gcfcos

Hey guys, thought I'd share a conversation I had with my mate the other day. We were talking about when we left school, I started in a garage at 15 as an apprentice mechanic and left school early (expelled) all my mates stayed on at school, got qualifications and walked into high paid (for their age) jobs. Now 18 years on I have my mot licence and fully skilled mechanic earning £23,000 a year plus bonus and have a skillset and tools for life and as long as my health is ok ill have a job for life. Most of my friends however are no where near as lucky. My dad was disgusted when I wanted to be a mechanic ( he's a fireman) and everyone told me, including my friends me there's no future in being a grease monkey and I'll never get anywhere in life. My friend I was having this conversation with, the buisness he was in, the arse fell out of it and he hasn't found another job since, most of the people who told me being a mechanic had no future have been made redundant etc, sometimes more than once and a few close to the breadline. I think I made the right choice and am doing better than ever, and also doing private jobs and buying and selling cars, we've never been better off. I think there's a distinct lack of manual labour jobs these days but luckily the government say there gonna put money back into starting up apprentaships again so things could be looking up. The reason I put this on here was just to see what other mechanics think about this and if they have had similar experiences. Cheers, Gary

ajamesc

I hate being a mechanic but it's all I can do lol wish I did better at school. I would no way ever work on car trucks pays far better I did 43 this year!
I keep telling are apprentice at work get out of this now and be a plaster'er

gcfcos

Yeah some days I hate it, some days I love it (especially when I've managed to get something running that didn't) but I love anything with an engine or anything mechanical/engineering as it's my hobby too but there are some days when I'm balls deep in the most horrible job ever and I just wanna jack it in and walk out and give my tools away for free lol

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

Ive always been in the motor trade since I left school. Im 35 now. I got to the point where I hated working on cars. Lucky I now work for Royal Mail fixing the vans and its the best job ive ever had. The only bad part is I dont get a good selection of vehicles to work on. Ive never had so much money.

jamie's

As a trade I think it's got to be the worst paying craziest going,
I've been doing it for 18 years now, wish I had got into something else now
But it's defo better than having no trade at all
Most of my mates are all in the motor trade and we've all grown to pretty much hate it,
The 1's that aren't in the motor trade(joiners and bricks etc), all hate their jobs as well
But at least they make on average twice what were making(and still complain about it)
I used to like my job and think I was well(enough) paid, but the older I get I more I realise the mistakes I made when I was younger( getting into the job I did)

saph4be

I hated it till I went on my own. Then I found the love again. But 4 years down the line I find my enthusiasm waning again and fancy a career change. But can't think what else to do !

bigjohn0

I have been in the garage chucking spanners around for almost 25yrs now and i have always wanted to get out of the trade until 8 months back when i landed on my feet with a big company in my area. I get to choose what work i take on and if i back heel the job because i cant be bothered nothing is said because they trust my judgement and then i just do more small jobs to make up for it.
Anyone who is thinking of starting in the trade needs to try and get in with the big company's who will train you to a high standard so that you will be set for life in a job. Lets face it all these modern cars are getting a right pain to work on and you also need to be a computer wizz to find the usual faults they suffer with. 10yrs back i didn't have a bloody clue how to work a computer but now them days are long gone because if you don't keep up with the times you will be shoved out the door that's for sure.

I would give anything to go back to the days when all you needed was a 10mm-13mm spanner to fix a car on the side of the road.

creator

I take it its a good bonus scheme then glen?

GVK.

Best quote ever, these days I tend to be learning more new stuff all the time rather than doing stuff.

gingerturbo

iTrader: (2)

Yep I agree, no days you need thousands worth of tools and knowledge to earn money

320 bhp

My old man had his own body shop very good business and my dad's words to me when I was young and still at school was never get involved with cars!! I loved em was aways at his body shop after school weekends, he was a big rs fan owned escort cosworth,s1 and loads of mk2 escorts,so I got the bug! But when I was in last year at school and time to decide what to do he told me no chance your coming to work for me,go get a trade behind you in sumet else and if it don't work out you always come back n work for me! So I served me time as a mechanical engineer, 33 yr old now and got a job with seadrill 7 m ago now work in South Korea on ultra deep water drill ship as a hydraulic tech living the dream on mega money,sadly lost me dad 2 yrs ago to cancer so I owe him a lot or I wouldn't be we're I am today,
Me other pal has run his own garage for years but got sick off all the chew with new cars and computers and stuff so went and did his offshore survival,he too is now offshore and loving it,so if any of you lads fancy it go for it! Offshore has boomed lately and good trades are in demand

bigjohn0

I must admit the firm i work for now are great because i have spent thousands on tools over the years myself but now i just ask and they get lol

Cossie.jack

Im 16 and have been working in a body repair garage for about 6 mouths now. The painter keeps telling me to get out and be an election or plaster and hes 28 and wish he never got into the trade. However for the time ive been working there I love it. Really tho I would love to get into ford or something doing mechanics.

ajamesc

How would you go about looking into off shore work? Who would contact if you google it you just get loads of agency's poping up leading you round in a circle

320 bhp

Get ya self on rigzone and LinkedIn, and usually if you know sum1 your onto a winner,I booked survival and medical and it took me just under a year to get offshore,got lots of knock backs,been offshore 7 m now and first thing they asked me was do I know any more gud lads that want a job so gave em me pals cv he was offshore month later, if you want any help just pm me mate always happy to help

Carlos-Titx

I heard they are after ex squaddies. This true?

Harder to get off shore with no trade I guess?

320 bhp

We just got a few ex squaddies ,I heard the same some company's have done a deal, people got off with no skills start at bottom,know few lads that did ropes access and got offshore no problem,

Carlos-Titx

I'll have to look into what courses I need and the route to take. Certainly a career for life.

Stevie RS Boy

I started as a mechanic 3 days after i left school, i worked for the same guy just short of 20 years, he retired at the end of last month, i have gone self employed as i was given the business as redunency, (sp) one month in and things are going well, i enjoy the mechanical side of the job and hate the electrical side

chris cdti

when i started out i was working in a ford main dealer. We used to maintain the vans for Jarvis Rail. The guys used to come in the workshop and have a chat whilst swapping stuff over to the hire vans. They kept telling me to go and join them on the railway as their apprentice welders got 18k when they first qualify. I didn't listen and continued working on cars and ended up in a Vauxhall dealer untill last year. I sometimes think what could of been if i joined the rail just as NR took over.

stu20004x4

not a mechanic but when i was 13 i left school to work for my dads roofing company, id worked the oddweekend with him from as young as 12, working asphalt cookers lol

by the time my mates were leaving school and looking for work i had started doing my own jobs trading as self employed, and soon after i started my own company and remain roofing to this day. many of my old school mates have struggled for work. school isnt everything!

Cossie.jack

We have a roofing company next to where I work. Is it a good trade to be in?

turbolee

soon as i left school i started work in a foundry been there 18 years now its a dead end job i know nothing else and would not evan no what other job i would like to do every one i know hates there job doesnt matter what you do realy its same old shit day in day out theese days i do what i have to do clock out and just enjoy everything else in life as i have no interest in my line of work

MikeyRobbo

I'm 21 and been in the trade 5-6 years and absolutely HATE it. Shite pay, mouthy unhappy customers wanting clutches done in half an hour. Lets face it, its no simple job fixing cars anymore but no one seems to appreciate it when you do them a favor, always expected to drop every job for some people and they want their car back in 5 minutes!

Looking at getting offshore myself as my birds dad work on them and can 'apparently' help me out, better pay, different scenery all the time and no more moaning arse customers yayyy!

Rax

iTrader: (1)

My stepdad owned his own garage,car sales etc and my sister owned her own car hire business so no guesses where I was going to go.

I started just valeting at around 13 and because I was always repairing motor bikes it was just the next step up.He too always said go and do something else so I did and went and worked for a builder and then packed it in because I knew better (like you do at 16).
I worked for an electronics company for 13 years and hated it all the time wishing as I had gone through college with the builder.
A few of my mates did do night classes and now work for them selves plumbing etc and are doing really well but on the other hand there are still some of my mates with their own units spannering away and seem to be doing just as good.

Strange how it all comes back around. I think when I was younger everyone wanted to get into IT because of the money.Very few said as they wanted to be a sparky or plasterer etc.

mk1turboestate

iTrader: (2)

I left school at 15, went to be a mechanic, did it for a year and left as I didn't like working on other peoples shit, enjoyed working on my own car I had on the drive, many of my friends are mechanics,
After being a mechanic I went on to train as a gas heating engineer and did that for around 15 years at easily twice the money an average mechanic can earn but got sick of that, I love mechanical work but have know moved into a sales job
Everything I'd dependent on what your aspirations are but I couldn't live on any where near 30k for example with mortgage kids wife etc

gcfcos

Is there any mechanics that still enjoy there job? I couldn't imagine doing anything else apart from maybe lorry driving or breakdown recovery would be cool for a while. Though I used to do mobile repairs and servicing for a van hire company and after 2 months I was fucked lol

SmudgerByName

I got into the trade after doing my A levels at college. I loved working on cars but always wanted to get into the design aspect before hand. I never came to love that side of it like I do now. After spending 4 years at Ford I went BACK to study Motorsport Engineering and rekindled my love of the trade. Now I am back into the industry just with a little more security working at LandRover watching the overtime and bonuses roll in as much as I can do. With a wedding next year to pay for I need all the overtime I can get. Would I change anything? Not at all. Still a labour of love and something I enjoy both inside and outside of work... Even if the other half doesn't

Carlos-Titx

Stay away from truck driving. Not much money in it and treated like a cunt for te most part.

big.p

Done it twenty years now and got to say it's the most underpaid trade out there I would definitely change careers if I could turn back time

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

I love my job. I wish I started at the Royal Mail when I left school. Its fleet work so there are no customers on your back moaning about them going on holiday in the car at the weekend l0l. Ive heard that story a few times...

gcfcos

Yeah I've applied for the Royal Mail workshops down our way, there's a massive waiting list as they never leave its so cushy and u gotta wait for someone to retire or die lol :-( I previously worked at the biggest truck and van hire company in the south in there workshops and I've never been so lazy in my life lol, was awesome, they never asked how long anything would be. I'm defo gonna get back into fleet repair if I can, gutted I left that place but the mot bay was shocking condition and we just had constant rows about it and then threatened the boss. Not a good move lol :-(

stu20004x4

Sorry mate only just seen this! Cant complain, flat out at the moment, sometimes i hate it but tbh i couldnt see myself doing anything else. Until i read through this post i was half tempted to jack it in, sell the company and buy a garage but the 23k a year wage has put me right off lol.

Good thing about roofing is you can earn what you want if you have your own firm. Work late on the right jobs and you can earn really well

vaughant

iTrader: (1)

A lot of ex-car/truck mechanics offshore. Not the easiest thing to get into but worth it I must say (I'm electrical though) although be prepared for a lot of nobends in the industry and if you've never worked away before it will be hard to start with.
I think unless you decide to continue on to university staying on and doing a-levels then nothing else is pointless, your better off starting out vocationally as at least it's structured then and you know where to go.
Put it this way I never went beyond btec level and since the 2000's I've always consistently earned either 2 or three times the national average wage. A lot of employers look at experience as well as qualifications now, a degree is not the be all and end all.

Harryh24

iTrader: (1)

I'm a self employed mobile Mecanic here in Spain, I don't do too bad for my self but I have some days where I earn practically nothing then others wheni can earn good money, I can't afford to open a garage but am too busy to continue as I am., but Spain is fucked all I deal with are people who will ne paver service the car never do anything to the car until it won't go anymore!

some days I love it when I get to work on the boats but other days I wonder why I even bother doing it!

Berty84

Tell u what i wish i was a mechanic right now the problems im having with my car lol i suppose u will never be short of work and the jobs on side is an option to a mechanic to make more money... i got into truck driving mainly through my dad and cus i love trucks but cant really do anything on the side in this job so fair play to you mate just goes to show education isnt everything...

gcfcos

Yeah that's the only good thing about it is u can do loadsa private jobs, but then u end up killing yourself just to make ends meet. Shame these days working a full time job isn't enough to make ends meet, something wrong there somewhere.

Berty84

Ye i hear you mate. Unless you still live with ur parents of course ha ha them was the days but now its money in then money out... depressing really

martysmartie

iTrader: (1)

You really don't have to be a 'computer wizz', it's simply a case of plugging in a reader in and looking up a code, which tells you what the problem is, it couldn't be more straightforward!

With old cars, however, you need to think for yourself, as well as having a mechanical empathy. For example, if you were to ask someone of my age to work on such a car, they wouldn't have a clue!

Martin

LHD220Turbo

iTrader: (4)

always loved cars and working on them since i was at school, when i left school at 15 i started to train to be an auto electrician, but gave up as the money was terrible (YTS scheme). Part of me wish i'd carried on as cars are so complex now with CAN, BUS etc.
However i've done alright for myself, worked in the finance sector for 10+ years and gained lots of experiance.

i still work on my cars and do private jobs for people every now and then. I dont think i'd enjoy doing it if i HAD to do it to earn a crust. Its a hobby for me and thats the way i want to keep it.