Switching careers advice

[chandlerbing]

I'm knocking on the door of the big 3-0, and I'm wanting to change my career. I have been back and forth on posting this here (for reasons that I'm sure we all know (dick jokes etc)) but ultimately I feel that I may as well give it a shot.

I'm bored with what I'm doing (phone support) and I want out. I'm getting more and more upset with the way things are going, for example in my big company the changes that have gone on recently are too big to ignore (departments being moved to another country/consultants from chindia/H1B etc) and I am starting to believe the news stories about the erosion of white collar working. Now, I'm no economist, but I'm calling it as I see it and things don't look good.

So with this said I'm considering going back to become an Auto mechanic. This isn't a decision that I have made on a whim, but I'm going to put the feelers out and get a general read here. Good idea?

I would love to hear opinions for/against and any *helpful* comments.

Gracias!

 

[Mo0o]

I know a family friend that's an auto mechanic and he's not making that much money because there just isnt enough work to go around right now.

Any particular reason you've settled on auto mechanic?

 

[BoomerD]

I know several people who have opted to keep their older cars and just do repairs on them rather than buy new cars...that's helping some of the local auto repair shops and parts houses, but many of those people do their own repairs except for the major stuff like engine swaps/transmission overhauls.

It's a tough, competitive business, and working for flat rate can make you money if you're very good, of fuck you face down if you're only mediocre.

Tons of certifications needed to work for the better shops, better be sure your skills and certs are current before you make the jump.

 

[FoBoT]

yes, go into 'the trades'
get an apprenticeship
pipefitter, electrician, plumber etc

 

[r6ashih]

I know a guy who started his own autoshop with a friend a year ago. They were both techs at dealerships before they branched out on their own. He said business really picked up after they got yelp reviewed. Brand new customers come in requesting thousands of dollars worth of work on the cars (Euro cars).

 

[Dr. Zaus]

Get a job in a union shop; .

Or go back to school and make something creative of yourself.

 

[IronWing]

Get a job in a union shop; people that hit 30 with no university degree/desire to use said degree should probibly just leach off of those of us that did improve our minds to the point that we can be creative.

Oh..

Or go back to school and make something creative of yourself.

Given the choice, who would you rather have fixing your toilet, the creative grad or the plumber?

 

[Dr. Zaus]

Given the choice, who would you rather have fixing your toilet, the creative grad or the plumber?

Interesting... the grad.
If there was a creative grad offering to fix my toilet then 1.) he needs the money and has enough experence to do the job because 2.) he's got the smarts to put complete the job of a simpleton and if he screws up he'll be someone I can actually go after for recompense.

Over all, though, I respect the OP too much to believe that he needs to do the work of a simpleton... Though he may just be lazy enough to need to do such a job.


Also, shoot the little girl with the physics book.

 

[Mo0o]

Interesting... the grad.
If there was a creative grad offering to fix my toilet then 1.) he needs the money and has enough experence to do the job because 2.) he's got the smarts to put complete the job of a simpleton and if he screws up he'll be someone I can actually go after for recompense.

Over all, though, I respect the OP too much to believe that he needs to do the work of a simpleton... Though he may just be lazy enough to need to do such a job.


Also, shoot the little girl with the physics book.

But aperson who wants to enter a trade field (like plumbing) does not need a college education and can still be very good at his job. A college graduate will likely want to leverage his paid education to something higher paying. So chances are youre not going to get a college-educated plumber. You're either going to get a college-educated guy with no experience in plumbing or a plumber with no college education. Take your pick.

I dont understand your utter disdain for people in various trades. If you have problems with unions, fine that's one thing, but to just bash people w/o college educations is ridiculous. There are vital jobs that can be done w/o college education and there are plenty of individuals who are more than eager to fill those jobs while all the college-graduates turn their noses up.

 

[chandlerbing]

Well the reason why I am thinking along the lines of a trade is because I was reading the millionaire next door. If I understand it correctly, garage owners were among the top listed businesses that made millionaires. Now I'm not just wanting money, I also want something that is resistant to offshoring, and the near the top of my list is auto repair.

I do have a few worries, some of my friends and family have said that the job is not really "brain work" and I will get bored. I agree with this to a point, but a lot of the brain jobs I see in the megazord company I work for are being driven away by cost cutting. It really does seem like a race to the bottom a lot of the time. When you work in a big company like mine, you can bust your ass and someone else is ready to step in front and take all the credit. At least if I had my own shop ( eventually, hopefully!) I would be the master of my own domain. Call me an idiot, but I'd rather fail on my own that be kicked out of a job that was nothing to do with my failures.

 

[IronWing]

I think successfully running your own shop will provide plenty of mental stimulation without even considering the sophisticated nature of modern cars.

 

[gophins72]

OP, everyone, and i mean everyone is looking for a tradesman who they feel isn't ripping them off. if you have the stomach for it (ie dont feel the work is below you, etc) then good luck with it. From what i've seen in dealing with contractors, mechanics, etc. I feel it's a pretty high demand where someone highly competent and with good business sense can literally clean up an entire city.

 

[chusteczka]

Here is a nice article from the Wall Street Journal describing an area that needs workers, Manufacturing.

Help Wanted on Factory Floor

 

[Dr. Zaus]

There are vital jobs that can be done w/o college education and there are plenty of individuals who are more than eager to fill those jobs while all the college-graduates turn their noses up.

Good point. My vitriolic response was entirely uncalled for: plumbers, carpenters, electricians and the like are good and useful.

The real point is that I hate wasted potential: be as creative as you can because that's what brings the greatest benefit to society and yourself.

Unless you are lazy: then get a union job in government.

 

[sjwaste]

Whatever you're looking at, the "brain work" is hardly ever in the work itself. The "brain work" is in running the business, which is basically an occupation in addition to the core product itself. Whether that be building things, fixing things or being entirely in a white collar service industry, it all gets boring (IMHO, at least) unless you're able to contribute to the strategic direction of the business. It's the curse of overspecialization, although some people love it - had a few developers I worked with who were happiest when you gave them their specs and left them alone to write code all day.

A trade won't make you rich just from doing it. For sure, you'll have a nice middle class lifestyle as a union tradesman. But if you're good at a trade and have some business sense, you can do very well. It's not that mechanics are so scarce that they make millions just by doing it, to use your anecdote. Rather, it's owning the garage, or a series of them, or body shops in addition, etc that bring in the money. The owner might not even be a mechanic anymore, or possibly ever have been one - he owns the business.

FWIW, I come from a family of tradesmen. My father encouraged school and a white collar life early on, always told me he didn't want my life to be as hard as his. And this is a guy who left white collar life (ran a data center in the mainframe days) to be a self-employed general contractor. I've learned a lot about business in my career, and I sometimes wonder, if I had his trade skills, what I could do with that.

 

[lokiju]

My brother in law went to WyoTech and racked up nearly $40k in school loans in the process to go straight into a mechanic job right away and couldn't make it doing that plus another part time job.

He went back to school on a Hope grant (GA lottery funded program) for free and became a EMT and makes a lot more now doing that even though he's only around the $40k mark doing that.

I keep telling him to let me get him into IT. It can take a long time to work your way up and get the resume experience companies are looking for to pay well for but even starting out on help desk most corp places around here will pay in the $50k range. Don't even need any schooling for it really, though it helps.