus, OH

Receive alerts for the newest job postings.

Key steps to become a body shop manager

Explore body shop manager education requirements

Most common body shop manager degrees

High School Diploma

34.2 %

Associate

25.7 %

Bachelor's

25.3 %

Start to develop specific body shop manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Dealership	14.11%
Customer Service	13.37%
Customer Satisfaction	10.71%
Insurance Adjusters	7.35%
Repair Orders	6.90%

Complete relevant body shop manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New body shop managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a body shop manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real body shop manager resumes.

Research body shop manager duties and responsibilities

Meet with QC and conduct walk through to ensure that a sign-off on finish product is achieved.
Manage and operate custom restoration shop for existing bodyshop.
Coordinate and assign jobs to technicians and manage timekeeping procedures for payroll.
Complete quality estimates for DRP programs utilizing ADP and CCC.

Prepare your body shop manager resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your body shop manager resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a body shop manager resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Body Shop Manager Resume templates

Build a professional Body Shop Manager resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Body Shop Manager resume.

Apply for body shop manager jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a body shop manager job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do body shop managers rate their job?

4/5

Based On 1 Ratings

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Body Shop Manager reviews

4.0

A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2021

Pros

I love the challenges that come with being a manager. My reward was seeing my employees flourish and succeed.

Cons

I don't like missing deadlines or someone who takes advantage of a situation.