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becoming a mechanic


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#1 Blaeven

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Posted 14 August 2008 - 05:28 PM

hej, my job is boring me and i'm liking more and more the idea of becoming a mechanic... i feel that my time could better be spent (albeit for less money) actually doing something... and the time would go faster if i was occupied. i understand that i'm going to make almost half what i make now (down from about $34k) but i think the time would go faster between paychecks, and i would enjoy myself more, if i was a mechanic (as opposed to an IT helpdesk pleb) any ideas, suggestions and even if you know someone who is looking for a first year apprentice in the sydney northern suburbs, would be helpful... cheers, Tristan

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#2 Soop

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Posted 14 August 2008 - 07:05 PM

Work to live, don't live to work. If your happy at work your more likely to be happy in most other facets of life. I will suggest you hunt around for a mechanic open on weekends and ask to do some work experience with him. This will not only let you see most of the more mundane components to the occupation, but also tell you if its really for you. If you do decide to follow that advice, Do a quick read up on the employer bonuses for taking someone on to do work experience. I believe they can be given some money from the gov't to do so. Which is always appealing. Don't know if any of that is at all useful, but its my 2c none the less.
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#3 XXB4XX

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Posted 14 August 2008 - 07:13 PM

as soop said, work is heaps better if you enjoy what your doing.. but.. IT opens many doors for you in the future.. Once a mechanic, always a mechanic. you be coming home dirty, grubby, covered in oil, and once again Dirty.. EVERY day of your life. Max a mechanic can earn? 80-100k if your a heavy duty foreman / diesel mechanic / 12 hour shifts under cars..., IT ?? - sky is the limit mate.

#4 Soop

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Posted 14 August 2008 - 07:17 PM

In the same note, IT is a flooded market is it not? As the years go on it will only increase that way. Trade's will become more and more a necessity. Also with a trade there is the option of owning your own business and various other ventures. As a mechanic you could earn your self a position working with world ranked race teams, Prodrive for example.
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#5 XXB4XX

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Posted 14 August 2008 - 07:23 PM

IT is flooded as everybody owns a computer, everyone uses a computer, and everyone wants a computer.. big jobs in IT won't go... as for mechanic, I know 20 mechanics, they all regret it, they all hate it, they all get paid peanuts, and the ones that own a shop struggle just as much as the rest.. everyone is a mechanic these days, and it's too hard to be competetive.. oh well.. Tristan, whatever makes you happy dude, I wanna be a pilot if that counts!

#6 Soop

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Posted 14 August 2008 - 07:27 PM

Mate, you'll find that most Tradesman whinge and b*tch no matter how good they have it. I'm not even there yet and i do it. But i can't think of anything else I'd rather do. You are right about the IT industry however. But Tristan has the experience behind him now, so if he goes and tries another industry and it fails, is there a great loss other than time? And being his age, He really wont get another chance to find out i guess.
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#7 Evil_VZ-T

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Posted 14 August 2008 - 07:29 PM

Im a Mechanic, 2nd year. Now it really depends on where you go to how well you will learn and how enjoyable the job is. I'm at a dealership (Honda) and the work there is very easy. General services with the occasional clutch replacements. its very repetitive and can get quite boring. Its a relaxed atmosphere and we all get alone well. its a 8>4PM job too But, its not my cop of tea. Im wanting abit more and want to learn things. EG: pull Cv's out, rebuild gearbox's, do bearings and all the dirty greasy stuff that mechanic do. But for this to happen i have to place myself in a smaller workshop where the cars are 10yrs old and there are less people. This option is more stressful and hard work. the hours are alot longer too. but if you want to learn. thats the way to go depending on your age you can go in as a mature aged apprentice (20yrs and over). which means you start on about $15 per hour. but you can be like me and earn a huge $6.80 per hour. its a big choice, but a skill you will always have for the rest of your life
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#8 CRUISN

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Posted 14 August 2008 - 08:59 PM

Im an Industrial Electrician. Programming, fault finding and breakdown work. Theres massive demand for industrial trades. Theyre getting harder to find and therefore more demand. Im on an easy 100K a year sitting down waiting for a breakdown. But it can get pretty technical and involving and you can go pretty much all around the world with the qualifications. Oh and i hardly ever get dirty. :D

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#9 Pete S

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Posted 14 August 2008 - 09:46 PM

Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration here, all big commercial stuff. Good if you like mechanical and a bit of electrical. At the moment working in controls, all electrical and programming. Write the programs to control all mechanical services ie aircon, lighting, fire systems. Also wire it all up. Was lucky to land a job where I am though. I have a lot of friends who work on residential units.... really shit work. They don't get to see it all like I have. Have been exposed to residential, commercial refrigeration, commercial a/c (big stuff, chillers etc), electrical, gas furnaces, controls. Mechanic.... I don't know, maybe see if you can do some work experience with a work shop see if you enjoy it. Will make you change your mind pretty fast I think.

#10 Blaeven

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Posted 15 August 2008 - 10:04 AM

thanks for all the help/tips guys... i'm still no more convinced by anything except that what paul said is right... what have i got to lose but time??? if i hate it, right back into IT i go... *shrug* also... any more info on being a mature aged apprentice??? anyone??

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#11 Soop

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Posted 15 August 2008 - 05:34 PM

You'll find all your information regarding the issue here mate:
http://www.australia...ceships.gov.au/
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#12 Evil_VZ-T

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Posted 17 August 2008 - 10:17 AM

you can be a mature aged apprentice if you start your 1st year when you over 20 years old. i think its a good thing. ill be fully qualified just before im 20
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#13 Blaeven

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Posted 17 August 2008 - 10:56 PM

you can be a mature aged apprentice if you start your 1st year when you over 20 years old. i think its a good thing.

ill be fully qualified just before im 20


20 in 2 months...

arg... damn getting older...

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#14 Not Marv

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Posted 18 August 2008 - 10:11 AM

A friend was a motoring journalist working on 2 different car magazines that specialised in high-end Euro and modified Japanese cars. Money was shit (qualified journo got $40k, stepped up to Dep Ed got $50k which is about the ceiling), hours were long and f**king frustrating (dawn photoshoots mid-winter in Blue Mountains, or driving to Brisbane and back in 1 day for a story), and the only real trade-off was that on rare occasions he got to pilot the odd bit of awesome machinery. There were way too many headaches and that led him to get out of that industry. What is the point of this rambling tale? All jobs have their high and low points, some have more than others. Look real, REAL hard at those before you jump. PS: no, it wasn't Hot4s, Fast4s or any of those rags.

#15 Dylan

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Posted 18 August 2008 - 10:50 AM

A friend was a motoring journalist working on 2 different car magazines that specialised in high-end Euro and modified Japanese cars. Money was shit (qualified journo got $40k, stepped up to Dep Ed got $50k which is about the ceiling), hours were long and f**king frustrating (dawn photoshoots mid-winter in Blue Mountains, or driving to Brisbane and back in 1 day for a story), and the only real trade-off was that on rare occasions he got to pilot the odd bit of awesome machinery. There were way too many headaches and that led him to get out of that industry.

What is the point of this rambling tale? All jobs have their high and low points, some have more than others. Look real, REAL hard at those before you jump.

PS: no, it wasn't Hot4s, Fast4s or any of those rags.


That's true.

I think a lot has changed in the job world, too. Previously (parents generation, or moreso parents parents) it was encourage to make your hobby a career, and that you would work in one place and advance your career.

It's hard for me to say for certain (as I wasn't around back then), but it seems to me now that there are a lot of people that will just work a job for money, and to pay off debts. I am kindof guilty of this, I am lucky that I have an interest in what I do for my job. I considered starting an apprenticeship for mechanics as I really enjoy it - but you can ruin it. My Dad's hobby is radio, he has done it most of his life (apart from back in his days of being in a band) and he has enjoyed it. Unfortunately for him now he finds that the enjoyment is slowing dwindling and due to multinationals and the way our society is driven nowdays that peoples love of work is no longer there, and that he is being pushed harder to make the share price increase.

I think mechanic workshops are different to this in that they are not owned and operated by a multinational... but financial pressure on everyone now makes decisions harder - especially if that is to give up a higher paying job to chase your hobby. If you do that, you may be forced to work more than you normally would which could result in you losing interest in your hobby, and job.

I think that while you are young you have more of an opportunity to try different things, and make these sort of decisions. Once you get in to big debt, and get older (and if you have dependents) you will no longer be able to make these sort of decisions.

So I say Tristan, if you're really keen - go for it dude. You could always go and do some TAFE course on it first, to see how you like it and if you think it's something you might want to do day in and day out. There are also other areas of mechanics - the more specialised areas such as tuning and high end modifications which may be more enjoyable and higher paying, but I would imagine they would be a lot harder to get in to.

#16 Not Marv

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Posted 18 August 2008 - 11:02 AM

You should also remember an old adage that rings true for every tradie I know (and I know a few): A plumber's taps drip A carpenter's doors squeak And the bloke who builds $300,000 custom cars every day drives a smokey 1980 Sigma

#17 Blaeven

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Posted 18 August 2008 - 11:05 AM

thanks dylan...

and yeah, you're right... i am still young and don't really have any need for the money i make... just a want/desire...

i might look into this mature age thing, because $15p/h is only $3p/h less than i'm on now...

if i hate it, i've still got a foot in the door with this IT thing... and i am reasonably good at it, even if i don't really enjoy it...

IT used to be a hobby, and i still have a hobby for pulling appart computer and stuff like that... it's just that, in the job i'm in, i don't get to do much of that...

i'm sure i could find an IT job that i'd love...

but i think that a job in mechanics would be more pertainant to my hope and dreams in life

now if i could work in a performance mechanics workshop i'd love that...

but i'd have to become a mechanic first... don't see performance places taking on 1st years... do you??

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#18 Dylan

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Posted 18 August 2008 - 11:08 AM

lalala i love c**ks lalala bla bla

but i'd have to become a mechanic first... don't see performance places taking on 1st years... do you??



Hehe. Depends man, if you approached them about it and offered to sweep their floors every day and slowly learn - perhaps. I think it's unfair to totally rule it out at this stage that they would not accept you - all you can do is ask around I guess.

#19 Blaeven

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Posted 18 August 2008 - 11:12 AM

lalala i love c**ks lalala bla bla


think you're funny c**t????



you're right... i'll have to go and ask around...

it's not like i need the job at the moment... seen as i already have one...

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#20 Not Marv

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Posted 18 August 2008 - 12:51 PM

now if i could work in a performance mechanics workshop i'd love that...

but i'd have to become a mechanic first... don't see performance places taking on 1st years... do you??


You'd love it just like thousands - literally thousands - of other talented young mechanics out there. In reality you'd start your own "performance" workshop before someone would put you on as a complete greenhorn at a decent workshop.

I know plenty of those workshops from having dealt with them and the reality is that:

A) those workshops make *** all money
B.) they workshops normally can't afford to have apprentices
C) they need knowledgeable people who are experienced in whatever field they specialise in
D) A lot of work at performance workshops is very mundane (fitting turbo timers, springs etc)
E) Performance workshops have to deal with A LOT of wankers, unreliable people (get used to chasing bills through courts), dangerous people
F) Long hours + low pay (even when you're qualified) compared to dealership work

Not trying to shoot you down, but it is a lot harder to get into good workshops than people think. I've got a mate who is a mechanic at a place in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney and gets to work on amazing machinery (has an F40 in there ATM) and he hates it. He says, no lie, it is no different to when he did his time servicing Starlets in Castle Hill, except the penalties for dropping a spanner on the guard of a Lambo is your month's pay and a right bollocking from some c**t from Potts Point who doesn't really care about the car anyway.




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