So come fall I plan on attending a tech school to be able too become ASE certified, the schooling costs about 9 grand. Does it seem like a good idea? I really want to specialize in high end cars eventually or high performance powertrain and modifications, so would this be a good start? Any body with experience in automotive tech back ground I'd love to hear some stories or input on what would be a good approach. Thanks all! Sent from my Event using Grasscity Forum mobile app
once you're ASE cert, you can work ANYWHERE with grease on a cement floor. go with Diesel tech. diesels are the most expensive engines to service. making them the most profitable to specialize in. once my kids are old enough to enroll in school, i will be working to be an ASE certified diesel tech. grants and/or loans shouldnt be too much trouble and once employed, will be a breeze to repay if needed.
Yea I have actually been looking at diesel mechanic quite a bit, Ohio northern university would be where I would go, ive heard about uti but ive also seen the bad reviews so imma x that one out Sent from my Event using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Yes. People will always need cars, they will always maintain them, the money is decent if you are a fast efficient worker. And dude? Working on brand new shit is a breeze compared to this dumb shit I get myself into. Plus a lot of the technology going into them really takes a lot of the guess work out of diag. Just make sure that whoever you work for doesn't have a backstabbing two faced Service manager. And THAT is a lot harder than you'd think.
http://forum.grasscity.com/planes-trains-automobiles/1212267-mechanic-career.html Urge said I don't know about an office, but I know from experience I can't do assembly line work. Or really anything repetitious in nature. I'm fascinated as hell when I'm learning something new, but once I get past the learning curve I'm bored and start fucking things up because I'm there physically, but my mind is visiting far away places. I was a machinist for a few years. I thought that was me because I like to fabricate and "make stuff". I enjoyed setting up from blue prints, but after that, running production 12 hours a day was agony. Get there at 6am, read the entire news paper and eat all my lunch before first break when the roach coach rolled in. Tried machining intake manifolds at Edlebrock. That job was actually depressing. The thing I got from auto repair was that the learning curve was continuous. It never ends. Every manufacturer does it different. Every model in the same car line has something a little different. Same model 2 years later will have a different twist to it. There is always something you NEED to learn and you will always get better if you are serious about the industry. At 8am you're doing an oil change w/safety inspection. Before lunch you have diagnosed a faulty window motor, diagnosed 2 failed emissions tests, and produced a tear down/estimate for a front brake job. After lunch you do the brake job, replace the bad window motor, and do emissions repairs & retests. Tomorrow is a different day with different cars with different problems. You have good days and bad days, like anywhere else. Sometimes you're so frustrated it's hard to remember why you do it. Tools are expensive. Training is expensive and alot of it is bullshit and you're tired from working all day. But then you wonder what your alternatives are. How long would you last behind a desk rubber stamping post cards? Or at a conveyor belt counting widgets? Or picking up trash at a construction site? If you decide this is what you want to do, then get into the community college. If you're doing well there, getting decent grades (top 2 or 3 guys in your class), not totally board with it, teacher thinks your ok, then ask the teacher if he can get you into some kind of apprenticeship. Most likely he is in touch with most of the local shops, and they do occasionally ask him if there might be one student shining above the rest, shows up on time, fewer tats & piercings, acts like the lights are on, etc. You just may get to get some school half the day, and some OJT work experience half the day. Or it might be school a couple days a week and work experience a couple days a week. This will be a big help to you personally. Makes the teacher look good, shop gets cheap labor until they decide to take you on full time, and you get a break by not having to look for a job having no experience. But you gotta show yourself to be something that other people are willing to invest in. If that one shop doesn't work out for you, don't let that shoot you down. Not every shop will be the right match for you. Expect to go through several jobs before you find one that you feel is a good fit for you. At least try not to burn bridges behind you. One secret to getting better as you progress through the years in this career, is to always try to surround yourself with other mechanics who are better and smarter than you, and in their company turn yourself into a sponge and soak up everything they're willing to spill over to you. You will learn to discern between the ones with self indulging egos and the ones willing to share what they know with the new kid once they see you're serious. CMAT, L1, X1, Ca Smog License, 30 years.