well its been a long train runnin and the light at the end of the tunnel is finally here. my 6 years of active duty in the navy is finally almost done. yeah the college money and the travel is great but the MAIN reason was to find myself and build character. i've made up my mind i am going to be a mechanic. nothing sparks my interest more than taking something apart and putting it back together, especially when it comes to automotive. i've been a communications electrician all this time and have great paying jobs lined up working for telephone companies and cable televison broadcast. but money isnt everything. it kinda is and i kinda isnt. you gotta pay the bills and then everybody wants to have alot extra, but at the expense of hating your job and hating your life it would be so much better to pay the bills and then have just a little bit extra or break even and be completely happy. okay so now for the main question. is a tech school a good idea? some say screw that, just start as a tire boy and get ojt. other people say its totally worth it. i got the gibill so might as well do it. whats the best school? i'll be living in orlando so its right there. being a bike mechanic has crossed my mind but not when youre in the bike capitol of the world, it comes back to the money thing.

 

Unfortunately in todays world...........a degree is EVERYTHING! That little piece of paper will get you farther now then it did years back. If someone else will pay for it...take advantage of it.

Todays job market is all about you knowing what to do TODAY...not learning on the job. I started my job 22 yrs ago, with no schooling. I started driving truck and worked into the shop where I learned the whole business. I taught myself Autocad and learned the "engineering" part on the job. If I was to go to another place and try to get a job, would I have the upper hand with experience? Or at the bottom of the list since I have NO degree? Double edged sword.

A friend back in the early 80's joked that we couldn't get a job mowing yards because we had no experience. Can't get a job without experience, can't get experience without a job!

 

well congrats first off and let me say this that if you really love something its hard to make it a career. I love motorcycles more then cars and i worked at a bike shop for my formulative years. about 5 years total doing everything from being a mechanic to running parts counter.... I have also been an auto mechanic and i know that I hate working on other peoples things. I have enough to worry about keeping track of my 10+ cars/motorcycles/jetskis. I work in transportation research, basically one off fabrication for the research industry. I work for the state so the pay isnt the best but the job is great and at the end of the day im happy to go home and work on my own stuff.

with the motorcycle industry it was way different then the car industry, just something to think about.

UTI is a great school and being close, if thats what you want to do I say go for it. YOu might want to consider a specialty like restoration of old cars(big market) or possibly focus on one brand like jag, beamers etc. thats where the big money is. run of the mill mechanic is tough work. my brother was a mechanic for 20+ years and to make big money he put in alot of time and did side work. With my job i work m-f and never bring my work home

 

yes i have thought about that also. a saying goes "do something you love and you'll never work another day in your life" but then on the other hand alot of people get burnt out that way. your passion is working on cars and then at the end of the day you dont want to come anywhere near a wrench. "the shoemaker does not have good shoes" is another one i like. so it looks like this will either work out for me spectacular or i will be one miserable son of a gun. frieghtrain has some good points. no not a distributor silly lol! about the market. you can have 30 years experience and be the master of your craft, but you dont have a stupid paper that says so. or you can have that stupid paper and have zero experience.

 

my brother lucked out big time because he got in the dealer he worked in the early 80s and stayed there for 20 years. he passed away a few years back but he was making a good bit over 100k when he left. but he worked really hard. growing up he loved his cars but after a few years of being a mechanic he didnt really have the same passion for them. When i worked on motorcycles i still spent every minute outside of work riding or building bikes.

ps, i took a quick look at your myspace page. thumbs up!!

i think the big difference between the motorcycle industry and the car industry is this. even though both are transportation the motorcycle industry on the whole is still a recreation thing. i put more miles on my motorcycles every year then my cars easy. that reason alone for me made working with motorcycles great.

good luck with whatever you choose

 

I have friends in the automotive repair world. They took it in college, one even has own business now. I'd hate it even more then my job right now LOL!! I enjoy tinkering with my stuff, but if it was everyday...it would wear thin really quick.

The plumbers house always has a faucet that drips, the mechanic always has a car that doesnt run..........it's all relative. You have to at least enjoy your job to some extent, some have more passion then others. Mostly get a job that pays you enough to enjoy life. That's the key, and the only reason I stay where I'm at. It pays well enough to keep my "therapy"(hot rods) running LOL!