Job Help/Career Advice

[cwat89]

I normally don't post personal things on forums especially when I'm a new member. But I just have no idea what kind of jobs I should look for. I am at a crossroads between what I always thought I wanted to do and the harsh reality of it. I always thought I wanted to work on cars for a living. I like it as a hobby so thought it would be good. I have a couple friends that work at other dealerships and thought they had it made at what they did. So I landed a job as a lube tech at a local dealership and really played up the fact that I wanted to move up and be a certified technician. I was put in the lube tech position to gain experience in working in a shop. Well, after being there for a little more than a month I'm really thinking this is not the path for me. I just can not feel good about myself recommending BS services to people when I know they do not need it. And yes they keep track of this and I will eventually get reamed for not doing so. I am hourly right now, but the flat rate pay at this particular dealership is pathetic. The hours are ridiculous and you get in trouble for the most ridiculous things. Blow up an engine and they say nothing. Disagree and stand-up for yourself= termination. I am just at my wits end and don't know what else to look for. I am in a good financial state so making top dollar really isn't a huge concern. I am they type person that I do not like to make work my life. I want to do my 40 hours and forget about it. I am a hard worker but do not wish to be at any place longer than I have to.
Here are some things about me that maybe you guys can recommend me some jobs/career paths to look into.

I enjoy working alone
I am not a people person therefore no retail or customer service
I greatly appreciate flexibility
I did enjoy my delivery driving job I had for 3 years but they just did not pay enough
I hate being micromanaged
I want something monday-friday because the weekend is the only time i get to spend with my wife. (she works long hours during the week)
It would be really nice to work from home but I know those jobs are 1 in a million


I hope you guys don't think this is a stupid post. I'm just out of ideas and need some help sorting through all my thoughts and feelings over the whole dealership hell.

Also forgot to mention I would enjoy automotive journalism but have no idea where to even begin with that! I would like to do that so I could help save more manuals!

[AHTOXA]

Not a setup d post at all.

I can't really give you a recommendation since, like you said, I (we) know little about you, but, if you are able to get out of doing a job you don't like, then by all means do so. No sense wasting yourself.

[monkeyhunk]

You like working with your hands.
You don't like customer service.
You like working alone.
You want your weekends.

Maybe a construction trade and the journalism thing on the side?

[IMBoring25]

If you otherwise like the job, there are ethical garages out there...Some who would be thrilled with the interview answer that you quit/got fired/are looking for a new job (whichever is the case at that point) because you were unwilling to recommend unnecessary services to customers.

The factor I think a lot of people who aspire to mechanic-in' miss is how physically demanding the job is. You probably have to be a pretty senior line mechanic before you can tell the noob to take the water pump change and let you have the fan belt changes because your back can't take being hunched over an engine for six straight hours again.

If you're completely soured on the garage concept, I do have a few thoughts.

Body shops present different work than garages, probably less physically demanding than a standard garage once you get out of the painter's-assistant phase and less likely to follow the extended-warranty sales approach.

Class A driving may be more lucrative than deliveries. You probably lose some money wanting to be home weekends, but might be worth looking into.

I strongly suggest working on the social skills angle. You will have coworkers and some of them will be difficult...even drivers typically need to deal with dispatchers and loading dock people on occasion. Plus, it's really hard finding anything more than menial labor that doesn't involve selling something, even if it's just yourself.

[watkins]

I have been following a similar career path for a few years. Started as oil bitch, moved to the shop as an hourly tech, and am now a flatrate certified Chrysisler technician. Lots of bullshit along the way. LOTS. Has it been worth it? Financially; maybe. In terms of stress; probably not. In terms of learning experience; yes. Will I stick with this for the rest of my life? Most likely no. I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up. Probably because I dont ever plan on growing up.

[Squint]

I've been in that same boat for most of my "adult" (I use that term loosely... who actually wants to be an adult all the time??) life. I started studying mechanical engineering in college, switched to history, earned a BA in that with a French minor, worked retail, substitute taught, coal industry, car industry (dealerships try to steal your soul), and now am back at an engineering firm going back to school starting this summer to get that engineering degree.

I wish I were the type of person that has a calling in life that just can't be ignored. "I am going to be a doctor! A lawyer! A firefighter!" ... But I don't have that calling so I have bounced around doing jobs that I thought might interest me and paid enough to take care of the bills. I've finally settled on the idea that I won't necessarily find something that I love to do as a job, so I will use the job to fund the things I love to do outside of work - play soccer, car stuff, family, hopefully travel more, etc...

Good luck with your soul searching and if you want ideas bounced back off of someone more quickly, feel free to send me a PM or jump on IRC and chat with His Bovine Holiness or mtheis (and rarely myself).

[theholycow]

The dissatisfaction you've experienced trying to turn a hobby into a career is typical. When you're getting paid to do it, it's bound to be less fun. That's not limited to automotive wrenching, it happens in plenty of contexts. As was mentioned above not all shops have that same awful culture, but it IS pretty common to have severe cultural/policy deficiencies in that industry.

You've forgotten to give us one very important category of information: Your skills. What do you know? What do you realistically think you could learn?

Given these criteria:

I enjoy working alone
I am not a people person therefore no retail or customer service
I greatly appreciate flexibility
I did enjoy my delivery driving job I had for 3 years but they just did not pay enough
I hate being micromanaged
I want something monday-friday because the weekend is the only time i get to spend with my wife. (she works long hours during the week)
It would be really nice to work from home but I know those jobs are 1 in a million

I'd say you should be a computer programmer. It's really not a great career and not lucrative for most people though. Work from home is even a possibility...certainly if you do contract jobs.

Looking at your thing about that delivery job: How about something in the scrap metal industry? I don't know if there's good money there but I suspect that plenty of types of jobs meeting your other criteria. There are drivers who load scrap into trucks. There are machine operators who separate scrap. Etc.

That brings me back around to automotive wrenching, and I think I have the winner: Junkyard auto dismantler. You work Monday to Friday disassembling rusted, crashed cars and inventorying the parts (or maybe you hand them off to someone else for that). You probably have a few cow-orkers with whom you'll likely socialize but otherwise it should be pretty independent. I can't imagine there's a lot of micromanagement but that's more an issue of which person you work for, not what kind of job you do. You never have to worry about an angry customer and flexibility is up to your employer, a rigid schedule is not a function of the job.

[tankinbeans]

This isn't a stupid post at all. Sometimes you just need somebody else to look at you and help guide you. My suggestion would be to come up with a list of things you like, areas of interest, and whore yourself out to placement agencies. There are all kinds of them out there, automotive, light industrial, clerical/office, and they can get you some exposure to different things. Perhaps they can even help you shape your future. I used to dismiss placement agencies because I didn't like the idea of being a "temp," but in my situation - little experience, less education than many employers look for - it's easier to let somebody else do the leg work.

I'm very much a misanthrope and prefer being by myself or in a small group of people.

[cwat89]

When I say I'm not a people person I mean in a retail environment. I like my coworkers a lot. I have liked my coworkers at pretty much every job. I just don't like direct customer service stuff is what I meant. I took engineering graphics at greenville tech but it's only a certificate as I'm not a very good student. I have thought about going back to at least get my associate in it. I still would kind of like to try and pursue that. Like squint said... I've never had one thing I always aspired to do. I bounce around all the time. I also think I am done with the automotive thing. I enjoy it much more as a hobby. And like said above dealerships kill your soul. It has taken the fun out of it fast for me.

[AHTOXA]

You definitely don't want to do sales. The only thing worse (for me) is outright prostitution. Hate sales with a passion.

[tankinbeans]

You definitely don't want to do sales. The only thing worse (for me) is outright prostitution. Hate sales with a passion.

If you find the right Janes...

How about a porn star for the European market?

[Squint]

You definitely don't want to do sales. The only thing worse (for me) is outright prostitution. Hate sales with a passion.

If you find the right Janes...

How about a porn star for the European market?

His wife would probably object unless she is not your average woman.

[SonicHKS]

From what you've said, you're not a go-getter at all. Good luck having a career in this world.



That said, I'm like you. And I've been told ^exactly that^ for most of my life. The people who succeed in this country are the ones who have a passion for whatever they do. The fine-print for that is that you have to devote your life to your work. I've had plenty of bosses who never stop and just keep working when they leave the office. You're expected to make work your first priority in life. With your current job, that means giving up your idealism and putting career/money first. What's supposed to motivate you are selfish things, like your mortgage, bills, student loan repayments, etc. Whenever you try to upsell someone, you're not supposed to care about them. You, your job, the money you make, all come before that. Standing up for yourself? Not allowed. You're supposed to have a resume filled with positions you've stayed at for years, attaining more responsibilities. Standing up for yourself and getting fired, going from job to job, etc, looks very bad and brings your loyalty and teamwork into question. In the business world we're all like medieval servants, expected to bow and scrape and do things we hate so we may earn the privilege of surviving another day.

That's what I've seen of the working world. There are jobs that aren't like that, but they are very few and far between. A few members on the forum have been lucky enough to get GOOD jobs and will probably flame me for this post. Good on you guys for making it in this world. The vast majority of whats out there, especially service industry and business sales/marketing jobs, are like what I said in the first paragraph though.

You'd do well in IT. I'll tell you one thing, most of the working world involves people. Customers, co-workers, bosses. I'd say 80% of jobs you'll be knee deep in all three. I have the same problem as you, I'm not really a people person, I'm introverted and being social wears on me. I'd much rather work alone. In this type of working world though you really have to look to find what you're looking for. For me, that's been IT. Its nice just being able to roll into work at 8-9AM, sit at your own cubicle and just do your own thing all day. Heavy workload on a project, where you don't have to talk much, you can just sit there with earbuds listening to music. Its also nice because you can get paid decent for just an entry level position, so you don't have to worry so much about working your way up the corporate ladder. For one thing, if you're just looking to punch in and punch out every day you won't move up much. So if you don't want to deal with that you should look at jobs that are what you're looking for from the very beginning, not something you need to get promoted to. Working on cars, though fun, isn't something you might want to do forever. You'll always be hanging out with co-workers having to be social, you'll always have to deal with customers/bosses constantly, etc. And you'll always have to deal with corporate/retail bs like upselling and quotas and crap.

[AHTOXA]

I think you're a bit quick to call him a non-go-getter.

Overall, in any job you will ever work, there are customers. I can guarantee you that there's not a single job out there where you won't have customers. Why? Because you're doing your job for someone, and that someone is your customer, whether internal or external.

In some of those jobs you can get by with minimal customer service or interpersonal skills, and in others you cannot.

[potownrob]