I wanna figure out what to do with my life...

A bit of background first, I started out about three years ago going to college right out of high school, majoring in journalism. After finding out that was pretty much a joke, and failing several classes anyway, I quit and moved to a new city. I started going to automotive school and within a few months I met the most wonderful girl I could ever ask for, Tiffany. She and I have been through alot, more than most couples go through their first year, but we still deeply love each other.

However, thats not what this post is about. I graduated automotive school, and managed to find a job at a Nissan dealer as a lube tech. However, like many nowadays, I was quickly let go, the reason was I "wasnt quick enough". Almost all of the technicians hated their jobs, and werent making any money. They pretty much all told me to get out of it while I could (Im 21), and find a real career. After doing some research online I found that almost everyone in the auto industry is saying this.

Ive thought about it, and decided that maybe working on cars just isnt for me. I like working on them, but at my own pace. I also had a hard time in auto school. What do you guys think? Should I look into another career? I would feel bad though that I spent $20 grand to go to school and got nothing out of it. I kinda wish I had known this before I started school, however if I had never moved, I wouldnt have met the love of my life.

I need something that has guaranteed pay, and steady hours. I cant go back to school now though, Im engaged, and wouldnt have the money anyway. Plus, Im afraid Id end up back where I was, failing classes because I found no motivation in them.

I do love history, and am pretty smart in all areas, I love playing along with quiz shows. I judt dont know what to do right now. I need some kind of job and career.

Try being a lineman. Decent pay with decent benefits. OTJ training or you can go to school.

Figure out what does make you happy, do it. You only get one life, so enjoy it while you have it. If you hate your job, find a new one. And it's never too late to go back to school, although it may get harder.

Weird though what you're hearing about the auto industry. Everything I've heard is that mechanics and technicians are becoming even more vital now that more and more people can't afford to buy new cars nearly as often.

I should be starting a job at NTB (National Tire and Battery) soon, so maybe itll be different. Steady work, so Im never just standing around like I was at the dealer half the time, better boss, and none of the "flat rate" pay which should be illegal. Auto industry is the only job in the world which pays by flat rate time.

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Originally Posted by amac211

I should be starting a job at NTB (National Tire and Battery) soon, so maybe itll be different. Steady work, so Im never just standing around like I was at the dealer half the time, better boss, and none of the "flat rate" pay which should be illegal. Auto industry is the only job in the world which pays by flat rate time.

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What do you mean? Do you mean a flat rate per hour? Because pretty much every non-salary job is exactly that, except for commission sales jobs.

Say the manual says it's suppose do take 2 hours to do the lube job, they do it in 1 hour. They still get $20.

It takes them 3 hours, they still get $20.

The more items completed in the less amount of time, the higher the wage. However, an inexperienced worker will quickly find themselves making much less, with less jobs to perform, less chances to make the flat-rate-wage, etc.

I see, so they get paid by the job and not by the hour in some places, so X job earns the tech, 30 bucks. So a slow or newbie tech takes a full 8 hours to do 3 jobs that are slated at 3 hours, 3 hours and 2 hours for example.

While a fast tech can squeeze 5 jobs out of that same 8 hours and make alot more money. Seems fair to me, your compensation is then directly related to your skill and productivity.

The time I spent at the Cadillac dealership and Merchant's Tire did not impress me. Merchant's actually wasn't overly bad as it was a new shop and we never had a technician in every stall, but the Cadillac dealership was something else. I accepted the job making less than I was at Great Dane trailers figuring work conditions and benefits had to be better. They were, and the first year or so wasn't too bad. I was sent to GM school, given a slight pay increase and started getting more "gravy" jobs. At the time I was still an apprentice tech, making an hourly wage, though there was an incentive for us if we turned over enough hours (similar to commission). The guy that mentored me initially got moved up to Technician a few months after I started there and received a whopping $2.50/hour pay increase. He was also placed on commission, though, and might have broken even on payday. The highest paid technician there made $26 an hour, turning over 90 hours a week on average. He got all the engine swaps and other major work. The transmission guy got paid $20-something as well and turned over quite a few hours. There were one or two other techs in the shop that made $16-22 an hour and averaged 50+ hours during the 42.5 hour work week. Then there were the lower end techs. They started at $10 and made up to $15 on commission, however, they usually got hampered with the warranty work or diagnostics. Especially during the winter months, when things slowed waaayyy down, I recall a few of them talking about turning over 30 hours or even less.

Skill and experience play a huge part in commission work, but naturally the lesser skilled techs are making less per hour and getting saddled with the jobs the tenured techs don't want. The more techs there are, the worse the competition gets for the "gravy" work, and at a dealership warranty work is extremely undesirable. While an alignment might normally pay for an hour, a warranty alignment may only pay for 1/3 to 1/2 an hour.




Hopefully NTB will work out for you. It's the same company as Merchants, and though most of my time there was part-time it was quite a bit better than Cadillac. If it doesn't work out for you, there is always the Army. :)

But seriously, if you are otherwise qualified you may be able to join as a mechanic, making up to $1827.60 a month plus full benefits, housing and a food allowance. It's worked out great for me. Joined as Infantry, got paid to do things I loved (humping and sucking :)) met celebrities and presidents in DC, and now get paid more than ever to talk to people. A couple more years and I'll be back behind the trigger, doing what I love.