Mechanics moving on to better things

I would love Sundays off. I actually work two jobs. But the main gig is only Tuesday Wednesday off

 

How about becoming an FAA certified mechanic. ALL planes need maintenance by approved mechanics, unless you build your own plane, and it’s a killer combo with a pilots certificate..

 

I spent 45 years as a mechanic - started out on cars then transport trucks, forklifts, hydraulics etc. I wished I had changed professions years before I retired as my knees and back suffered badly when I hit 50+ but I persevered until 60 when I finally gave up and retired. As you age the job gets harder and harder on your body and your memory and eyesight start to fail slightly making it harder. I tried to find an easier job to do even though I would get a lot less money but everybody just offered me mechanics jobs and I presume because of my age didn.t help either. They used to use old mechanics as service managers but now-a days they just want younger aggressive salespeople to sell services even though they know little about mechanics. The one thing that is good about it was that I learned a lot of skills like welding, diagnostics, electronics and hydro etc. and I never did the same thing every day and met a lot of people over my lifetime. In my day money was average but tools are expensive and no pension plans so there are a lot better professions out there. Fortunatley, I prepared for retirement and put away a little each month so I could retire early. My advice: If you are young enough, retrain and change professions now - don't wait until it is too late. Hope this helps

 

OP, what are you passionate about? Nothing like doing something you love to do no matter what it is. If you don’t know, there’s info out there to help people figure it out, interest inventories, aptitude tests...Google is your friend here. Live within your means and the money won’t be so important now but you want to do something that will allow you to start banking some coin... Good Luck!!!

 

It doesn’t sound bad, but I want out of the game. If I was to stay in the trade, I would open my own shop. The thing is mechanics always get shit on. I’m always being nickeled and dimed. It gets old. Free shit. Labor cut downs. It’s hard enough to beat the damn clock without having labor cut down by.2 or .3 that adds up fast

 

Your opinion is valuable to me. And funny considering that's what all the old heads here say. Still just curious of an equivalent transition money and experience wise.

 

I will give the aptitude test a shot. As far as being passionate about something, it doesn't really exist for me. I like tinkering with cars and bikes on my own time. But as a career it drives me nuts. Certain aspects of customer service are fun because I enjoy helping people. But again, it grows old pretty quick. I'm leaning towards a car dealership service advisor, but the idea of starting over is kind of sketchy. I understand people don't do great things in their comfort zone. Eh, we'll see what happens

 

Not a mechanic by profession, but going on year 10 of active duty and can totally resonate with your statement of killing your body and mental well being for a paycheck, just isnt worth it. I'll be seperating in less than 11 months and picking up grad school for OT. Seen far too many younger guys get caught up in the new cars, etc. with their new found paychecks only trapped now in a career they hate that takes so much from them. Good luck with your search my friend!

 

If I’m being honest. I feel every service advisor or service manager needs to have spent at least a couple years turning wrenches in the bays before they can move to the inside. Almost all service writers are nitwits that can’t even change a spark plug in a lawn mower.

 

I started in the automotive industry when I was 19 at Les Schwab. Then moved on to Toyota and finally Lexus as an hourly guy. After 4 years of that, I wanted something more.

Changed career paths to aviation as a pilot. Couldn't be happier, but it is a long road to get to a jet. So far I still believe it will be 100% worth it. Especially with the hiring forecasts in the airlines.

 

That's my thought process. Gives me access to a few things I'm good at and I'm pretty sure they make decent money.

 

Dude, that is awesome. If I wasn't scared of heights and flying I would give that a shot

 

@Bebop, find yourself a ground school, if you haven’t already. It’s a couple of hundred bucks. You’ll make connections at the airport and can learn about all aspects of the industry, including the mechanical side. I know you want out but it might be a totally different gig working on planes and it could lead to you towards getting into that left seat!

@IMissDrugs , doesn’t seem like you need to rush into anything now, take some time to do some research and soul searching. You say you don’t know what your passionate about but given time, you can figure it out. Just don’t let drugs get in the way...
Edit: seeing your avatar, first I thought is was a meth lab then saw the cat sitting in there...Could be both, only you’d know... Ever thought about being a Veterinarian Technician, two years of school and some practicuums...

 

LOL, thanks. I don't do, nor want to do drugs. It's an inside joke type thing.

 

I left that part out I guess, huh? I turned wrenches.
I figured I'd start with low pay, but with finishing my associates degree, taking the brand specific training, working hard, being on time, etc I would make more by turning more hours (becoming more efficient with experience) and also get regular pay increases.
What I did not know was that the way work was handed out, unless you're in the clique, you get the crap jobs. In addition, my hourly pay never increased much, and my overall take home pay never increased much. I never minded sharing the wealth of crappy jobs and gravy jobs, but when all you get is crap, it gets old. Changing oil was not beneath me, but it's hard to make 8 hours in a day when you're trying to do it 0.3 at a time...and that includes getting the ticket, finding the key, finding the car, getting your parts, etc.
The parts counter job was better - as least I didn't feel like I was scraping and scrounging to get every nickel. We had two counters - one in the back for the techs - the other in the front for retail, floor mats for new car sales, keychains, etc. I primarily worked at the back counter, and I preferred that, but my boss was a pushover. We had to stay manned until 6, even if it meant doing absolutely nothing for the last hour. That got old quick.
I think service advisors typically make more than techs, but I would not want that job. It depends on the shop, but it can be cut-throat. Our SAs would get there at ungodly hours to beat the other SAs there to get all the tickets in the night-owl box and they also had to be there until 6 PM. Working 12 hour days sucks when you're dealing with the public a lot. You're a slave to the customer survey ratings. I also heard them grumbling several times about the pay plans being changed on a moments notice. They had two choices - accept the change (always benefitted the company) or pack your stuff and get out.
Dealership jobs generally suck unless you can claw your way to the top. The GMs make well into the 6 figures and some might even go into the 7 figures. It's a long road from the service side - imagine this - tech, foreman/service advisor, service manager, then you might be able to make the leap to GM, but you're probably going to want some experience on the sales side before you do it so you can understand the nuances of deal-making, leasing, financing, etc. Then there's the whole back-office people with titles, accounting, logistics of moving used cars to/from auction, etc. I'm not saying the GMs don't earn their money. They have to juggle a lot of balls and they also work crazy hours.
I think a better way to go would be to get your experience as a tech, then maybe look into teaching tech school, either at a local community college or go to work for the manufacturer teaching the techs who are working in the field. That can be a pretty sweet gig.

 

My brother is a mechanic. He started doing it because he liked working on cars. Then when it was his job he realized that it was not nearly as much fun as just tinkering with it in your own time. Not wanting to go back to college, he decided to just work himself up in the industry, since that is where his love is. He did parts for a while, just to get the experience, and then service advisor. He recently took a position as workshop manager at a dealership, which he likes because he does not have to do the physical work, but he is still involved in it. It is also diverse, since he has to deal with the customers, staff, parts, even deal with sales department etc. It adds another level of headache if you don't like the paperwork side, but you have to decide if you want to climb the ladder or not - you have to take the good with the bad to get to the top.

 

I was a mechanic for 7 years and 4 of those were in the Army. About 2 years after the army my knee and back gave out. I went into service writing and have done very well over the past 12 years. If your not into sales then another good option is driving truck. After a few years experience the money gets pretty good. I have a few buddies that went into that and couldn't be happier.

 

In my experience, you are either a truck driver or mechanic. I've yet to meet someone who is truly both. And I can't drive a truck and trailer for shit. What field of service writer are you? Auto or heavy?

 

This^

I'm a self employed landscaper. I'm now 25 and started out when I was 16 in high school.
In the early days, I was completely clueless. Slowly over the years I learned a little bit, but I didn't focus on progression too much as I simply saw it as a way to keep busy through college.
This past year, I've really been 'picking my head up and looking around'. Looking at other landscaping trucks drive by "How are they doing it? What equipment are they using? How is it arranged in the trailer?" etc. I joined an online, nationwide forum and learned a lot from those guys, even if I thought they were absolutely crazy at the time.
I'm still complete trash at bidding, but I'm getting better.
I finally hired someone for the first time this year because I finally realized that I had tapped myself out.
I got really good at marketing, and I'm great at talking to people. They really enjoy the 'homegrown, young adult, entrepreneurial spirit' and I got to the point I had to remove all my advertising and turn down jobs I was so overloaded. Working 10-12 hours a day, 7 days a week. Obviously, I need to charge more.
I'm still pretty young, so how much I worked didn't bother me so much earlier in the summer, but I'm feeling it now... I used think "it's not work, it's just keeping active'. Now I'm starting to hate it. At least I have a 5 month offseason to recharge.
But I definitely need to hire employees and move myself into management.

Moving into management - aka "duplication" - is how you can reap the profits, but it's not for everybody. If you are self employed, this is the dividing line between wages vs. profits.
You can make wages "working for someone else" or you can make profits as the business owner.

 

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