Does anyone have first hand experience?
As a student?
As an employer thats hired a student?
As a student?
As an employer thats hired a student?
School pf Automotive Machinists
- Thread starter Dusten
- Start date
They put on a good showing at the trade shows. But that's about as far as my experience goes with them.
My son is showing interest in career in the automotive field.
If he wants to turn wrenches I'd look into a school with a marine diesel tech program. Cummins, Cat, Volvo, etc can't find enough people to fill those jobs and they pay great. I know of boats down here that have paid techs double their normal rate to leave one job to come fix their boat. In season they can't afford to be down. I know of one that loses $60,000 profit per day it sits at the dock. What do you think they'll pay to get up and running?
I think hes looking more performance and such. Not just being a wrench
Lemme get to my computer and I’ll explain, there’s two approaches.
Alright Here we go (may be a long post, so hold on)
My FIRSTHAND experience is as an employer, so I'll start with that.
Coming from an employment standpoint, what I've seen is the graduates typically come out of school with massive amounts of debts, whether its a massive tool bill they racked up while in school, student loans, what have you. This means the graduates want to START at exorbitant amounts of money, which a lot of times is not feasible. Every shop will put you on a 'probationary' period, as they cannot pay you fantastic to just 'see what you're worth', ya know? Your tools and your work are your portfolio, so make sure you have nice stuff. If the probationary period works out, you can become a full tech. These individuals are very books mart, just haven't really had that much hands on experience. Typically these are 'parts changers', don't think outside of the box as much.
The alternative route is to get on at a shop as an apprentice. You get all the OJT you desire, and get paid to do it. As with any profession, you work your way up the experience ladder, and don't have massive debts. Obviously everyone's financial situations is different. These individuals aren't as book savvy, but they're leaps and bounds above the school guys
What matters is your ability to do the job at hand, and the two paths prepare you totally differently. Both can be made to work, however I would get my feet in the door at a shop to make sure its an environment that one enjoys / can acclimate to. There are tons of guys that cant make it in a shop environment, straight up.
My FIRSTHAND experience is as an employer, so I'll start with that.
Coming from an employment standpoint, what I've seen is the graduates typically come out of school with massive amounts of debts, whether its a massive tool bill they racked up while in school, student loans, what have you. This means the graduates want to START at exorbitant amounts of money, which a lot of times is not feasible. Every shop will put you on a 'probationary' period, as they cannot pay you fantastic to just 'see what you're worth', ya know? Your tools and your work are your portfolio, so make sure you have nice stuff. If the probationary period works out, you can become a full tech. These individuals are very books mart, just haven't really had that much hands on experience. Typically these are 'parts changers', don't think outside of the box as much.
The alternative route is to get on at a shop as an apprentice. You get all the OJT you desire, and get paid to do it. As with any profession, you work your way up the experience ladder, and don't have massive debts. Obviously everyone's financial situations is different. These individuals aren't as book savvy, but they're leaps and bounds above the school guys
What matters is your ability to do the job at hand, and the two paths prepare you totally differently. Both can be made to work, however I would get my feet in the door at a shop to make sure its an environment that one enjoys / can acclimate to. There are tons of guys that cant make it in a shop environment, straight up.
I appreciate the insight. I'm not concerned with the debt as his school is paid for, I just want to make sure the money isn't wasted. Unfortunately, where he lives, shops don't exist. So he'd have to move on the off chance he could find a job with no skills or training. That's a scary proposition.
Completely understand. He could work out an apprenticeship beforehand, if so desired.
However, his best bet would SURELY be a dealership. Get your foot in the door there, and after a bit of time / experience, jump to an independent shop.
Hell there's websites technicians are on and they get hired out of state.
I'll give you my experience working in the field, which is pretty much like @Zemedici stated but both my former bosses took different routes that were very beneficial for them and they both have/had their hands in the performance world.
The main boss started out at Ford dealer doing oil changes and then went to South Tacoma Honda to do the same but then they offered him a chance to go to their tech program which he did and he was a Master Tech by the time he was 22 or 23 I think, he was really young. Anyways, that program and schooling gave him the opportunity to apply for other motorsports and racing programs within Honda but obviously those are very competitive.
The other boss is from Japan and has never been through any formal school to certify him as a tech in any one specific field, but from my understanding he has done individual testing and got ASE certified in a number of different aspects of the automotive world, so essentially no matter what he has a job as someone needs him. He can go to pretty much anywhere and they will hire him on, like for instance he can work on and service natural gas vehicles. So that means he can go to various companies that have them in their fleets and they will pay him big money to service them although it's usually not a permanent position for him, he works like a contractor essentially. Aside from that he is D1 driver Daigo Saito's team manager. Doesn't seem like much but he is very much tied up in the motorsports world and mingles with all of the pro drivers and gets into all the parties. He also has direct ties to HKS and just about every major tuner brand from Japan and many from the US like Roush and Brian Crower. If I had to say, he has the automotive career we all would love to have with an incredible resume.
I know not exactly the info you are looking for but from what I have seen there is a lot of formal and informal ways of accomplishing those goals. It basically boils down to knowledge and skill and not so much who you know or who's ass you kiss because you wont last long if you dont know your shit in the auto world. People love to tear you down and pick you apart if they dont believe you should be there.
The main boss started out at Ford dealer doing oil changes and then went to South Tacoma Honda to do the same but then they offered him a chance to go to their tech program which he did and he was a Master Tech by the time he was 22 or 23 I think, he was really young. Anyways, that program and schooling gave him the opportunity to apply for other motorsports and racing programs within Honda but obviously those are very competitive.
The other boss is from Japan and has never been through any formal school to certify him as a tech in any one specific field, but from my understanding he has done individual testing and got ASE certified in a number of different aspects of the automotive world, so essentially no matter what he has a job as someone needs him. He can go to pretty much anywhere and they will hire him on, like for instance he can work on and service natural gas vehicles. So that means he can go to various companies that have them in their fleets and they will pay him big money to service them although it's usually not a permanent position for him, he works like a contractor essentially. Aside from that he is D1 driver Daigo Saito's team manager. Doesn't seem like much but he is very much tied up in the motorsports world and mingles with all of the pro drivers and gets into all the parties. He also has direct ties to HKS and just about every major tuner brand from Japan and many from the US like Roush and Brian Crower. If I had to say, he has the automotive career we all would love to have with an incredible resume.
I know not exactly the info you are looking for but from what I have seen there is a lot of formal and informal ways of accomplishing those goals. It basically boils down to knowledge and skill and not so much who you know or who's ass you kiss because you wont last long if you dont know your shit in the auto world. People love to tear you down and pick you apart if they dont believe you should be there.
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Understand completely.
As a father I basically want to give him every advantage possible
Definitely, and I think some schooling for him would be the best start. With that, I think a great place to start would be looking at what manufactures offer with their training programs to make them techs. As far as I know, that is the best training you can get and Im pretty sure it is paid for by the dealerships. But obviously he could get into other programs for that deal specifically with other fields like it sounds like you are describing.
Pickman
New Member
This is pretty spot on. I went through the Ford ASSET program and I lost my head a lot after getting hired as a drivability tech. I was nothing but book smart with barely any OJT.
This is why I think he'd still off to start out at the bottom I just want him to have a foundation. Unfortunately he doesn't live with me, so I can help there. His mom's useless as ****.
Some dealerships would hire him to change oil, then he does brakes, then he does suspension, and while he’s working for them they’ll pay to get his certs.
But keep in mind dealership will only give him 50% of what he needs to do performance. It’s a whooooole lot of ‘thinking outside the box’ that only comes from experience of trying to put a square piece in a circle hole. Ya know?
Be perfect if he lived with you, Dusten. You’d have him up and going in no time at all...
I dont have any experience, only the info that there's a school in Ohio, called UNOH in Lima, that my brother just finished up at in June. They have several options in the mechanics field. Diesel, Ag, High Performance, etc. It's a two year program and my brother who is not a bookworm enjoyed it. He's now paying his dues at a local shop trying to learn from the old timers. However, I don't think they're giving him a lot of opportunity.
Sent from my SM-G965U using the svtperformance.com mobile app
Sent from my SM-G965U using the svtperformance.com mobile app
If its the same SAM in Texas that I'm thinking of, then a member of another mustang forum spoke very highly of it. I remember back when he was attending he was sharing alot of his work with us, and it all looked very legit. BUT, he was an avid enthusiast and always put in the extra effort to take advantage of it. I don't know if their program has kept up with modern engines, but all the pushrod stuff I've seen was pretty good stuff. I've also heard/read several other anecdotes about SAM specifically that shared those observations.
I think machinists, and especially automotive performance machinists are a dying breed. I'd say go for it! Much better specialty than just being a wrench, but the exciting application of those skills might be harder to come by than you realize.
I think machinists, and especially automotive performance machinists are a dying breed. I'd say go for it! Much better specialty than just being a wrench, but the exciting application of those skills might be harder to come by than you realize.
I’d get him a beater and then suggest tasks to complete, start with
Location Identification, starter, a/c components, oil fill, oil filter, ect.
Tasks to complete, drain coolant, drain oil, remove tires.
Some kids will have quit by now,
If he’s still there then thermostat replace, valve covers gasket replace, pull starter.
And add actual classes and you will have a well rounded tech.
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Location Identification, starter, a/c components, oil fill, oil filter, ect.
Tasks to complete, drain coolant, drain oil, remove tires.
Some kids will have quit by now,
If he’s still there then thermostat replace, valve covers gasket replace, pull starter.
And add actual classes and you will have a well rounded tech.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
He's already got a beater. He works on it
He has dirt bikes too.
I bought him this almost a year ago
He has dirt bikes too.
I bought him this almost a year ago
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