Becoming an Automotive Technician

Just call up a UTI rep and they can answer most your questions -MMI harley grad

>>15616266
Bump for interest

>>15616266
Ask yourself if you've ever seen a happy mechanic. Your job is something you are good at. Your hobby is something you enjoy doing. If you make your hobby your job, you kill the love for it.

I have always been mechanically inclined. I always fixed my own shit and did it because I liked it. Few years back I decided to make a career of it. I got a job at Pepboys as a general service tech. Oil changes and tires basically. Pay was 7 an hour plus 6 per book hour. 4 tires is a hour. Oil change and tire rotate was half hour. Made around 450-500 a week. They pay for ase certs so I took my g1 and got promoted to mechanic. Average~16 an hour. I got my a4 (steering and suspension) and a5 (brakes) and got another promotion to tech b. Average~17-20 an hour. Continued with my a6 (electrical) and then a7(air conditioning and heating) and a while after I got my a1(engine repair) which qualified me for Tech a. I was pushing 20-24 an hour depending on work available. Time frame on that was about 18 months. At 2.5 years I made master tech (a1-a8) I pull about 1500-2000 a week working 40 hours. Working at a dealership is a lot more stressful but they will show you how to fix damn near anything. Small shops are less stressful but you're limited in exposure to the variety of cars and issues that come with that. Plus hole in the wall joints tend to breed bad habits. I love what I do. The money is damn good and the education they paid for is nationally recognized. I looked at uti and they wanted 28000 for the education I got for free. Get an entry level position and get someone to pay for your school and work your way up.
Inb4 tl:dr

Can you take shit apart and put it back together and only have a few extra parts leftover?
Did you enjoy it?
Would you still enjoy it after being yelled at by a 259 pound secretary?

See
>>15616317

Small shops are just that. Small. Money limited. Dealership mastertechs make 100-120k. Major chains have consistent work too. Skip tire and lube joints. Go full service shop

I am.

>I really enjoy working on my car,
This doesn't translate to how much you will enjoy the work in the field

>What's it like being an auto tech at a small shop?
Very hit or miss. One person can change the mood and dynamic quite a bit, for better or worse. Very little room to grow into something better.

>Stealership?
The main thing about dealerships is working with flat rate. It can be good sometimes, but normally it's bad, makes work more stressful, creates major shop politics issues.

>Stress level?
Depends on the shop and how comfortable you are with the work, impossible to answer this

> What's the money like?
Depends where you are geographically. Tops out at around $34/hour where I am in the SF Bay

>I'd be fine with "you won't be rich but you'll never go hungry" + some for projects.
Very unlikely that you will be working on your own projects a lot, very few techs do

>>15616591
Should add

Do not go to a private trade school like UTI or Wyotech, do community college if you must pursue the career

Your attitude and how you can advocate for yourself is a HUGE part of getting where you want to go in this industry. If you are a pushover or whiner just forget about it, your life will suck. If you want to work in a specialty or performance shop chances are you will have to relocate if you don't live in one of the hubs like LA, Bay Area, Ohio, Indianapolis, etc.

>>15616591
I wouldn't be using the shop to work on my projects if that's what you mean.


Thanks for the replies guys. I'll see about getting in touch with some schools, possibly ask around town and see what other mechanics think of their profession etc. Just to get all bases covered before I dive into a career

>>15616618
Yeah I'd do community college. Choosing between automotive or Cisco/networking. I'm good at Cisco stuff but I don't really enjoy it, and I'd rather not get stuck doing something that nets a lot of money that I absolutely despise doing.

>>15616634
I meant working on your projects at all, when you work 40 hours + a week on cars the last thing you want to do is work on your own car for free.

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>>15616266
i have worked at 2 dealerships this year. its okay i suppose.
i started at walmart changing oil and that wasnt even stressful
now that im at a dealership you are expected to pull miracles out of your ass and to fix shit in no time at all.
the thing with dealerships or most repair shops is that you get a certain amount of time to do/replace something. sometimes you make time and sometimes you dont. you definetly learn alot about the particular brand you are fixing.
the money is good. all dealerships around me payday is every friday so thats 4 paychecks a month. i started at 8.90$ at walmart and left making 10.35$ now i make 15$ at a dealership. about to get bumped up to 20$ an hour becuase i have my own tools and shit. other than it being extremely stressful its pretty fun, you always get the good feeling when a customer comes in wirth an issue with their car and you fix it and its running better than it came in. its something else.