Opinions...

[the baPhoon]

Allright folks ive slacked for way too long. Ive been out of a job for almost 2 years living day to day. Ive been thinking about a few things. I get obsenely pissed when i read some of the posts here that may as well be written in persian farce, I understand NOTHING and it bothers me when i dont have the knowlege to do something :rotf: Now that was a motivating factor for one of my choises. An auto school. Ive been thinking long and hard on this and id love some advice. Yes, cars that go fast are my passion, BUT from what ive read in previous posts the money is lacking. And recently the job market has been flooded with people comming from UTI/AAI/Wyotech and other schools. My other hobby is tinkering with electrical BS. Ive been looking into a bachelors degree in Electrical Engeneering from Devry for a while now. Way more money in that from the get go.
I would love to have these delusions of grandeour thinking about how ill start my own custom go fast shop and make oodles of money, but thats just not too likely. So, Hit me with some knowlege if you will folks.
I do love fiddling with my trucks and what not but the chance it makes me the kind of money i would like are slim to none, and we all know these damn sy/ty's can suck down some benjamins.I can always take some corses in automotive later on down the line and have some knowlege along with some of the guru's on here. So, lay it on me people. Be brutal.

 

[speed_addict]

Re: Opinions...

I graduated from WyoTech about 1.5 years ago. Let me tell you one thing that is ABSOLUTELY true about these types of schools. You - get - what - you - take - out - of - it. I cannot emphasize that enough. You can search countless opinions about UTI and WyoTech, they are both kickass school that have way more to offer than a regular community or tech school. Most opinions you find say, "oh it sucked i cant get a job and i cant spell and im poor and the teachers sucked"......... well guess what, boo hoo thats their own damn fault.

Whats crazy is you sound just like me. And Im right with you. I really want to bust into the electrical engineering because I love that stuff, Im just confused about what careers are open to that degree. But besides that, when you talk about owning your own shop, I agree right along with you.... there was a couple years where it was PRIME to open a shop, we just all missed that phase, now there is a lot of competition on the coasts and south, and some in the midwest.

So enough of this book. If you decide to head up to WyoTech, get on the list now, it might take a while to get in, but Advanced classes like Chassis Fab & High Perf Engines are VERY worth it. Thats where the money is at.

Good luck !

 

[the baPhoon]

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Yeah i was talking to a guy that said he absolutly LOVED chassis fab and high pref. It just sounds
like the money you make isnt all that much. I live down the road from lockheed martin and i know they are allways looking for engeneers. That would rules.

 

[Black Knight]

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I'll try and write this and not sound negative so here goes.

I've been in the automotive repair industry for 8 years and have worked on cars as long as I can remember. It can be a difficult field to deal with at times. Most of the time when people come to you they're in a bad mood beause their only mode of transportation is not working correctly or their having to spend money they don't want to or don't have. From that end of it, it can be very frustrating and depressing dealing with unhappy people all the time.

Vehicals are sooo unpredictable, you quote someone a time frame or a price and I can't even count how many times something goes wrong that is out of your control and you have to go over either of those dead lines. Then the whole world comes to a end for people and you get to see a very ugly side of humanity.

Now you sound like your leaning more towards a high performance shop which may work out excellent for you, but unless you have a very, very broad field of knowledge or experience it's hard for me to imagine making it without being able to cater to everyone. Again your dealing with dead lines and if you for some reason go over, it's the end of the world. For that reason alone is why I'm trying to get out of the auto business for good and go into something more laid back, atleast something where people are happy to come spend money with you, not pissed off.

I hope this helped you in some way, I know lots of guys that have no problem dealing with all the people and B.S. but personally after this long I'm sick of taking an ass chewing from a customer because they're POS is broken and broke more when I was trying to fix it for them.

 

[turbotyphoon69]

Re: Opinions...

I think you ment Persian Farsi, and I have three VERY close friends currently attending UTI. Now they find them selves in a a bind, because in highschool its sounded great...."Work on cars and get paid for it!" but unless you are going to take their Porche/Mercedes/BMW or Ford & Ford electric classes after all the basic stuff then you aren't going to make much. The father of my bestfriend (who is actually an ex ty owner and on here from time to time, him not his father) is a shop foreman at a large Ford dealership here and my UTI buddies looked at what was availible through him or some one of like status, only to find that until you really work your way up, you are looking at a sad salary. 35k a year, and when you come from a decently wealthy background, you are losing more than you are gaining. I would tell you to shoot for a Porche/Mercedes/BMW scolarship or internship but the truth is only a handful of HIGHLY dedicated students from UTI get that. I mean nearly NO absent days and a PERFECT driving record....

I am not too far off in age from you but luckily I found my business early on, I chose the car business and entrepreneurship. So I opened a small used car lot, however I once thought LONG and hard about the UTI/Wyotech deal and figured Id rather own the corporate ladder than climb it. So basically I don't mean to sound like an ass (like that fruitcake TytilIdie) but if you want to live a real nice lifestyle and end up like some of the guys that are on this board who have lifts and toys packed into their garage with every tool you'd want then you should shoot for a less saturated market. In my opinion, if you go to school for two years, thats two years you cant have back and there is no use in getting old and making good money if you dont have your younger days to enjoy it.........23 may sound young to you but IMO you better get moving cause you cant have a single day back.

 

[the baPhoon]

Re: Opinions...

Ive been in the auto industry for around 4 years now. Ive done everything from quick lube to light line tech and honestly i hate customers. I mean, i hate dealing with people period LOL. After alot of serious consideration im going to lean in the way of Computer/electrical engeneering. My favorite toy when i was little were those springboards from radio shack (you know the ones, the raind detector and build your own FM radio). I can also find my way around a computer and its inner workings damn well. Ill look over the job market here and see what i can find wage wise for both the enge jobs and make my decision. My mother is disabled due to an auto accident so i can get some big government grants, untill i turn 24. So i need to get my ass in gear. My girlfriends entire family is/were mechanics and they're not the most well off people. I guess ill just make some moola and take a few courses later.

 

[windowlicker]

Re: Opinions...

I have 4 friends who work as Mercedes Benz techs, a friend who is a Ford tech, a friend who is a VW tech and I hear them complaining all the time about their jobs. They talk about all the politics at their shops and how they aren't given good work and how there is competition by all of the teams for the good paying jobs (flat rate) and how their is an hourly wage cap (I think around $23) and how the shops all expect you to perform at a certain level...and so on. And they say they don't feel like working on their own project cars when they get home because they were working on cars all day at work.

Just do something you enjoy and the money will follow, and while this sounds cliche--it's really not about what you make as much as what you DO with what you make.

 

[T-Bone]

Re: Opinions...

Ive been in the auto industry for around 4 years now. Ive done everything from quick lube to light line tech and honestly i hate customers. I mean, i hate dealing with people period LOL.

Aside from being a mortician, I don't know of any field you can enter where you don't have to deal with other people and obnoxious attitudes.

 

[warmpancakes]

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Do something you love, and the money will follow. Who went to Wyo tech a buddy of mine used to teach chassis there "charlie"

 

[alwayscode390]

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2 years with NO JOB?! What were you doing that entire time? Seems like you are a little behind with all the GRAND ideas you have for us ---

 

[NOJIMMY]

Re: Opinions...

...having done both - (work in the automotive field, joined the military/worked on fighter aircraft, and then graduated from
DeVry in Arizona - and then got my BS in EE/Computer Science and MS) I can say:

-1. The global economy has forced graduates like myself out-of-work since outsourcing is cheaper
-2. The cost of education is VERY expensive, meaning you`ll be paying the cost for years
-3. If you opt to be a consultant/contract employee, you`ll suffer the feast/starvation cycle of earning a living (paid one day, broke the next)
-4. You`ll only be "valuable" only if you stay extremely current in your field - which requires LOTs of personal investment weekend/outside reading/learning
-5. And You`ll have to be flexible about moving to where the jobs are (US, Overseas, etc)

Strangely enough, the current job market is stronger in the service type industries like
plumbers, health care workers, and such. These type of jobs can't be sent overseas
due to mergers or downsizing (as everyone needs doctors, nurses, and plumbers!)
With baby-boomers getting older, think of oportunities to offer services (like installing
custom electronic equipment in high end homes, or creating a business where
you perform services that customers themselves do not want to do - ie the owner of
a maid-service, car-detailing shop, or franchise place of business - like laundry, apt rental or such).
Most people dont know a cable modem from a DSL or T1 line, not even mentioning
analog tv from EDTV or HDTV (remember the switch over is coming in a couple of years).
So computer-home care assistance can be performed in the margins.

I know this "sucks", but my whole family (grandfather, father, uncle, etc) "starved" in the auto
field (requiring $$$$ investment into tools, continued training, and then dealership closings).
Altho the Boyds, Fose`s, and Rad-Rides do well - 90% dont. Like the chopper industry, some
make a bundle but most dont. I even know tool and die experts who cant make a living off 1 job.

Same with the EE/computer science field tho, only the numbers game is worse ("right sizing due
to cheaper overseas talent). But I must admit, its nice to understand the technology as
you cant get "snowed" by CompUSA or the GEEK SQUAD trainees...<grin>.

The people who seem to make a bunch, are investment advisors, lawyers, and ceo`s.

...my $.02

 

[sytyguy]

Re: Opinions...

Aside from being a mortician, I don't know of any field you can enter where you don't have to deal with other people and obnoxious attitudes.

Agreed 100%. You'll always have to interact with someone (public, boss, secretary, etc...) and if you work in the public retail or service industry, you'll have to deal with everyone. I've done everything from network administration, landscaping, farming, computer repair, programming, and selling auto parts and I have (at one point or another) come to hate each one in it's own unique way. Then, I'll love it to death.

Public based incomes are gonna be a roller coaster of personalities and emotion. You have to be stern enough to give an a-hole a firm attitude and then immediately switch to help an old lady with her wiper blades. You have to be a chameleon and it sucks. Come into work feeling like dookie and snap at one person and you'll never see them again. It's that simple. Then you have the people who want you to hold their hand through everything when you're too tired to wipe you own butt. But they pay the bills and you put up with it for that reason.

Like Ken said, find what you love, do it, and let the money come as it will. Don't settle for less than your worth, don't spend more than you make, and you'll always make enough.

And just remember...The customer is always right, but that doesn't mean they're always smart.

Hood

 

[Syntist]

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im sorry but there is no money in building race cars, i love it, i do it, but its true

 

[2kwik4u]

Re: Opinions...

Real Estate is where the cash is IMO. I've seen several relatives make thier first million before graduating college.

I've also seen several relatives and friends quit school, and deliver pizza and be just as happy.

Find what you enjoy, and do that. The rest will follow. Oh yea, and learning that sometimes you can't afford the champagne because you have a beer budget is a tough lesson. Once you learn it, things get ALOT easier.

 

[dgoodhue]

Re: Opinions...

...having done both - (work in the automotive field, joined the military/worked on fighter aircraft, and then graduated from
DeVry in Arizona - and then got my BS in EE/Computer Science and MS) I can say:

-1. The global economy has forced graduates like myself out-of-work since outsourcing is cheaper
-2. The cost of education is VERY expensive, meaning you`ll be paying the cost for years
-3. If you opt to be a consultant/contract employee, you`ll suffer the feast/starvation cycle of earning a living (paid one day, broke the next)
-4. You`ll only be "valuable" only if you stay extremely current in your field - which requires LOTs of personal investment weekend/outside reading/learning

:stupid: Also an EE major isn't that easy of a curriculum, very math and theory intensive.

 

[SEL777]

Re: Opinions...

It's been said before do what you love and the money will follow. Your passion for a job you like will help make it sucessful. Good luck but, remember you are still quite young and you have time to figure it out. But damn get a job until then. J/K I'm sure it's hard out ther for you.

 

[the baPhoon]

Re: Opinions...

Ive been making money one way or another,nothing i could really call a job by any means. I took a "driver" position that ended up being one of those, drive around and sell cheap speakers out of the back of a truck jobs. I promptly quit after 2 days. Day 1 ended with me waiting outside the truck while my boss got a BJ from some crackwhore near ASU.
I have been thinking about getting my own detailing buisness going. Hell i've done that before for the BAP fleet and a few other large companies, good money. I hate todays job market. Its really a crapshoot. My GF and one of my best buddies are going to a 4 year college for buisness management, and they hate it. But they think because they can make some OK money managing a wal-mart itll be good for them. My passion is still cars/trucks/suv's whatever. But as i said the job market is getting flooded with retards from AAI and UTI and whatever. Its just a foot in the door. A 32k starting salary really isnt my cup of tea. Im smarter then that, and able to do a whole lot more. Im just having one hell of a time finding my niche. Ive done everything from working at a salsa plant to changing oil, to making pizza and back. Im a born salesman but i HATE high pressure sales. I would absolutly LOVE to do something like RPM but that would take years and years to even become nearly able to do what they do lol. Computers... hmmm.. i can build them, tech them, tear them down, troubleshoot... I guess ive got a LOT of thinking ahead of me. Thanks for the input guys. Keep it comming. Cause if i can learn a lesson from you guys thatll help me better myself ill have a bit of a leg up :tup:

 

[BigBadSmoosh]

Re: Opinions...

I'm in IT, education wise I have an AS in EE and a BS in CE (computer engineering), all my experience is in IT.. its a difficult field because you do have to constantly learn, but it is what i'm good at and i do enjoy it, sometimes.

my hobby is playing with cars/trucks, I'd prefer to keep that as my hobby and not my career, I was a full-time mechanic for a year straight and while it was "fun" it took its toll on my knees and my wallet.

 

[WyoSyclone]

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Hi baFoon,
I can really relate to you, although I'm an old guy.
When I was in high school I wanted more than anything to be an astronaut. I researched what that would take and was honest with myself and realized I didn't have the "right stuff". Next on my list was to be an automobile designer. I wanted to go to the "General Motors Institute". I grew up in a town of 800 people, in Wyoming, and the opportunities were not great, or varied. I needed a sponsor to help me get into GMI. Well, needless to say, I could not find a sponsor.
I did have confidence, determination, and the supreme desire to do the best job I could, regardless of what it was - I didn't care if I was sweeping floors. If I was doing it, I would be the best floor sweeper in the world. I had no idea how this attitude would come to pay me back.
Long story made a little shorter, I attended college for a few years - Mechanical Engineering at Casper college in Casper, Wyoming (I wasn't smart enough, or focussed enough). Then I went into the Diesel mechanic's program at Casper College and went to work for Caterpillar (loved it for a while, but then got bored - even rebuilding turbos ) I went back to school in Washington State but ran out of money, so had to just find something (I think this is where you are).
I picked up everything, moved to California (after being a Nuclear Reactor Operator for about 3 years), and just started looking for something I was interested in. I was interested in cars and I was interested in stereos. So, I found a company that was involved in this type of work, and just walked in and said I'd do whatever it took to be part of their company, and be good at it.
Well, almost 30 years later, I've worked at a few very large companies, held some very high-end jobs, started my own company (at the right time), and have recently sold it and am now working for the company I sold it to.

So, my old-man 'words of wisdom' to you are: Get involved in something you are passionate about, regardless of what you are doing. If you do the best job possible, someone will notice, and you will start being promoted. Keep doing the best job, and the money will come later. Have patience, you are not going to make $50k in an entry-level job - the money will come later. Don't compare what you have with what other people have - it will just make you bitter.

Finally, get rid of your screen name and change it to something positive. If you think of yourself as the baFoon, and that you are "a drunk" (your words, not mine), that is the image you project. Change your name to something you can be proud of. Go for the gusto!! Be confident, but dont' be cocky. When we old farts tell you something, we're trying to help you learn the ropes, because we want you to succeed (we need to someone to fund the social security system! )

Anyway, I'm not coming down on you, I'm trying to give you some very blunt pointers on how to make a positive change in your life.

I hope this helps. If you need to discuss further, just PM me and I'll give you a call and try to help.