The morning of March 5, Jaime Baker sat at the front of a basement meeting room in Mary Queen of Peace Catholic Church talking to a group of high school students.

Baker’s not a teacher. He’s the co-owner of Eastside Bavarian, an independent Issaquah auto shop specializing in German cars. But last Thursday he put down his socket wrench to talk to students about the business — specifically, the educational pathway to becoming a mechanic.

“The days when you can drop out of school … and go to work at a shop are long gone,” he said.

Baker’s plainspoken about the challenges that lay ahead for someone who chooses to become an import mechanic. An associate degree with an emphasis on auto skills has become a must. Then there’s specialty training–Baker’s specialty, BMWs, requires a year-long fast track certification program typically offered by the Universal Technical Institute, though the program’s expanded to public two-year institutions like Renton Technical College. After all that, mechanics can expect to invest in up to $10,000 of tools and work poor hours until they prove themselves reliable, Baker said.

As Baker speaks, Liberty High School sophomore Boris Carias raises his hand to ask a question. Later he raises it again. And again. And again. What’s the best way to stay up to date on BMW technology? How do you qualify for the Universal Technical Institute? Would Baker be more likely to hire someone who earned their STEP certification from UTI, or Renton Tech? Would it be smart to look into a certification for fully electric cars like the Tesla?

“(Becoming a mechanic) has kind of been on my mind lately,” Carias, 17, said after the class. “I learned a lot about what to expect going into the industry.”

Carias was one of more than 200 students to attend the Great Careers Conference at Mary Queen of Peace. The conference–put on by the Issaquah School District, the Issaquah Schools Foundation, the Greater Issaquah Chamber of Commerce, the Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County and a number of other private and public partners–focused on vocations that don’t require a traditional four-year college degree, such as the culinary arts, graphic design, cosmetology or health careers.

Dennis Wright, the Issaquah School District’s  director of career and counseling resources, said the district has never lost its sense of the value of trade careers.

“What I truly believe is every parent wants their child to have a successful career in life,” Wright said. “We’re recognizing that by providing an avenue for students to explore their options.”

By meeting with professionals who have gone through the educational pathway to their job and can communicate the ins and outs of their day-to-day work, students can connect with a living example of their dream career–or find out early if it sounds like a nightmare.

“If a kid goes to a breakout session here and learns they really don’t want a career in automotives, that’s important too,” Wright said.

At last year’s conference, Issaquah High junior Abbey Obernberger found out her passion for playing video games didn’t translate, as she thought it might, into a burning desire to design them. And that was just fine, she said. She focused on other projects, like the Village Theatre KIDSTAGE apprentice program, which redirected her interest in design toward fashion.

Oberberger’s classmate, 17-year-old Antares Bon, said he had narrowed down his career interests to emergency services.

“Since I was a little kid, I’ve always wanted to serve the community,” he said.

So Bon filled his conference schedule with sessions in law enforcement, criminal investigation and forensics, and fire and emergency medical services. He had attended the former two sessions before lunch and, at that point, he was leaning toward law enforcement and the life of a uniformed patrol officer.

“Law enforcement officers, in the speaker’s own words, aren’t dumb,” Bon said. “They need to know fingerprinting techniques, tactics, their local laws… there’s a lot more to it than meets the eye.”

Both Issaquah High students said the conference had given them a good idea about what they want to study in college.

Carias, the Liberty High sophomore who had asked all the questions in Baker’s automotive session, was already planning his finances for after high school.

“I was saving up to buy a car,” he said. “But now I think I might put that money toward these training programs.”