ASE Certification Preparation: Getting Yourself Up to Speed

ASE PARTS SPECIALIST TESTING

Registration Deadline: September 30, 2008.

Test Date: Fall 2008 Parts Specialists will be given only November 13 at 7:00 p. m.

Other tests will be offered on November 13, 18, and 20.

For more information on the test or Canadian test locations, visit www.ase.com or call (703) 669-6600.

The Institute for Automotive Service Excellence Parts Specialist test regimen includes a series of six tests designed to evaluate the skill sets required by counterpeople in several specialized niches within the aftermarket.

Each test covers questions on communication and sales skills, vehicle systems knowledge, vehicle identification, cataloguing skills, and inventory management.

The tests consist of approximately 45-70 multiple choice questions. In order to earn ASE certification, a counterperson must pass the exam(s) and show proof of two years of on-the-job work experience as a parts specialist.

Tests available for Parts Specialists, and the numbers of questions they contain, are as follows:

P1: Medium/Heavy Truck Dealership Parts, 70 Questions

P2: Automobile Parts, 75 Questions

P3 (formerly P3B): Truck Aftermarket Parts–Brakes, 45

Questions P4: General Motors Parts Consultant, 65 Questions P9: (formerly P3S) Truck Aftermarket Parts–Suspension & Steering, 45 Questions

For most counterpeople, the P2 test is the most appropriate. The P2 Test Task List for the Automobile Parts Specialist Certification Test lists those skills of which counterpersons should have a strong grasp if they are going to write the test.

Review this task list to determine your comfort level with the various categories of questions and the number of questions that will be posed.

If you are quite comfortable with one area, but less so with another, you should concentrate your efforts on the latter. Keep in mind when you’re preparing, however, just how much of the testing will be concentrated on those areas. You don’t want to spend all your time preparing for a section such as Merchandising, which only accounts for three questions of the 70 total. Also be aware that there will be 10 additional questions on the test that are themselves being evaluated for possible future inclusion in test results. You won’t know which ones they are, though, so you’ll have to answer all 80 questions as best you can.