Automotive Service Technician Career

[Sean778]

After playing with scaffolding at an oil and gas refinery for ~12 years, it is time for me to shift gears and try something new. I pulled the pin to go on parental leave when my daughter was born in July 2019, and went back to work for a month right before the COVID layoffs hit. I have been looking for a change for awhile now, and decided to try my hand at turning wrenches for a living. I signed up for a one semester pre-employment automotive service technician program at a local tech school, and it's going well so far.



I'm reaching out to the community, since your wealth of knowledge has helped me a lot over the years. Does anyone with a professional background in this field have any advice? I'm 36, so it's not my first job or career, but I would love some input from anyone here with experience in the field.



Thanks for reading, any and all replies are welcome!


Sean

 

[JohnX]

I turned wrenches and ran a shop for over a decade, i now teach auto at a college. I'll give you the same advice I give all my students...dont spend all your money on tools. Its a very easy thing to do, snap on/matco/cornwell/Mac etc. are all very good at giving Neverending credit and convincing people they need every tool ever made. Don't be a sucker.

 

[jeep ride]

I turned wrenches and ran a shop for over a decade, i now teach auto at a college. I'll give you the same advice I give all my students...dont spend all your money on tools. Its a very easy thing to do, snap on/matco/cornwell/Mac etc. are all very good at giving Neverending credit and convincing people they need every tool ever made. Don't be a sucker.

After 40 years in the automotive parts business I will second this advice .

 

[Sean778]

Thanks for the advice, I will take that one to heart!

 

[JohnX]

My second piece of advice...its a physically demanding career. Take care of your body, and have a game plan....turning wrenches at 60 won't be fun.

 

[Anak]

My second piece of advice...its a physically demanding career. Take care of your body, and have a game plan....turning wrenches at 60 won't be fun.

QFT!!

I am training The Varmints to work on vehicles so I can pawn offf some of the heavy lifting.

 

[Sean778]

Thanks again, I appreciate the advice!
The younger version of me was too dumb or too proud to ask for help and advice, and insisted on learning everything the hard way. I am trying to change that with this profession, since there will be a whole lot that I don’t know.

 

[bjoehandley]

I turned wrenches and ran a shop for over a decade, i now teach auto at a college. I'll give you the same advice I give all my students...dont spend all your money on tools. Its a very easy thing to do, snap on/matco/cornwell/Mac etc. are all very good at giving Neverending credit and convincing people they need every tool ever made. Don't be a sucker.

A good friend of mine made that move in 2019, from everything he’s said, sounds like he doesn’t regret it one bit.