[curtis73]

Its pretty easy to get the flow. After a week or so you'll start knowing which cars are pressing and which cars can take their time. Flag hours are pretty easy to track. You should get a work order with the flag hours listed on it. Sometimes you get gravy - like a water pump on a chevy (listed at 2 hours but you can do it in 1), and sometimes you get the crap, like a VW timing belt (listed at 4 hours but your first few will take 6). Just know that it all balances out in the end.

If you're salary, you'll be under the microscope. They'll cut you some slack in the beginning but if you are consistently taking longer than flag hours say you should, expect to get dropped. If you're on flag hours, you're a little less pressured since they only pay you for the work you get done but the bottom line is; the longer you take, the longer it takes the shop to make that income.

Diagnostic tools are the key. Most jobs can be handled with the typical tools, but correctly diagnosing them is paramount. Get a good digital multimeter, a good analog multimeter, coolant pressure tester, noid light set, fuel pressure tester, and maybe a stethoscope. I prefer a stick pressed to my ear but some guys really like the steth.

Ask questions. I would MUCH rather my techs come in the office and ask me how to do something. I personally don't judge. When I did my first timing belt I was clueless, so I would rather you come ask for help than do it wrong and smash pistons into valves.

Above all, be honest. If you mess up a timing belt and destroy the engine, tattle on yourself. Don't try to cover it up. We office jockeys are not only usually experienced techs, but we're salesmen. We can see BS a mile away. If one of my techs messes up and lies about it, they are shown the door immediately and (as per the contract I had them sign at hiring) their last paycheck is docked for the cost of fixing their f-up. If you come to me and say, "I screwed up" I try to do everything in my power to help you out. I had a tech who accidentally broke a customer's window while moving some pipe around the shop. He told me he did it. I spent a day finding a cheap junkyard window for him and didn't charge him the $15 for it. But if he lied to me and I saw it later on the security camera, he would have been out the door, I would have bought the easiest window I could get, paid another tech to do it, and docked his pay for it.