COOKED
The core of the job — looking up part numbers by VIN or model, checking fitment, quoting prices, taking orders, and processing returns — is exactly the catalog-lookup and classification work that software already does well, and e-commerce parts platforms have been eating it for a decade. What survives is physical: pulling stock from bins, receiving and shelving freight, inspecting cores and warranty returns, and standing at a counter helping a mechanic or DIYer figure out what actually broke. Median workers sit in retail and dealership counters where headcount per store keeps falling as online ordering absorbs the lookup volume.
Mixed — a routine tier and a judgment tier. A 7 rather than a 4 because VIN decoding, fitment checks, and price quoting are already handled by Epicor/PartsTech-style catalogs, but the residual — diagnosing what a customer means when they bring in a broken bracket with no part number, cross-referencing a superseded OEM number against three aftermarket brands, and pulling and staging the stock — still needs a person at the counter; a 12 would require most shifts to be non-catalog work, and they aren't.
Some physical or field component. A 10 fits a job spent walking bins and back rooms, unloading hotshot deliveries, lifting rotors and batteries onto the counter, and physically inspecting cores for cracked housings or leaked fluid — real bodily work, but inside a lit, shelved, climate-adjacent store, not a roof or a trench, which is what separates this from 15+.
No licence, no signature requirement. A 1 because no state licenses parts counter work; if you sell the wrong brake caliper, the store eats the return and the installing shop or manufacturer carries the failure exposure, and nothing about you personally is on file with a regulator.
Some relationship component. A 7 reflects that the fleet manager and the independent shop foreman who call the same counter person by name and expect their account terms and preferred brands remembered represent real repeat relationships, but most walk-in DIY volume is a one-time transaction that migrates to whichever website has the part in stock cheaper.
Executes defined procedures on defined inputs. A 5 because most calls are bounded by the catalog, the warranty policy, and a return window with a manager override above a dollar threshold — the discretion you do exercise, like accepting a marginal core or advising a customer to buy the OEM instead of the economy line, is real but low-stakes and reversible.
Has AI actually changed your work?