May 12, 2022—Susan Bock worked in the insurance agency for over 16 years, and when she was let go due to downsizing in 2009 she decided to take the opportunity to explore career opportunities that could utilize her skillset.
She enrolled in the Vehicle Refinishing & Repair Technology associate degree program at Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton, Wisconsin.
The support that she received from her instructors was instrumental in her eventual decision to apply for a $5,000 scholarship with the Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF) and AkzoNobel in 2009, which she won.
The scholarship helped Bock pay for collision repair tools that she needed for school.
Bock joined I-CAR in January 2012 as an Instructional Designer. Once hired, she started donating to CREF.
“Upon getting hired at I-CAR, I set up an automatic paycheck donation to CREF because I feel it’s important to keep paying it forward." Bock says in a press release.
Following four years in that role, Bock moved to I-CAR's Reparability Technical Support team and eventually advanced to a Senior Associate Industry Technical Relations position.
Bock is proud to support the industry in this role.
“Go in prepared to learn everything you can, and understand that there are many different career options available to you," Bock says. "This is a growing field, and we need more new techs coming into this profession, but we need qualified professionals entering other roles as well.”