My son loves to work on cars. He has replaced the starter, idler arms, carbuerator, tie rod ends, installed new radio and speakers, and lots of general maintenance. He wants a job working on cars, preferably older cars. The problem is, he can't learn from books, but he can learn from OJT. (learning and emotional disabilities) How can I get him a job at a shop that doesn't require a tech school degree? He would be willing to work for minimum wage while he learns. Any ideas?
shops look for experience over techincal training. id sugest starting at a oil change place. then try a tire store that does basic sevice like batterys, brakes, and other basic services. he will learn on the job in these type of jobs and they dont require training.
Very true! I work in the service department at a Nissan dealership and experience is preferred over techincal training. Example...we just hired a guy from another tire/quicky lube place over a UTI grad! Books and classrooms can only take you so far. Of course if you are going to into system diag etc. training will be req. but most places will send you to school for ongoing education. It depends on how big a city you are in, but around here being a Tech doesn't pay crap right now. Business is slow. I would go into something else if it were me.
This trade is very advanced now. The greasemonkey days are long gone. He may be stuck at an entry level type job depending on his ability to learn. Tire shop etc. Even something as simple as a tail lamp out is not so simple anymore. No fuses, high side drivers, low side drivers. Circuit fault detection turns off circuits sending a general shop on a wild goose chase for an open cicuit. Its a mess. We dont have many older cars up here due to the rust so the trade evolves pretty quick up here. Depending where you are in the South maybe you have enough older cars to keep a shop busy with basics. Normally I would try my hardest to get him to change his mind and not enter this trade. Do something else like HVAC or electician but not an Auto Tech. In his case that may not be an option though and I wish him good luck. I hope it works out for him.
Dang!!! that other guy beat me to it!!! Support him however he decides to go but...Listen to Darren,Its dirty filthy,smelly,and requires ALOT of continuous training to stay with these new fangled automobiles not to mention being a gymnast or contortionist will soon be a requirement.Its not like working on a 70 maverick. 10 LBS of s!#t in a five LB bag now a days.It can be fun and rewarding but...there are much nicer jobs to be had.Heres a bit of wisdom(for what its worth) Pick your two favorite things to do...make your second favorite your career and keep your first as your hobby.Wish I would have done that...hindsight is 20/20.Good luck to you and your son.
my buddy has the practical experiance, and years of technition training, no one is hiring for a decent job in the field. they hire beginners and push them to the breaking point by doing menial jobs 2 the shops, ie snow clearing, weeds... nothing automotive. Good luck either way. Push for the HVAC, wish I had
Have him look for a job at a local rod shop/customizers....alot of those guys are all about the custom work/modifications, but really hate the routine stuff, like the work you've described your son doing/enjoying. They might well find him an asset for taking care of the general repairs, parts replacement, maintenance and freeing up time for them to do the fancy stuff, and, they mostly work on older cars. Another place to consider is a salvage yard......even on newer vehicles, it doesn't take a degree or training to pull cars apart, but he'll get to know about newer cars and general automotive knowledge from doing it.
I started out at Pep Boys with no experience except repairing my own when I got hired. Started out as a great place to work then a few years later when my service manager and I transfered and life set in, the villans showed their evil heads and it sucked. Their is alot of bs working for a big company that has people over people that have you under them. You become dispensible and a fall guy etc... don't go there. You also get stuck doing non paying stuff because there is a minimum they pay and as long as they are paying you do as your told. One on one independent shops are the way to go. I also have the tools now that I aquired from all the years. My entire family knows who to consider first when it come to car repaires. Get him some tools and let him have the driveway when he gets a call . Need charging advise? Just ask... I went to a wrecking yard once that had a couple of guys hanging around with tools. They would charge a few dollars to pull what you wanted. I don't think the yard operators were on to them yet tho.