|
|
Apr 20, 2006 13:57:12 GMT
|
Right well i say being a mechanic can take you where ever the hell you like. The prospects are numerous and plenty, how many people do you know who drive a car?
Future potential can mean a job at McLaren putting together F1 cars, and before anyone says anyhting its much easier than you think to get into that kind of job. And theres no grubb fingernails in McLaren i can tell you that.
Degrees have been derated by the government, but also the kind of degrees that people can do now. My course has taken 4 years, this is full time 22 hours lectures a week and then all of the assignments and out of uni work on top. But there are some degrees that i could do in 6 months on the same kind of schedule as the engineering degree.
If you would like to do a degree then its a good idea, as long as the degree chosen has some merit and is worthwhile. Other wise go into work, find where you want to work and ask them for a job, if they say no then ask them for some work experience for a week or two for free. Usually they will take you up on this and you then have your foot in the door. You can get a job pretty much anywhere with this techinique, i have worked at numerous race teams because of it.
either way, its what ever you really want to do. The jobs are there as are the prospects, you can go as far as you like with determination and effort.
J
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Apr 20, 2006 14:26:31 GMT
|
I know someone who's a mechanic, and it's gradually getting shut down - they're looking to plough tens of thousands into diagnostic equipment just to stay open. There's very little out there that doesn't have irrepairable circuitry in it these days. He doesn't like it! He's been doing it since he started working now, it's his own business - turns him over, but some days it's quite depressing as you can go down there and the place'll be empty for 3 days, then have a little rush - but he's obliged to sit there and wait just in case
|
|
Last Edit: Apr 20, 2006 14:27:34 GMT by Lewis
|
|
Davenger
Club Retro Rides Member
It's only metal
Posts: 7,272
Club RR Member Number: 140
|
Mechanicing Davenger
@dminifreak
Club Retro Rides Member 140
|
Apr 20, 2006 14:57:07 GMT
|
I used to be a mechanic, fully trained technician. I'm now doing a degree in Graphic design.
curse word wages, curse word working conditions and quite often curse word people to work for
|
|
|
|
|
|
Apr 20, 2006 15:31:28 GMT
|
Like any job I guess - it is what you make it. Alot also depends on the type of place you end up working & the guys you work with. I seem to know loads of mechanics & one thing that seems common between all of them is that they have to work hard for their money. It also seems that to be a mechinic you need to know alot about everything - increasingly so as cars are integrated more & more with electronics. One now runs a little village garage in Westmeath in Ireland having been a production manager for Cosworth Technology & enjoys the more laid back lifestyle - but can still be found late into the evenings working away in his dirty draughty premises, but thats what he likes. (incidentally he features in the 'How to' section of an Irish Max Power type mag ;D) One did an appreticeship through a local Mercedes dealership. His job involved mainly plugging in a diagnostic machine & replacing broken circuit boards/sensors within a spotless state of the art workshop - he now works for a Porsche dealership in Crawley and helps in the preparation of cars that run in the national GT championship. Another took over the running of the Metro & Mini centre here in Wellingborough but despite working every hour God sent he was unable to pay himself a wage in the 18 months he ran the business. A family I know run the VW specialist garage in town, there main business seems to be MOTs & servicing, they are always really busy with the odd car in for bigger jobs (like my van ) They'll tell you they work hard, but they do seem to do very well from the garage. Another mate used to work for them but has recently handed in his notice simply because hes got fed up with working on cars & wants to do something different. I suppose it depends on what floats your boat, but you do have youth on your side. I've never been a car mechanic and I've never been to Uni. I kind of regret never going to Uni & experiencing the student life, but I've never regretted never becoming a mechanic
|
|
|
|
|
|
Apr 20, 2006 16:19:08 GMT
|
Heres some examples. The best was Ken, he had run his garage since the 1960s, been in the trade since the 1950s. His "cottage style" garage ran on word of mouth an hlaf a century of goodwill. When you went in to pick up a car you got a cup of tea and a natter, look over the parts he removed (all cleaned and laid out on the table for you to see). People popped in who weren't even looking for a car repair, just for a chat and a digestive. It was a great place. I learned a lot about how to do business from him, and also a fair amount of how to fix cars. He was a true gent. He charged £15 an hour because the mortgage was all paid up. He loved his job and the lifestyle. Eventually he became too old and shut the place down, a great loss. I thought that would be a great life. But I couldn't cover my mortgage on £15 an hour or at the leisurely pace that business took on round there.
A mate of mine owns a garage. He's worked his nuts off for years working for other people, rented a unit and ran a couple of business out of that (Mini bus hire and a landrover repair specialists) also did wedding hire and the like. Now him and his son have a mortgage on a proper garage and MOT centre and they work all the hours in the day/week and employ 3 or 4 others too. I bet I earn more than he does and I have a nice cushdy job in the public sector.... And the punters really get arsey when he fails their car for bald tyres or what ever, argue the toss. Give grief because they think £60 is too much for a 12000 service etc etc
I couldn't deal with the public they do my head in.
I know of people have got out of the trade because its going the way of the supercentres and main dealers and the pay and conditions suck there. I know one garage that closed down because the guy found he could make more money and work much less by fitting Spammy spam spam spam, no thank you, man. for one of these sales places.
Another guy I know in the MOT trade complains that peoples can buy newer cars on credit now. Fewer tests, fewer repairs, and loads of main dealer only parts.
Not trying to put you off but its a changing industry. You could be spending the rest of your life just changing black boxes on Megans or whatever. The "art" of it is dying and the amount of diagnostic kit (and price of it) is going up and up.
I considered it as a career change a while back but I couldn't face it day in day out.
|
|
1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
|
|
|
|
Apr 20, 2006 17:59:55 GMT
|
mechanic!!!
business studies is a waste of time; far too much emphaiss these days is on going to uni!!!! if you specialise you can be on good money in a job u enjoy
as for debt at uni i do no worry about it; you only pay back relative to what u earn!!!
(imho)
Rich
|
|
1974 Fiat 130 Coupe 1987 Saab 900 turbo 1988 Mercedes 300ce coupe 1988 Skoda Classic Trials Car 1988 Skoda road rally rapid 1990 Saab 9000 Carlsson
|
|
|
|
Apr 20, 2006 18:18:33 GMT
|
my view on work is that its key to work for yourself otherwise you a)are likely to work for curse word no matter what you do and b)tend to earn other people their wage/bonus.
If you can do a few years to see if you like it, you can then always set up on your own as you mentioned above. Sounds like your parents are great, maybe they have a barn on the farm they would let you use while you got a business off the ground.
richardjn - that a con imho. It is all relative but the % goes up the more you earn. I think it makes a big jump at £20k or something. When i was in London i was paying £2/300 some months. Thats more than i'd be repaying if it was on some credit cards!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Apr 20, 2006 18:35:51 GMT
|
Do it while you can. I didn't go to uni...I went straight into IT. Three and a bit years later, I'm in a situation already where, if I didn't like my job or if I wanted a change, it would be rather difficult to chop it in and start afresh. i did go to uni... got my degree in an IT subject. Now work repairing computers, not using my degree at all. Would love to be a mechanic but i already think i'm too old (26 11/12ths) to start afresh, given that mechanics would start on minimum wage for at least 4-5 years before getting the decent money. if you think you might like it, try it now - you might not get the chance later.
|
|
Never trust a man Who names himself Trevor. Or one day you might find He's not a real drug dealer.
|
|
Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
Posts: 15,538
|
|
Apr 20, 2006 23:25:23 GMT
|
I'll add my own experience though it may not be totally relevent but better that you get numerous different viewpoints to make your decision. I was all set up for the GCSE, A-level uni route and felt I had to go to a "proper" uni too as it was around the time the polys were alll changing over. My mum reckoned I'd be better off at one of the "new" universities but I ignored her and ended up at Manchester Uni studying Mech Eng. I had a year out before hand working for a company that I manged to get sponsorship from so I already had an idea of how engineering worked in practice. I found the university course really tough, very theoretical and very different from the real world experience I'd had. My second year went totally balls up for various reasons and I dropped out of Manchester. But I still wanted a degree so I signed up at UCLAN in Preston and found the more practical nature of the course (helped by the fact that several of the lectureres were ex Leyland employees!) suited me much better. I re-sat the second year, did a sandwich year at my sponsers and then finally finished uni 6 years after leaving school. I got a job in the aerospace unit at the company that sponsered me (they made rivets and fasteners) but then it all went tits up 18 months later and I got made redundant. Found another design eng job that seemed really promising and 18 months later that went tits up too. I got really fustrated as I was one of the few people on the Mech eng courses who actually wanted to do engineering and I felt it had chucked me out. With the help of an old family friend who deals in antique watches, I now work for myself from home doing some real old school engineering using very little of what I learnt at uni and I couldn't go back to a normal job. ;D So I guess what I'm saying is that Uni isn't necessarily always the best option but equally the life experience of being there can be rewarding. If your parents are supportive then I guess if I were you I'd go the uni route as the chances are it would become much more difficult to do it in say 5 years time. Don't necessarily expect it to give you a massive leg up once you're done there though as it can still be hard work to find a career Sorry for rambling.
|
|
Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable.
|
|