Suggestions?

College.

Open a speed shop. And specialize in high end European imports. Offer a discount to the first guy who brings an Enzo in.

choopie911 wrote: Why not photography?

Because I prefer photography as a self thing, I can always do that as a side job. Plus I think Automotives are a safer career choice, as there is no shortage of work.


Plus I love working with my hands, getting dirty... Creating stuff. Automotive certification is also directly useful to myself.


Edited by *Stealth* - 22 January 2007 at 1:50pm

*Stealth* wrote: choopie911 wrote: Why not photography? Because I prefer photography as a self thing, I can always do that as a side job... a safer career choice, as there is no shortage of work. Plus I love working with my hands, getting dirty... Creating stuff.

Porn?

My father in law does autobody repair. He's been at it for a long time now. He likes the work, and there's certianly no shortage of it. The money is pretty good and his yard is just full of auto stuff for all kinds of cars. When we need spare parts, we go to him. He's always getting cheap cars, fixing them up, and driving them until something else catches his interest. Every now and again some guy comes by to buy his headlight pile, and he makes a good haul on that.

The key to the work is finding a good place to work that'll keep you up to date on tools and provide a good workspace. He's stuck where he's at, and is dealing with an out of touch boss who won't buy new tools and he's on concrete all day.

I'd say the repair and maintainence would come in more handy on a personal basis, but the body work makes good money as well. I'd take the body work as a secondary if it were me.

The world is swimming in mechanics, but it is lacking in good mechanics.

Edited by reifidom - 22 January 2007 at 2:29pm

I'd compare the benefits of both ends of things.

Body Repair:
No shortage of work, ever
Relatively easy to open your own shop
No expensive diagnostic equipment needed
Ability to do your own body repairs
Most jobs are relatively small

Service and Repair:
No shortage of work, ever.
Multiple career paths to choose from.
Better chance of getting benefits and pension plan
Ever-changing problems to solve
You deal with almost everything other than body work


Now the cons:

Body Repair:
Tough to get a starting job
Relatively Low pay to start
Most businesses are independent and don't have health care/benefits
Some jobs take months to fix (near totaled vehicles, etc)
Cost of parts when running your own business can severely curtail profit margins
Haggling with Insurance companies over costs.

Service and Repair
Most profitable work comes from working for a large company so few opportunities to strike out on your own
Day-to-Day work CAN be tedious (tires, belts, etc)
Starting pay tends to be low
limited growth in certain career paths
Overhead for a private business is expensive.

Now, if you get BOTH certifications, I think you'd be in the position to do some good stuff. You can never have too much education when it comes to certain fields. If you were to get both, you can easily go to work for an insurance company as an inspector, adjuster, etc. It would also give you more versatility in looking for a job out of college AND makes you more of an asset to anyone who hires you.

*Stealth* wrote: choopie911 wrote: Why not photography? Because I prefer photography as a self thing, I can always do that as a side job. Plus I think Automotives are a safer career choice, as there is no shortage of work.

That's the same reason why I'm not an information systems, computer science/engineering, graphics design, or web design major.

Service and repair, take German, get hired by BMW and go to their school in Munich. Our mechanic did that then went out on his own into general european auto service. He's freaking loaded.

636andy636. wrote: Screw auto mechanics. Go into heavy duty mechanics. Excavators, backhoes, dump trucks, mining equipment, agricultural equipment,  semi trucks yada yada yada. They are all more fun to work on.I am currently trying to get an apprenticeship at the local John Deere dealer that I did a work experience at. It was great. I would rather work on a big machine than work on cars and trucks.The pay is pretty good too.

Thats exactly what I want to do if i dont go into jets, im going to work at different tractor dealerships and get to know each brand better. Then im going to open a used equipment dealership. I already buy and sell equipment but im not a business

mbro wrote: That's the same reason why I'm not an information systems, computer science/engineering, graphics design, or web design major.

I didn't think you could even do that (not like you but as in everyone)