Automotive Life? Jobs?

[trik]

Ok maybe not your typical post, but a good place to ask.

I am out of highschool, love cars, took the auto classes in school got the basics and what not. Oil changes, fluid changes, tire changes, some electrical run downs, basic maintnence, changing battery, some body work, bondo, painting, buffing/ polishing etc...The basic over run of cars and how to care for them.

I dont consider myself the typical kid who likes cars. I try not to hang around the local performance shops ( around here they are a joke ), with his honda civic hoping to make his break in the fast and furious life.

I have worked on friends cars and what not, telling them to bring it to me instead of taking it to jiffy lube to get an oil change and everything. I love doing all that myself. Even helping with headers/exhuast/intake.

Now I don't really know where to go from here...I would love a job in this industry. I know there is so much car know how and facts I don't know, but I want to.

Im lost on schooling, work experience, making it all happen?

A small outline of what I would like to do over the next 5 years would be get a job with as much hands on experience, take some schooling. Get a job as a mechanic or at a performance shop, work there for sometime and then after time open my own shop

So Im curious of what would be good approches to this? Good / bad job exp? Courses to take, what not to take? Any input at all on this would be much appreciated!

[solaris=amazing]

Hey man, i'm pretty much in the same boat....yeah i never took coarses to learn about cars..i learned by doing.

I do love cars, and honestly wouldn't mind working on them and getting paid. One thing i do know, get certified... THAT'S the big word...CERTIFIED. Example, i can install car audio, speakers to building boxes, amps, re-wiring the whole system (running wire)....but all that is USELESS without being certified..i place wont hire you because you know alot of sh*t. Most the time they rather a guy just know enough...but is certified.

I want to get certified in doing brake jobs/alignment etc..cause there will always be a job in that. Ofcoarse the this will take time. I'd say check out your local community college's to see about coarses and stuff...or, you can work for a mechanic as a helper and learn ALOT. Overall, from what i've heard, it's a good career with a big potential to make a good buck (off the books type work :-).. I worked at Autozone for about 5 months and got a taste of what a mechanic's daily life is like......

Be prepared to be a morning person......Not like 9am to 5pm....more like 6am to 3pm..that's something i'll always hate.

[MagicRat]

Usually there is some kind of licencing authority.
Here (in Ontario, Canada) its an apprenticeship course to get your class A licence.
You register for the course through a local community college. In 5 years time you take several tests to see if you qualify. In this time you must work for a proper auto repair shop or dealership service dept.
The tricky part is the shop should teach you and you learn by doing, and they pay you. The problem is sometimes shops dont want to be bothered to train; they just have the apprentice do oil changes for 5 years, so the apprentice learns nothing and fails the tests.

IMHO its best to get a job at a dealership. Large manufacturers have co-op training programs through local colleges.
When I was in this program (with GM) we spent 4 weeks in school, then 3 months working in the dealership, then 4 weeks back, etc.
This would go for 3 years, by which time you were qualified.
Therefore, the dealer co-op program got you better trained on all the latest tech, and you got your licence 2 years faster than being on your own.
The trick here is finding a dealer willing to hire and train an apprentice. Its a pain in the ass for them because they have an employee who is not there 25% of the time. Some dealers hire 2 or 3 apprentices so there is always at least 1 or 2 apprentices there when one is away being trained.

I would suggest call some dealerships in your area (not just GM, all makes ) and see which one has the best training and is willing to take on an apprentice.

[$upraman]

If you don't mind paying for it, the absolute best auto education you can get is at UTI. I'm starting at Exton this Fall. It's a rigorous program...basically a year and one quarter, non-stop, not even summer break. You only get about a week off for Christmas. The classes are every weekday from 6am to 12pm. Or you can take it from 12pm to 6pm, whichever one you desire.

But like I said, it's a costly program, the one I'm taking with the Ford FACT program included, is about $28,000. There is also manufacturer specific training that you can take after you finish the program (i.e. Mercedes-Benz ELITE) and the school will pay for the tuition as long as you maintain a certain GPA and attendance record.

[beef_bourito]

I'm thinking of becoming a mechanical engineer (whel, not really thinking of it because im only applying for mech engineering and nothing else) i hope to work for a car company of some sort or (dream job but not holding my breath) formula one. of course, i dont know your financial situation or your academic situation, here in canada university tuition is pretty cheap (gotta love government subsidisation) so all i need are marks. it all depends on what you want to do, if you want to be a mechanic, get an apprenticeship, if you want to be an engineer, go into engineering, the automotive world is so full of careers that you should be able to find something. good luck in your career search.