Become a Test Driver for Car Magazines -- a Dream Job for Car

By: David Bellm

Imagine getting paid to drive some of the world's greatest cars
-- Mercedes, Corvette, Porsche, Viper, and others. Sounds great?
Now picture doing that on luxurious all-expense-paid trips to
exotic locations, where you hang out with some of the biggest
names in the auto industry.

That's everyday life for car-magazine test drivers.

Hard to believe? You're not the only person who thinks so. I've
worked as a car-magazine test driver since 1999 and I still get
looks of astonishment when I tell people what I do for a living.
Getting a job like this seems like it would be as hard as
winning the lottery. But the truth is, you don't have to be
working for big, glossy sports-car magazines to enjoy a great
job as a test driver. There are countless other publications
that use test drivers. And you don't need extraordinary luck or
rare talent to get into this profession.

Granted, it's not as easy as applying to get a part-time job at
the mall, or even like going after a typical office job. But
it's also not a frustrating, one-in-a-million chance like trying
to become a rock star or a Hollywood actor either. Far from it.

There isn't a pre-specified way to become a car-magazine test
driver as there is for, say, becoming a doctor or lawyer. So you
have to pretty much find your own path into the field. That may
sound intimidating, but it's actually another one of the
profession's upsides -- people can work their way into
test-driver jobs from widely varying experience and education.
For example, one of my colleagues was working in a retail
bookstore before becoming a test driver. He got into an
automotive publication by taking a relatively easy job in a
publisher's photo library. The photo library worked with the
company's automotive division a lot, so he was in a prime
position when a job opened up there.

Now he hangs out at racetracks, drives Jaguars and Corvettes,
and goes on press trips to Hawaii and Palm Springs.

His story is fairly typical. Plenty of people -- men and women
alike -- get into the profession in similar sorts of ways. And
you might be surprised at how quickly things can move along
toward getting such a job if you put your mind to it. Although
every person's career progresses at a different pace, three to
five years is a pretty normal time for breaking into becoming a
test driver. Not bad for a job that routinely puts you behind
the wheel of $60,000 cars for a week at a time.

Regardless of your experience or education, you'll have to learn
how to write fairly well. Once test drivers drive a car, they're
usually required to write an article based on their findings.
And when they're not behind the wheel, test drivers are usually
sitting at their desk writing other things such as news pieces,
interview stories, or retrospective articles.

That said, you don't have to be an award-winning writer with
decades of journalism experience to become a test driver. A lot
of people working in this field are self-taught. With some study
and diligent practice, most car enthusiasts could learn how to
write well enough to do the job.

For anyone who loves cars, being a test driver is like a fairy
tale mixed with a weekend in Vegas -- you can't help but be
amazed by some of the things you get to do. It takes more effort
to get these jobs than it does to break into other, more mundane
fields. But it's well worth it.

For more information on how to become a test driver, go to:
http://www.autiv.com/

About the author:
David Bellm is the president of Autiv Corporation, the web's
leading authority on automotive careers. Prior to founding
Autiv, Bellm was a test driver and editor for Publications
International, which publishes Consumer Guide automotive buying
guides, Collectible Automobile magazine, and an ongoing line of
hardcover automotive-history books.