just wanna know who is serious about a career in this "field" i.e. cars and working on them.

 

did it for 7 years. Made no real money(besides resto work I did) so i am going comp networking...

and yes I have changed the oil in a maxima and it WAS NOT fun reaching up close to a freegin hot A$$ exhaust manifold...

I'll do my custom stuff for my car and a few others and thats about it.

 

I would change the oil on a Maxima...if I owned one. I do my own car work, but, I wouldn't want to do it for a living. I like to work way too slow for that.

 

Good point, Mark... I take my time when I work on my car. I have a $5,000 fender right now... if you totalled up all the hours I spent on it, getting the bodywork right, it'd be worth $5k.

I'd love to take the ASE tests, though. It'd be fun to see how well (or poorly) I did. They have some samples online... it's a PDF at http://www.asecert.org/prep_and_training/index.htm ; it's under the 2002 Test Catalogs for "Automobile & Light Truck".

 

Kinda funny CHD is getting out of the auto tech industry and going into the computer tech industry. Me I'm getting out of the PC tech bull$hit and working on going into the auto tech industry.

Couldn't stand justifying my employment every six months any more. CHD one of the first things you will learn is that the higher ups and accounting pepole look at the techs as a waste of money and will $hit on you every chance they get. Techs are the first ones in line to be laid off and last in line for rehire. This even happens in large well know pc markers and software companys, becuase the accountants and hirer ups don't know jack about your what you do for them and don't care. Thier job is marketing and counting beans. Allthough the money is good after 4 years I grew tired of the F 'em and chuck 'em rule of the technical support indistry.

Not to discourge you or anything, just relaying what I went through for the last 4 years. In fact in many ways the most unhappy 4 years I have had. After a while the higher pay just didn't cut it any more.

Well enough ranting form me...

 

Actaually I am going to work for a local school that my G/F's dad basically runs... The tech guy they have has no certificates, degrees, or anything. And basically does little to nothing out there. And I will be starting there at about 37K a year. Not bad. I have been told by future father in law that I WILL be making 50K within 6 years.

 

Well I am not taking on a technician job. But rather mechanical Engineering. I think I would rather be there in the design process of a car, or performance parts. Maybe show those guys a thing a two on how to make things a little easier for the little guy to work on I am constantly looking at new cars and old, saying that is so stupid the way they did that.

I don't want to be the engineer everyone hates. I actually do my own car maintenence. I don't want to bt the engineer who designs a car, and has never changed his own oil.

Thats my goal. Hope I can make it.

 

im an auto mechanic. been doing it since i was 10 yrs old. my dad owns his own garage. i enjoy it very much. i would never want one of those office jobs

 

I'm trying to buy my second home to buy fix sell.
I'm working on being a millionaire in four years.
I now have partner, who will just supply money with mine.
We have our eyes on a house tied up in court now.

I only work on my own cars.
My own speed and skill.

 

I bet Im slower than all of ya'll :sillylol: . I really enjoy working on a car . So I just take my time , fart around . My cousin works on cars and charges people , has even charged me ! Shoot , I love it so much , I would not charge anyone .( but Id only work on it , if I knew how to fix it ! I was leaving school this afternoon and noticed some girl in a thirdgen firebird with the hood up and I would have went and helped her if there was not already someone helping her .

 

Well, I hate Maximas... so I don't think I could do it unless it was a lot of money.

I could easily see myself working at a garage... I could see myself fixing computers all day too... But I'm going for a Mechanical Engineering career... it peaks my interest a little more than the other two... who knows maybe someday I'll have worked as all three... I could really care less which I end up with in the end. Life is too short to waste on hating your job.

As it is right now, I have a job that I could keep for life, make 60k at after getting my degree and that's after 3 years of screwing around in school... guess I'm lucky.

Maybe I'll be designing cars for GM or (dare I say) Ford in a few years... I could never work for Chrysler though...

 

U know i heard the automotive field is more prosperous than the computer field cause there are too many people in the IT field (Information Technology)than there are enough jobs to fill in the IT field, i have a brother in law who's a level three computer programmer for three years and got laid off because of cut backs and over filled job pool. Another thing is in the computer field u have to constantly keep updating your self on new material, meaning taking new tests and getting qualified all over again. Now my point is eventually computers are gonna learn to start fixing them selves and correcting mistakes on their own without any supervision so the job market in computers will start to deplete. Now in the automotve field cars are always going to need repairing and mechanics are the only one who can repair them, a computer cant do brake jobs or anything else manual. So in time a mechanic will be a more valuable employee than a computer programmer/operator because of the multi skills envolved in a mechanic. Me personally im not getting into the comp. field nor the automotive field, getting into the medical field, now thats a field where there will always be employment and advancement. Just my two cents

 

CHD,

Cool, I worked at a private school repairing the damage the kids did. It was accually pretty fun. 37K to start is dam good. I have known manny who's first IT job started at 24K.


86BIRD-MY FIRST CAR,

Yeah a lot of pepole got laid off before Sep. it was just the unqualified pepole who were getting the axe. So if you knew your stuff (like me) you didn't worry. Then all of a sudden a planes start hitting buildings and managers and higher ups start worrying that they won't get thier end of the year bonus. So they can the highest paid qualified person in order to make thier numbers look good to save thier bonus. I gueess it's just self preservation (SP?), but not a good way to run a rail road!!

 

Well I am getting into networking engineer. NOT enough of us according to many a people and companies. Getting cisco CNNA Certif, A+ and a few others by he time schools out. Should have around 5 as I said. There is ALWAYS work for a network engineer/designer/maintainer.

 

Well I am getting into networking engineer. NOT enough of us according to many a people and companies. Getting cisco CNNA Certif, A+ and a few others by he time schools out. Should have around 5 as I said. There is ALWAYS work for a network engineer/designer/maintainer.

And on that automotive preosperity. NEW technology techicians are needed. Not nessesarily "just tech's" . Theres not alot of people that can work on these new fangled computer controlled monstrosities!. And I feel sorry for ya if you have a "large" Not fat "large" body cause you can't reach half the **** that you need too!.
And I know a guy(55?) that has been working at the same Mercedes Dealership for over 30 years(started when he was 18) he STILL only makes 65K a year, and has not gotten a raise in over 12 years!. He can tell you anything you need to know about a Mercedes and walk you through just about any repair OVER THE PHONE!. Needless to say he basically runs the service dept at the dealership. He has seen 8 service managers come and go. Just somethihg to chew over for you Car repair guys.

 

Actually Networking is the second highest consumed job after IT,
if your still wanting to go to networking i would get the CCIE-Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert, that is the most sought after networking job and highly paid, there is only like 60-80 CCIE people world wide.

 

You should've stopped anyway; I've done that; sometimes the person helping has no idea how to make a car run. I work for free for friends, too- unless it's a friend of a friend of a friend (someone I don't know), but that hasn't happened yet. All I charge them is for parts, food, maybe smokes, and they have to mention my name if someone asks them "who worked on it?" Same with car stereos... just tell 'em I did it.

 

for being a auto technition, you have to continously retake ASE tests to keep your certification.

you gotta constantly learn new technologies. it sucks for me because I don't know the other technologies. Put me in front of a carburator, and i'd be clueless, but put me in front of a F/I car, and i'd know what I'm doing. *must be why I want TPI on my Impala, instead of a 2-bbl.*

 

As long as Microsoft continues to put out new versions of Windows, computer technician jobs along with programming and networking jobs will be safe.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I can crash every version of windows ever made with each build Microsoft has released by doing things that Windows was designed to do. (even with Win 2000 sadly enough)

As for putting a 2BBL on an Impala... I don't think any of us would wish that on an Impala... 4BBL is the only acceptable alternative.


PS Don't "buy" Windows XP... it sucks ***!! (I luckilly refrained from the pirating of... er... purchasing of it)

 

i am becoming an auto tech

in fact they have me working as one already

i'm working in a Pontiac dealer doing easy jobs full time currently

pays not too shabby

and i'm also going to GM school for this

i'm an ASEP student

 

oopps

 

It was the same when 2K came out. NO SUPPORT. I bought it and got rid of it withen 2 days because nothing on my comp liked it. But now I LOVE 2K. I can fix any computer from my place with a direct conection and the person allowing me in. I fix my futur inlaw's all the time... Oh wait that's XP.. DOUH... But give it about 6 months for all the bugs to get killed then try out XP its really a good OS IMO. Just right now they did not expect all the I/O Software conflicts, or hardwhere stuff... Its just a mess really. I mean 256 patches in 6 days after it came out!.

This is funny though...
I have 98 on one drive
98 SE on another
ME on another(Millenium Edition SUCKS ***!!!!!!!!!!)
2000 Professional and XP on a removable drive for school.


But that feature on XP remote access is REALLY cool. They(My future inlaws) sit there and call me up and say I am having this problem... I say ok I am going to dial up your comp... it asks for permission for control they give it then I have full access to their comp. They say they can see what I do cause their screen shows what mine does as I fix it. Slowly but surely the calls are getting fewer and fewer. That means they are at least paying attention to what I am doing.

 

well... if i were to make that decision i shouldve made it long ago....im right now in GRAD school in computer science ... so pretty much i would like to go into CS field...(ITll be stupid if i have a masters degree in Computers and try to get a auto tech degree on top of that...dont ya think??)


but i still love working on cars...ive changed oil in an accord lol...


and personally i think the computer job might pay more than auto tech job...because in the end it all boils down to the money u get...

 

I here ya on that one.
I'm so sick of the higerups. All they do is f*** themselves over when they pull shi* like that.

The pay is good, job is kewl, higerups suck...

 

And speaking of a Maixma, I killed a riced out one few mins ago.

He **** up next to me and actually has the gull to say "F you"

I wipped him a good one. 4-5 car lengths. After that he wouldn't even pull up next to me again.
Like a Little bad dog, with his tail between his legs.

 

Not really it gives you something to fall back on. The more options you have the better. Sence I graduated from HS the only work experience I have had has been in IT. This is why it has taken me 5 months to find another job. My area of IT has completly dried up and I'm not qualified for anything else. On top of that Trying to get an entry level low paying position after grosing 50+K a year is a PITA. No one wants to hire you becuase they don't feel you would be happy making less money. Hell I don't care about the money any more, I just want to enjoy what I do. They don't understand this and won't hire you. Hell I even dot desperate and aplied at fast food joint as a "hold me over job" and they wouldn't hire me becuae I knew to much. Your damed if you don't have experience and your damed if you do. Go figure!


You may make more in short term, but you need to look further down the road. the avarge life span of an IT job here in the Bay area, Ca is 1 year. When you are changing jobs every six months to a year maintaing the same pay or higher is a PITA. Not to mention losing health benefits every six months to a year. You also need to be able to put up with 10 -14 hour work days on a regular basis. Over time may not be required by law, but if you plan on keeping your job for more then 2 weeks you have to do it. For over a year the only time I saw my house when the light was out was on the weekends. Some times not even then. After a while the money doesn't mean squat, becuase you don't have any time to spend it. You either work or sleep nothing in between. There were 2 weeks in a row the I slept at my desk, becuase if I went home I would just have to turn right back around annd go back to work.

It is comon for pepole to burn out with in 3 - 5 years. Many who made 200K a year would turn around and get a job that pays 38K a year just so they could have a life.

Hell if I could get into a auto tech job right now that pays 25K - 30K a year I would proboly stay with it for the rest of my life, becuase I enjoy it and it is a much more stable long term job.

Moral of the story = IT can be a disease that eats a way at your life. Don't let the money consume you!

 

It also depends on the place you go. I am getting ito the higher end of IT. network engineer, design. So I can maintain a system, or I can design one for a company that does not have one. They pay me to design it, they pay for the equipment that I need too install it. Then they pay me TOO install it.

And if you have a good foundation in the servers you don't have any problems. Sometimes yes I know the higher ups want tis particular software, if you have ***** you tell them sorry that software just will not run on the erver at this time. You also do a little searching and find SIMLILAR software that WILL run and suggest that instead. You don't make the boss look like an idiot and you still get him the software that he wants.!

The biggest problem with the school I will be working at is they have software on the server that just eats all the memory it has, slowing it down to where a P1 166 is faster then the Dual K71.2'S that it has. I have told the IT guy there dumpo all that software into a HD, lock out that HD so it can't be accessed and can't migrate into the server and that will fix your problem. He says he does not know how to do that? WTF? This guy will be easy to replace(I am thinking)
He goes on to say that that software is needed for the server to run. They have primary OS on the server as Novell Client Ware, and some other supposedly "needed" program. Hell all they need is Win2K in the server(Not even the workstations need it) and run Client Ware for access/password control(And honestly if you know how to do it even 2K can do that). That way he has a program installed FOR SERVER ACCESS (Client Ware) and a system to operate and control the server(Win 2K). So yes thats the first thing I will do when I get there.

 

i meant TPI over the 2-bbl on it now.

I'm thinking about using a 327 instead of a 350. cuz a '66 could come with a 327. I'll hop it up like the vette 327 and mine will be a "fuelie" but tuned port instead of mechanical.