Automotive service professionals help me out with career advice for my son.

Line Noise

Line Noise

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He's interested in Auto-Diesel and is currently considering going to Lincoln tech (Indianapolis) for an Associates Degree in Automotive Service Management (28K before housing and will take 18 months). Is this degree worth it? Is there a better route he should be taking to accomplish getting into the field? A better school etc?

Me being a tech guy my only advice is to google it and I do see a bunch of rip off complaints etc.

Thanks in advance. Linenoise!
 
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washtenaw county community college

has a state of the art automotive program

auto mechanics
body and paint
motorcycle

and they are an real college credits they will transfer to a 4 year
college or university if he wanted to get a bachelors degree later

and probally alot less money

and he would get a real associates degree not a cert of completion
 
Diesel mechanic...as in semi trucks?
Tough choice. Hard work, poor work environment, exposures to many carcinogens, hard on the body.
 
i'd look intoother fields i'm almost doen with an associates degree in general studies with a focus on collision repair/paint refinishing and after working in the collision industry i don't plan on using any of what i leanred in my colliiosn classes, the money just isnt steady enough and the industry just isn't what i want to be involved in. i figure i will look into things that are related by my studies . maybe insurance claims or work for some of the paint suppliers.
 
?Automotive Service Management?
Like run a shop?
I don't see many good shops being ran by people that weren't technicians for a long time.
What exactly does he want to do?
I've been an independent shop mechanic (Mom and Pop place), dealership mechanic, labor time development and now a repair manual writer.
Didn't need schooling for any of it. Either it comes naturally or it's not the right thing for you.
Edit: No offense to anyone that went to school for it. It's just my opinion.
 
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braxx said:
?Automotive Service Management?
Like run a shop?
I don't see many good shops being ran by people that weren't technicians for a long time.
What exactly does he want to do?
I've been an independent shop mechanic (Mom and Pop place), dealership mechanic, labor time development and now a repair manual writer.
Didn't need schooling for any of it. Either it comes naturally or it's not the right thing for you.
Edit: No offense to anyone that went to school for it. It's just my opinion.
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wish i was that lucky i only ever get offered bottom level stuff even though i have expierance
 
pitcrew85 said:
wish i was that lucky i only ever get offered bottom level stuff even though i have expierance
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The key for me was to stay and work my way up. I was a courier (yes, package delivery) for the company I'm at now. That was over 10 years ago. Now I am a technical writer for the work shop repair manual department.
 
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braxx said:
The key for me was to stay and work my way up. I was a courier (yes, package delivery) for the company I'm at now. That was over 10 years ago. Now I am a technical writer for the work shop repair manual department.
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wow, cool i'd take the courier job at the moment its better then the porter shit i'm currently doing til i'm done with school
 
Having been through tech school in the past I can say a few things. It gives you a foundation for on the job training. You will not be ready to be a on your own tech no matter what school you go to, and most likely not be hired as one. I worked in shops went to tech school and continued working as I was in school. Tech school also only offers what you make of it and your instructor is willing to teach. My best advice is to get a job in a shop part time, and your going to push brooms, clean toilets, take out trash. Show good work ethic and a willingness to learn while at that job. While doing so take business classes at a community college ect. maybe even a few tech courses.

You will never learn it all in school in this business, and having the education on the business end allows you more opportunity to move into the operation/management side of things with greater ease later on. Washtenaw Community College as mentioned above is a great place to look into. They offer a good technical program, and offer the general college courses that transfer all in the same place *much more affordable also*. But as I said this is what I can offer from my experience. Having gone through this road and a current tech (and still learning) its all about the drive of the individual to make it happen.
 
STAY AWAY FROM TECH SCHOOLS!!!!

I have had the pleasure of working with a few people form them and they don;t know shit so obviously the progams don't teach crap. No degree either.

I got my associates from HFCC and I have gotten way way farther on it than anyone i know that went to a tech school.
 
I would much rather hire someone that has shop experience, rather then a tech school cert. Real life work experience is worth alot more then me then someone who has spent 2 years in the same garage with the same 1 instructor, and the same 8 cars. There is alot more to learn in the shop over the same time period.
 
A community college such as washtenaw and lansing community college both offer GREAT programs. LCC has a huge new facility with great tools for learning.

I personally went through the auto tech program @ LCC and enjoyed it, learned a bunch, but I am not wrenching anymore. The problem is with all these dealerships closing up and the economy going to shit, there's not many technician jobs in the state as it's flooded with guys looking for work.
 
Line Noise said:
He's interested in Auto-Diesel and is currently considering going to Lincoln tech (Indianapolis) for an Associates Degree in Automotive Service Management (28K before housing and will take 18 months). Is this degree worth it? Is there a better route he should be taking to accomplish getting into the field? A better school etc?

Me being a tech guy my only advice is to google it and I do see a bunch of rip off complaints etc.

Thanks in advance. Linenoise!
Click to expand...

The degree will help with potential employers. Automotive diesel though I would not do. Limited field. If he took automotive Diesel and Heavy Diesel for big trucks and equipment that would be a smart move. Lots more work and money.Job is physically harder and it would not be something I would recomend for someone of duminative stature. A good heavy truck mechanic is usually a guy about 6 feet tall and around 200lbs. The mass of the part involved requires some strength to manipulate.

If Iwere him and he wants to work on cars. Lincl tech has a good master ASE program that co-ops with dealerships. Work is scarce right now but usually toyota and honda and the forgien companys benz,bmw seem to always have opneings.

If you have more specific industry questions. Drop me a PM I will try to answer them as best I can.
 
My .02 is this: Start out now as P/T or whatever, in a shop doing whatever. Tire tech, LOF tech, apprentice, etc. My former employer (dealership) would hire people with little or no 'formal' training, and as long as they had mechanical common sense, would train them up to whatever they wanted to be, pretty much.

I do strongly suggest that while he is working P/T in the shop, getting real world experience, that he would go to a Community College that will transfer credits to a 4-year degree, in case he wants to go on later. He can get an associates in general management, that will do him better, combined with his hands on exp in the shop, than the Lincoln tech school program IMO. That way, he will always have a degree in something that is not automotive exclusive, in case he changes paths later down the road.

Just something to think about, but thats the path I would take.
 
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