My Future...

[Skinypete]

I have an idea what I would like to do for a living and thats work on cars, not as a jiffy lube mechanic but in the auto restoration business.  My Parents are fine with that decision but they (especially my Father) are pushing for me to get a degree in something that way I will have something to fall back on.  This is a really hard decision that I have been struggling with for the past year or so... I've been thinking about engineering or maybe business but I don't really know.

Could any of you guys tell me about you chosen degree? And if so can you tell me about your job that you got with it?

Thanks in advance

DJMIII

[General_01]

Go for a business degree. That way you will have some knowledge about running a business in case you want to start your own down the road.

[elacruze]

Go for a business degree. That way you will have some knowledge about running a business in case you want to start your own down the road.

Even a minor degree will help you with any job application, and serve you well for the rest of your life. You can get the degree while working too, kill two birds with one stone if you're motivated. Online universities like Phoenix are as widely accepted as campus-based also, consider that if you're living w/family.

[Cooter]

As A Professional Auto Technician (Mechanic), I can tell you right now, this is NOT for everybody..While it's fun to work on the family project with your Dad on the weekends, and when a problem comes up, you can leave it sit until you figure out what's wrong..When your doing this for a living, there is no leaving it till you feel like it...

It takes ALOT of patience to repair todays cars..They are not all 440's with Holley carbs that you can get online with your DC.com buddies and get a quick answer to all your woes....Get that piece of paper that says your worth $80K/year and get one of those office jobs where you can go home at the end of the day dreaming about Building your Charger, instead of pounding down a six-pack trying to get up enough patience to go in the next day to pull that engine out of that Lexus that will take you at least 2 Days to replace....

[PocketThunder]

As A Professional Auto Technician (Mechanic), I can tell you right now, this is NOT for everybody..While it's fun to work on the family project with your Dad on the weekends, and when a problem comes up, you can leave it sit until you figure out what's wrong..When your doing this for a living, there is no leaving it till you feel like it...

It takes ALOT of patience to repair todays cars..They are not all 440's with Holley carbs that you can get online with your DC.com buddies and get a quick answer to all your woes....Get that piece of paper that says your worth $80K/year and get one of those office jobs where you can go home at the end of the day dreaming about Building your Charger, instead of pounding down a six-pack trying to get up enough patience to go in the next day to pull that engine out of that Lexus that will take you at least 2 Days to replace....

^^ Listen to this man.      Exactly what i did.  I grew up in my Dads shop working on everyday cars and i had big dreams of having my own restoration business someday.  Then i realized that i only like to work on cars that are older than i am and when you work on customer cars all week long your sick of it by the weekend and then you get nothing done on your own car on the weekend. 

So i went to college and got a construction management degree and now i have a desk job during the week as an Estimator and i work on old cars on the weekends.  (well, i raise kids and do honey do list chores on the weekends, and nights...)  oh by the way, dont get married and have kids...  you'll be broke before you know it and you wont have to worry about restoring a Charger...          

[General_01]

My mom always told me that"the worst running car in town is usually the mechanic's because he is so sick of working on cars all week that he doesn't want to work on his".

[elacruze]

My mom always told me that"the worst running car in town is usually the mechanic's because he is so sick of working on cars all week that he doesn't want to work on his".

I think the old saw is "The Cobbler's children go barefoot and the Carpenter's roof leaks"

[Magnumcharger]

I did the restoration shop idea. Actually, I went to College, did my apprenticeship as an autobody mechanic/painter and years later opened and ran a collision-based repair shop. For a sideline, I restored cars.
This isn't really what I wanted to do though, - I wanted to build cars - which is a completely different thing.
I'll be the first to admit; dealing with assholes, whether they are customers or employees is not my bag.

I agree with the other fellows, get a business degree, and fart around with cars as a hobby.
I bought my Charger years before I opened my shop, and never worked on it the whole time I was in business. Mostly because I just didn't have the time to do everything.

I re-educated and now do Non-Destructive testing. I make a heck of a lot more than I ever did as a mechanic, and now have the time (and money!) to play with my "toy" cars!

[W4ATL]

If you have the chance to go to college do it. Check out restoration shops in the area and see if you can intern or work part time in them so you can see what it is like.

A great book to read about someone who did something similar to this is Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matthew B. Crawford. This guy went to college and then opened up his own motorcycle repair shop.

[DodgeByDave]

I'm a mechanic, and have a degree in engineering.

IF you are a decent mechanic, you can fix stuff. I fix it all. Bring me your broken bolts. Bring me that trashed plasma Tv.

The difficult I do right away. The impossible takes a tad longer.

Shop labor starts at 50 an hour.

75 if you watch

100 if you help

142.50 if you screw it up and then bring it to me.

It takes a while to build a good clientele. It also takes a while to build a good case of hemorrhoids sitting on your ass in an office somewhere. I lasted about 3 hours on an engineering staff.

Residual income. Ahahahahahha the best kept secret of the deal. Parts.

let me restate that:

PARTS

Junk parts become scrap aluminum. Good parts make good profit.

just so you understand, for example, I just lowballed an engine change on a 1998 Buick Lesabre at 300 in and out. Why? I already had a line on a wrecked 2004 the ins. co. was going to sleep with the guys wife over. I gave him 1000, sold the engine in the swap for 1k, made 300 on the swap, airbag was worth x, cat converter was worth y, and teh wiring z. (I ain't telling those!). Also salvaged the Radiator, computer, the interior went to a dude that builds kit cars, etc etc etc.

Work at a job? Are you crazy?

Yeah, you are going to get dirty. Ice, snow, cold shops, 3am trips to rescue stranded spouses, kids, pets, etc. Retirement plan? AHAHAHHAHAHHA. If you get hurt, you ain't working. You are going to get hurt. I got hurt (s).

Spent about a year and a half on the couch after a racing accident. IF I had not been prepared, I might as well had shot myself it would have been that devastating.

It's all in what you want. When I get up I see the boss, at least until she days different. I do as I please, when I please. If I feel like not doing anything at all, it's sweet. I turn off the cell phone, get on my bike and ride.

Now then, I ain't rich. Never cared to be. Never wanted to be. What I do have is an independence that I can tell any other man to take a flying screw at the moon and not care. If I call you sir, it's by my choice and respect, not because you might hold sway over my paycheck while you goose my wife at the picnic.

I wouldn't presume to tell another man what to do, but this is what I do.

One thing is for sure and for certain, you will be going nowhere without knowledge and education. I didn't say college. I said knowledge. The 2 ARE NOT mutually exclusive. We all know a college educated idiot or two that would be better served to be shoveling manure at the stockyards.

At the same time, consider this. In Mankind's roughly 2.5m year existence, before the Gutenberg press we had barely progressed past oxcarts. In the 500 years since, we have gone to the moon.

I just downloaded 13333 sci-fi novels onto a 6 gig flash drive, I have 45 years of just about every car magazine ever on cd. I got rid of every shop manual I ever had (after scanning of course). My garage laptop has a 500 gig HD and I just hit 90. All it does and all it's for is shop and repair stuff. What do I do if something craps? I shoot broken HD's, and not care as it is all backed up.

Now we have sources from the internet like these forums.

Think of where the next 50 years will take us.

Oh yeah, another story, you gotta stay at least up with stuff. My father went to work for delta airlines in 1964. His foreman told him not to bother with jets, they wouldn't last. In 1967 My father had his job.

[stripedelete]

As A Professional Auto Technician (Mechanic), I can tell you right now, this is NOT for everybody..While it's fun to work on the family project with your Dad on the weekends, and when a problem comes up, you can leave it sit until you figure out what's wrong..When your doing this for a living, there is no leaving it till you feel like it...

It takes ALOT of patience to repair todays cars..They are not all 440's with Holley carbs that you can get online with your DC.com buddies and get a quick answer to all your woes....Get that piece of paper that says your worth $80K/year and get one of those office jobs where you can go home at the end of the day dreaming about Building your Charger, instead of pounding down a six-pack trying to get up enough patience to go in the next day to pull that engine out of that Lexus that will take you at least 2 Days to replace....

Cooter is Spot On!

My dad told me, "I don't care if you dig a ditch, but you are going to do it with a degree." 

A degree is a ticket your generation HAS to have punched.   If you go technical, i.e. engineer, great - get a minor in business.  Or visa versa.  I held some great nontechnical positions because of my technical education.  When you get the degree get yourself 3-5 years work experience in something, even if it's not in the field of your degree.  At that point you will REALLY have something to fall back on.  Then, if you still want to dig that ditch - have at it.


I have a friend who is hands-on in his own two bay shop. He absolutely loves his work.  He does well and has an enviable life.  He is constantly taking very technical college courses to better understand the operation of modern vehicles and therefore giving him an edge on diagnosis.  He could have easily been a mechanical or electrical engineer, which is about what it will take to be a successful auto tech in your lifetime.  When he is not working he is wreck diving.  The only wrench he turns outside of his shop is on his boat.  He won't even have a conversation about my charger.

I had a great 20 year career in corporate america.  I am now out on my own with my own business.  I wish I would have gotten here ten years earlier.  So, I am not saying don't follow your passion - just remember what my dad said.


Good luck and I wish I were you.
   

[Silver R/T]

As A Professional Auto Technician (Mechanic), I can tell you right now, this is NOT for everybody..While it's fun to work on the family project with your Dad on the weekends, and when a problem comes up, you can leave it sit until you figure out what's wrong..When your doing this for a living, there is no leaving it till you feel like it...

It takes ALOT of patience to repair todays cars..They are not all 440's with Holley carbs that you can get online with your DC.com buddies and get a quick answer to all your woes....Get that piece of paper that says your worth $80K/year and get one of those office jobs where you can go home at the end of the day dreaming about Building your Charger, instead of pounding down a six-pack trying to get up enough patience to go in the next day to pull that engine out of that Lexus that will take you at least 2 Days to replace....

so true, I couldn't have said it better myself. Get a degree kid, we have a few douches at work that don't do jack s$$t but they make way more than I do.

[jeryst]

1. You need to look at what you really like to do. That will give you
direction, as you will be doing it for the next 40 years, so you might as well enjoy it.
Come up with a list of possibilities.

2. Research your list and find out which ones are in demand, and their future outlook.
Energy, medical are growing fields. No use getting into something that will die out
at some point in time.

3. Find and talk to others who do the same thing you are thinking about doing. How are they doing? Are they making it?
Do they still like it, or are they sick of it? How's business? You've already gotten some insite and
advice from members who work in the auto repair/restoration industry, so take it to heart.

4. Pick something where you can start your own business and be independent. I've worked for
others all of my life. Now, at 57, because the company that I worked for closed, my prospects are
bleak and I am forced to start over. No one wants to hire you once you get past a certain age, unless you are really in demand.
Better to have your own business than depend on others. That way, you (not your employer) reap the rewards of
working hard. Around here, the wealthiest people are those that own the businesses, not the people that work
for them.

5. Once you make your decision, get whatever education/degree is required.

[twodko]

Oh man........where to start? Listen up little brother, every man here has just told you the gospel.......from their hearts and from their life experience. Many of us here have had a very similar conversation with Cody whose in that "tough decision time" himself. The Cooterman, elacruze, DodgebyDave, Magnumcharger, stripedelete, PocketThunder, General_01, jeryst, Silver R/T and W4ATL are passing you the keys to success, hopefully happiness and most importantly........answering to no one but yourself. Truly, knowledge and college are not necessarily the same but get a degree. Nowadays a BA/BS means you can read, write and count to ten. A 4 year degree shows a prospective employer you will stick with it whatever it may be..........that's huge in today's' world man.....HUGE. Employers are wading through a sea of slackers looking for you.....the guy who went the extra mile, the guy who'll take it on and own it! Without this basic degree your choices are severely limited. An AA/AS today is little more than a HS diploma. The more knowledge you gain the more self sufficient you'll be and no one can take that away from you.....ever! Pardon me if I'm preaching I'm not trying to scare you, this is just the reality of our world. Once you have that 4 year sheep skin follow your degree field or follow your heart BUT do what you love and you'll never have to work another day in your life.

Tom

[Skinypete]

Thank you all for the wonderful advice

I have not yet decided as to what I'm going to do but with your advice I thought up a possibility and I'm seriously considering starting off with it.  I applied to Penn State University tonight (well almost I still need to send the $50 app fee ) with a major in Civil Engineering and a minor in Business.

I figure that once I get started, you know send out some "feelers," I can change what I'm going for if I decide its not for me.  I might even go to a technical school after college just to become more "well rounded," but thats way far in the future.

Once again thank you all for the advice!

[Darkman]

I have an Engineers Degree (Civil Engineering) and I now have a Master's degree in Business Administration (MBA) and the people I manage (construction workers) still get paid more than me! Some of the best managers in our organisation have worked their way up from labourers. My degrees have helped me land the job, but I have never used what I have learned as it has come from watching and listening to the workers!

My opinion, while you are young, get the hands on experience (ie mechanic, body shop, construction labour etc) and when you have some experience, enrole in night school and get the piece of paper to say you are qualified. I am currently mentoring a few of our workers to get management qualifications whilst they are working. They will be great managers as they understand the ground level stuff, and they learn the ins and outs of the business. I regret not having the practical experience behind me before I did my degrees.

Down here in Australia, there is a massive skills shortage as all the old tradesmen are retiring and there is noone to replace them (as they are all in University studying). When they graduate, they still know nothing about the trade...Our country needs skilled workers (the old saying "too many chiefs, not enough Indians"). There is nothing wrong with starting at the bottom and working your way up.

[PocketThunder]

Thank you all for the wonderful advice

I have not yet decided as to what I'm going to do but with your advice I thought up a possibility and I'm seriously considering starting off with it.  I applied to Penn State University tonight (well almost I still need to send the $50 app fee ) with a major in Civil Engineering and a minor in Business.

I figure that once I get started, you know send out some "feelers," I can change what I'm going for if I decide its not for me.  I might even go to a technical school after college just to become more "well rounded," but thats way far in the future.

Once again thank you all for the advice!

Hey there is a guy on here named Brian and his handle is mopar440+6 , anyways he went to Penn State for mechanical engineering and i think he graduated recently,  you could look him up and ask him questions..

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=192

[twodko]

What darkman said.

Tom

[mopar73]

Get the degree!!!!   Do the car stuff for fun on the side.

[jeryst]

I'm currently taking mechanical engineering classes at Penn State. One thing I want to warn you about. If you are
serious about it, go straight for the 4 year degree. I went back to college and am in the 2 year mechanical engineering course, and recently
found out that almost none of the 2 year degree classes will count towards the 4 year degree at University
Park. So, you cant get the 2 year degree, work a couple of years, then go for the 4 year degree. You would
have to go back for almost 4 years.

Also, IMO, stay away from trade schools. My oldest son and some of his friends decided to go the trade school
route, and none of them have been able to find jobs. And their tuition was more than if they had gone to
a regular college.

[dkn1997]

Thank you all for the wonderful advice

I have not yet decided as to what I'm going to do but with your advice I thought up a possibility and I'm seriously considering starting off with it.  I applied to Penn State University tonight (well almost I still need to send the $50 app fee ) with a major in Civil Engineering and a minor in Business.

I figure that once I get started, you know send out some "feelers," I can change what I'm going for if I decide its not for me.  I might even go to a technical school after college just to become more "well rounded," but thats way far in the future.

Once again thank you all for the advice!

If you plan on opening you're own business, then follow dad's advice and even if it's not a degree, get yourself educated in business.  Talent will only get you so far.  the ability to turn out points champion restorations will not get you where you need to be. You have to know how to be a businessman also.  That's just as hard as any skill you have to actually fix stuff.  You need the knowledge to run it day to day and you need to plan your long term strategy for incidents like you already read about, getting hurt, economy takes a dump.  do you think the shops that have weathered the storm so far all employ the absolute best mechanics and body men?  I'd say that in most cases, the ones that survive do it because the guy in charge knew what he was doing.