Cascade Crew

[GREG DAVIDSON]

it seams that im getting my financial aid to go to school and will hopefully be starting in sept. now you guys know a little more about the area and whats needed and i just want your opinion on if i should go for auto mech or auto body first i want to go for both but they only alow one at a time .

any opinion helps .... as long as its constructive

[chevymad]

They both suck. Guess this isnt constructive. But a little advice from working in this field. If its what you really want to do, go for it though.

Don't make your hobby your job. You'll just come home from work and not have anything fun to do because its all just work. I love cars, I hate working on them all day.

I would think there would be a bigger market for autobody techs. New cars have longer and longer warranties, and now they're crushing the semi old ones. There will always be wrecked cars though. You should find out what kind of tool investment you'd need for both of these.

That said I hate doing body work too!

You should ask on any forums you go to how people like doing either job. I've seen people ask about mechanics on several forums I visit. Almost without exception anyone who's worked for over 5-10 years in this field hates it and wishes they were doing something else. It takes a large tool investment and alot of time spent studying with very little respect. Everyone insists you're ripping them off. You're ranked right there with con artist and laywers.

One bonus for the body tech. If you buy and make a car pretty, you can sell it pretty easy. If you buy an ugly car and make it run good. Its hard to sell. So I see potential for some side $$ there.

[QwkTrip]

I was going to reply but there is nothing left to say after reading that post. That's wisdom speaking.

[GREG DAVIDSON]

yea those are good points thats also why im kinda leaning tword body right now cause i've seen the way the new computerized cars work and i hate em i've done a little body work in my time, i kinda liked it it was slow and tedious i helped prep cars and did some wet sanding, one of my realatives back in wisc owned his own bodyshop for awhile so i've been all over cars right now i know more than enough to get buy but yeaim looking for a career and i just need to decide what side i want to do . my ideal job is to be in a custom shop that works on nothing but older cars but i know that may never happen.
so i guess its time to do a little soul searching again anyone else out there with an opinion just shoot . thanks for the advise brandon

[Richster]

I Agree with B for sure!
I sell Tech shirts and Coveralls to some of the dealerships, and from what I am picking up on...The body shop is where the hiring seems to be at.
Motors and drive trains are lasting a whole lot longer and have great warranties, and warranty work does not pay as much coin.
On the other hand people are still crashing their cars!
Hello crumple zone!

[Twilightoptics]

[img]Don't make your hobby your job. [/img]


That's why I went the welding route. Of course I ended up more on a mechanic side in my shop but my training was oriented otherwise.

Figured welding would help my hobby, but not be it.

[Quasi-Traction]

My advise would be this greg:

Do all your basic education classes (English, Math, Science) and get those credits under your belt first. They will always transfer, and you'll need them if you want to actually get a AA or BA, even with a technical program.

If your goal is just to learn a trade, and not get a degree then this isn't applicable.

[chevymad]

Was thinking today. If I was starting out again and wasnt going to college. I'd look into utility work. Not cable or phone, don't think those are really going anywhere. But lineman or water. Its one of the few things I can think of where the average guy can make good money and retire from still. Everybody needs it, so chances are you can always get a job.

[91RSVert]

I work in the phone and cable industry. They go places, but you have to have some experience under the belt.

Heres a little tip, part of that 1trillion buxs the "man" approved... Part of that is for the phone industry. Were getting PLENTY of work at the time, but in 5 years, wont be crap for a while.


As for the main question. You will likely get into the body side easier. Where on the mechanics side, you will start as a runt just doing oil changes even with a degree. It takes quite a while to work up to the "good stuff". A friend is in this boat right now.

[flea]

[Al Hasse]

[flea]

So Al says to me.

"Look an open wound, I'll get the salt. . ."



If I'd quit being so lazy and lose another 30 lbs, learn how to do a government issue situp and pushup again I could get back in to the USAFR but man that sounds like a lot of work. Like I said, lazy.

[Al Hasse]

Oops That wasn't the intent. Sorry if that sounded wrong. I was just putting out information. I might be a little better off than some out there, but still scape by sometimes. I've been lucky for a while with OT available, but that has been suspended in an effort for the company to cut costs. It may backfire because OT is how we were keeping the backlog down.

[flea]

No apology necessary I was really kind of laghing at myself a little. I got out in 92 and never looked back till just recently. I've been out for 17 years in for four. should really be retired, and would be if not for a stupid decision I made when I was 22. oh well easy come easy go. As far as the salt goes, my dad retired from the Navy after 26 years and right now has his 21 ft boat parked in my driveway while he tours Alaska in his RV. lol.
And today my son asked if we had his most recent LES statements because he needs them to get food stamps. He plans to get out of the Coast Guard next year after his six year enlistment cause "its not fun" oh well. Youth is wasted on the young.

[Leejo2005]

Ehh. I've been in 4 so far, got 2 left. Don't know what I think of it at the moment. Although, being stuck in the yards is never a good time to judge what the rest of it is like...






"The wages of sin are death!" "Yeah. But the hours are pretty good."

[flea]

My son says he's tired painting the bathroom and doorknobs can only be shines so many times. I told him give enough time and he will be able to tell other people to paint the bathroom. I figured as an E4 he must be almost Done holding paint brushes though