Getting into work as a mechanic?

[Tepper]

As the title suggests really.

I'm 19 and have a reasonable level of experience, about the biggest task I've done is an engine swap on a friend's fiesta in his back garden.

I went to a local college today (city college in southampton, if anyone's interested) to speak to them about doing an NVQ or something similar in motor vehicle maintenance. They told me a bit about the content of the course, which sounded fairly interesting to me.

So, the questions I have for you kind people:
- Is it worth doing? I.E. does the time and money spent on completing the course translate well to being able to get a job in the trade?

-Are there other options? I've thought about just asking local garages if they are willing to take me on as an apprentice. If I went down this route, I probably wouldn't get any sort of formal qualification. Is this a big issue in the grand scheme of things?

-For those already in the trade, how did you get into it?

-And finally, is there a particular area (diagnostics, for example) that is short of people with the skills required?

Thanks in advance for your advice, I'd much rather listen to people who actually do this for a living than some useless careers adviser.

Cheers

Will

[Mystery Machine]

I'm afraid I can't offer any advice mainly due to not being in the trade, but I just wanted to wish you luck.

If your approach and attitude to work is as well balanced and considered as the way you have written that post, I reckon you'll do well whatever route you take. Often when people ask for advice they usually start out with 'tell me about' and the context of the post is no better. Yours is both informative and well though out.....if I had some real world advice, I'd happily take the time to share it with you. I do hope others will too.

I wish you all the best and hope you get the answers you're looking for?

Personally, based on other jobs I've done, experience usually outweighs qualifications by a hell of a long way all day every day. If you can approach garages and approach them with the same attitude you have with this post, I'd love to think that one of them would consider taking you on. I guess it can't do any harm to ask?

Once again, best of luck with it. ;D

[bl1300]

I literally just finished a similar course and am setting up my own business shortly. I'm already getting lots of people asking me to do work on there vehicles purely through word of mouth, and seeing the work we do at college. My course was a National Diploma in Motor Vehicle Engineering and id say they are worth doing as they teach you the other side of working in the trade, such as dealing with customers and assesing the value of work required. Go for it you wont regret it.

[bl1300]

p.s. some of the courses offered require you to attach to garage and work there at least one day a week as part of the course.

[jrevillug]

Excellent post. Again I can't offer any direct experience, but I'd suggest that if you do go down the loacal garage/apprenticeship type route that you try to keep in their good books to gain a decent reference - worth it's weight in gold (or more) when moving on without qualifications.

I can that out of my personal experience of dealing with old cars there's a lack of people that know their way round carburettors and contact-breaker ignition. That said, I don't think there's much money to be had there - there aren't a lot of cars still running that technology - so I wouldn't go out and out to specialise in that field.

[Raoul Duke]

I too can't offer any real advice, just total encouragement. I very stupidly allowed a careers 'adviser' to talk me out of training as a mechanic many years ago. The main point she kept blathering on about was that I'd never earn a fortune doing it: well, 18 years on and I'm not earning a fortune anyway, just bemoaning all the skills I don't have. I genuinely hope it works out for you, however you decide to go about it.

[TurboDieselWeasel]

Jun 11, 2012 19:15:13 GMT Tepper said:

For those already in the trade, how did you get into it?l

I bought a W124 Merc wagon. I swapped the hatch. I sold the Merc, bought another (sig) and put the hatch on eBay. It sold for 1€. The guy who came to collect it saw what I did with that other Merc and told me he knows someone runing a garage who needs a helping pair of hands.

I just went to the garage, introduced myself and started working a week later. And so far I'm not thrown out ;D

I never had any course, or training or such thing. But what I learned very quickly is that hobby (at that point 'cars' was my hobby for about 8 years) & profession are two completely different animals. I get payed by the hour - and I'm expected to work 'economical' - to work quick. No long breaks to try and figure stuff out. My reasonable understanding of basic (automotive) mechanicals & structures helped me big time here.

And there's not always time to sort out everything. I had to learn to 'let cars go', regard them as pure objects, to nt mirror my passion in them. To not care if it makes sense to swap a wing and leave the pumpkin sized rust hole underneath... It's too heartbreaking. I do my job as good as I can, though. Even if it's not always pleasant...

[Seth]

Jun 11, 2012 19:50:42 GMT jrevillug said:

I can that out of my personal experience of dealing with old cars there's a lack of people that know their way round carburettors and contact-breaker ignition. That said, I don't think there's much money to be had there - there aren't a lot of cars still running that technology - so I wouldn't go out and out to specialise in that field.

I've read several times over the past couple of years that there is a lack of younger people coming through with the long term interest and desire to learn skills required for quality car restoration. It might be worth seeing if there's any such companies near you and seeing if they are interested in an apprentice or, if on a course that needs you attached to a garage like bl1300 mentions, that you could work there a day a week while on the course. Personally I would get a much better sense of satisfaction if involved in restoration than normal modern mechanic-ing.

[bl1300]

Restorations are fun but you wont get enough work to get by unless your willing to do moderns. My own business plan that just got the go ahead has me specalising in older vehicles. By that I basicly mean low value 90s cars that the owner doesn't give a damn about as long as it works are the bread and butter with the nice stuff coming as and when its around.

[`state]

If your GOOD at restorations you`ll make a very good living out of it.Spanner monkeys are ten-a-penny but people who know how to do a quality restoration are thin on the ground.You just need to build a good reputation.
Just look at what Cal and Nat have done at Retro-Power.
But i wouldnt turn work on moderns away as it can be easy money doing servicing ect.You just need to find what your good at and stick with it.

[<Type desired username here>]

Started my apprenticeship at 16, been a mechanic ever since.

Providing you are reasonable competent you should be able to find work no problem. Decent mechanics are always in demand.

Until you have proved your worth though, most places will pay you less as you are not time served. If you have the right attitude you can work your way round that, if you are committed, keen and use what you learn you will do well.
Its just as easy to find a decent mechanic who hasn't done an apprenticeship as it is to find a time served idiot! LOL!

Having said that, its not an easy job. Whether you want a career working for others or you want to have a go yourself its physically and mentally demanding and if you are an idiot or inexperienced your bad reputation will spread much faster than it takes to earn a good one.

In an ideal world most mechanics on here would earn their money building their own projects but it doesnt work like that! You have to take the sh*te with the smooth. When you want to be building a retro sleeper you will still have to fit Movano clutches, Picasso springs and vectra brake pipes! LOL!

[JohnK]

Jun 11, 2012 19:26:25 GMT Mystery Machine said:

I'm afraid I can't offer any advice mainly due to not being in the trade, but I just wanted to wish you luck.

If your approach and attitude to work is as well balanced and considered as the way you have written that post, I reckon you'll do well whatever route you take. Often when people ask for advice they usually start out with 'tell me about' and the context of the post is no better. Yours is both informative and well though out.....if I had some real world advice, I'd happily take the time to share it with you. I do hope others will too.

I wish you all the best and hope you get the answers you're looking for?

Personally, based on other jobs I've done, experience usually outweighs qualifications by a hell of a long way all day every day. If you can approach garages and approach them with the same attitude you have with this post, I'd love to think that one of them would consider taking you on. I guess it can't do any harm to ask?

Once again, best of luck with it. ;D

I 100% agree with this post. Qualifications are all well and good, but experience will always count for more and this is from personal experience and not just hear say from different people.

Slightly different scenario, but the field of work I went into required no qualifications (despite me having a degree). I started at the bottom, worked up to 'supervisor' level and I am now at management level. There are specific qualifications needed for this level, which are usually obtained through work based learning - I don't have these qualifications. My work don't even know I have a degree (a case of when I applied for a job at the bottom of the line I didn't want to appear over qualified). Fortunately a few years working at base level to gain experience, a good attitude and a willingness to carry out most tasks has done me in good stead.

Hope you manage to get the career you want bud.

[waveman1500]

So, based on what people are posting, you don't need any qualifications to work as a mechanic in the UK? Wow, that's shocking. In Australia it's a standardised 4 year apprenticeship. Every apprentice has to go to trade school at a TAFE for a certain number of weeks per year and they have to pass a whole range of assessments on all the modules they learn at trade school. Our apprentices are very poorly paid though. In order to encourage employers to take on apprentices, the government has set it all up so that apprentices get paid much less than the minimum wage. When my mate was a first year they were getting about $5 an hour. I think it's up to about $7.50 per hour now, which is half the minimum wage. Imagine how all the trade apprentices feel when their mates are earning twice as much money working at McDonalds!

I'm glad that they do have mandatory qualifications though. Tyre fitters don't have to be qualified and most of them are clueless. I took my Beetle to get a wheel alignment at a big-name tyre shop once and they had no idea what to do. They had about four of them working on it for two hours and all they could do was set the toe in/out. Couldn't find the steering box to adjust it and didn't even dare trying to adjust the rear end.

Do I have any useful advice for the OP? No, not really. It sounds like you have a clear idea of what you want, and the drive to get there. You'll do well.

[akku]

Jun 11, 2012 20:09:30 GMT bl1300 said:

Restorations are fun but you wont get enough work to get by unless your willing to do moderns

Tell that to RetroPower, FH Ellis, Romance of Rust...

If you are good enough and have enough of a name behind you work will come to you and will wait patiently for 6 months before you can get started on it. Amit booked his Camaro into RetroPower like in July or August for an April start date...

To get there you need a proper business plan, proper marketing and the ability to do the work to the standard that will sell itself.

I think its a whole different way of conducting business which is why when I hear of people using places who do moderns but also do a few classics on the side I hear of customers not being so happy. Customer expects one thing, garage expects another kind of mis-match can occur.

As everyone else has said, approach potential employers with a "can do" attitude and you will go far. Good luck. Its hard out there in the job market right now.

[bl1300]

Jun 12, 2012 7:21:06 GMT akku said:

Jun 11, 2012 20:09:30 GMT bl1300 said:

Restorations are fun but you wont get enough work to get by unless your willing to do moderns

Tell that to RetroPower, FH Ellis, Romance of Rust...

If you are good enough and have enough of a name behind you work will come to you and will wait patiently for 6 months before you can get started on it. Amit booked his Camaro into RetroPower like in July or August for an April start date...

To get there you need a proper business plan, proper marketing and the ability to do the work to the standard that will sell itself.

I think its a whole different way of conducting business which is why when I hear of people using places who do moderns but also do a few classics on the side I hear of customers not being so happy. Customer expects one thing, garage expects another kind of mis-match can occur.

As everyone else has said, approach potential employers with a "can do" attitude and you will go far. Good luck. Its hard out there in the job market right now.

Well I suppose it also depends where you are my locality is fairly poor so the quantity of people willing to pay out for cheque book restorations is very small compared with some of the richer areas and the other thing is I'm mobile so don't have a premisis to work from. As a result I cant take on a full blown restoration as I just don't have the facilities to do it. My area is running repairs as there is simply far more work in that field. Ive been doing a lot of research into this recently as I'm in the process of setting up myself. What I can say is that I could not get any help from the bank manager to set up if I was only working on classic cars.

[Seth]

I don't think anyone walking straight out of a college course would have anything like the necessary skills for good restoration. But as I said, if it was possible to hook up with a company that has a good reputation and let them continue your training in more specialised areas then it could lead to a long satisfying career.

[akku]

Aye, I wasn't suggesting you can pitch up and start turning out Concours stuff by the end of the week... Just that it is possible to work towards a business which specialises in niche stuff. IF you are good enough and have the "name" to do it.

Lance @ Romance of Rust worked years in coachbuilding before going out on his own. I'm pretty sure the RetroPower guys had it pretty lean for their first years of trading, but they have been going what, 3 - 4 years? And have full order books and a waiting list... It *can* be done, I'm amazed at what they have achieved to be honest.

And the cars aren't local. Don't hold with this "people round here are poor" that just means your rent and labour is cheaper! I know cars in RetroPower from the south of England and also from Ireland. The people who know what they want don't mind travelling to drop the car off...

I'm not sure what the market / scene is like on the south coast but once the OP has some good experience behind him he would be able to see whats what and maybe specialise from there.

As said though, get some commercial experience and some money behind you first is the way to tackle that.

[Tepper]

Wow... thanks. It's replies like these that make retrorides the place that it is, 5 minutes spent starting a thread on here has yielded more useful information and food for thought than hours spent on the internet and has the careers lady at the college beat hands down. Seriously, congratulations.

From what you've all said, I think the way to go is to have a word with some garages in the area and see if I can get one to take me on. My plan is this: I'm going to offer to work for them for a week for free, and if they're happy with me then we can talk about pay. I drove past a place the other day that had some very interesting, classic coachbuilt metal about, so I'll certainly be paying them a visit.

Thanks again for not only your help but also your words of encouragement, as some have said it's not easy out there at the moment and it means a lot.

I'll let you know how I get on

[steadyg2002]

What ever you decide..........good luck.

[xbo11ox]

BL1300 cracks me up, he may be ‘straight out of college’ and 22 years old but don’t forget we’re dealing with a guy of something like 10 years auto electrical experience, (including his GCSE projects that is). If he says you can’t earn a living from classic cars ‘because local folk don’t have the money to pay for it’ then thats just how it is!!! Blame the customers.

Tepper you sound like a good bet and your free trial idea sounds great, seems to me like you’re going about it the right way. Good luck to you.