Is this weird?

ChevyManSS350

ChevyManSS350

Club Member
I went to school for 2 years to become a mechanic. Now that I have been working at this Oil Change shop for close to 5 months I am not so sure anymore if I want to work on cars anymore. It used to be fun to me now it seems more of like a chore that I do not like to do anymore. Do any of you guys think that it's just because I have a shitty job that I may be reconsidering my career choice, or I should maybe think about doing something else?
 
I went to school to wrench got a job as lube tech/ tire changer and did it for while in school. Didn't like it much but then I got a job at a dealership and it was great. I am going to go back to school again at UTI thanks to the army paying for it and hope to get back into dealership work. I enjoy it myself and it seems that since your just changing oil it wouldnt be near as fun.
 
agreed with most the comments. After working on engines/vehicles all day, it's the last thing I want to do when I get home. Hard to enjoy when you aren't getting paid for it anymore. It's all about finding the balance of what you enjoy on your own time versus, what you enjoy doing everyday.
 
But he's not really working on engines all day, it's the same routine every day. If you had more variety such as troubleshooting, working on different engine components (other than oil related), you'd probably enjoy your job more.
 
Didn't read the responses yet but it's not weird IMO. I went to school to get into computer networking and knew right away that I didn't want to do that. Thankfully I quickly got into the software side of things and enjoy that. Sometimes though, your desires go in complete opposite directions and there's nothing wrong with that either. Overall, you've got to enjoy what you're doing (obviously) so whatever road you have to take to get there, so be it.
 
I always say that I don't like to mix business and pleasure. That's why I work for Ford but my pleasure vehicles are Corvettes.
 
I think I want to try and become a sports writer. I really have a great passion for the game of baseball. I already got accepted on a sports site and I have been writing for them for a little while and I really like it.
 
Look, we've all had jobs we didn't like or weren't thrilled about. If you consider it for the long term, you're bound to get something out of it. Say you dedicate 2 years to your oil changes. An employer will see you have dedication and drive to go somewhere if you're pursuing bigger and better things, and that you didn't get fired because your work is at minimum satisfactory. Get a reference that your work is superb and now you're talking bigger and better things in your future.

Start looking into what it takes to get your dream job. Talk to people that are currently working your dream job and see what they are looking for out of an ideal candidate. Then of course be that ideal candidate.

It's not hard at all, it just takes a little bit of discipline and a good view at your long term goals as well as a mentor or two.

Also, even if you get your dream job at your dream company, the work will become somewhat uninteresting at times. Big deal, you have to remember it pays the bills and it's something you should be grateful for.
 
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I did auto all through High School and 2 years of college and thought I loved working on cars. I worked in a dealership for two years and hated that because you had to kiss the right ass to make money. Then I worked at a private shop for 3 years thinking that working for myself and on a bunch of different things would be fun and I learned that fighting rusty/greasy parts gets old real fast. Then I worked at Livernois doing cylinder heads thinking that specializing in one aspect would be better and I learned that was no good either. Now I work at Roush...doing material handling and don't touch cars at all...and I love it.

Long story short, if you don't think you want to do it, you don't want to do it. I thought I would enjoy working on cars for a living but I realized that it ruined wanting to work on cars as a hobby.
 
I HATE working on cars for a living. I did it for 5 years because it's what I knew. Now I work at a salvage yard and love every minute of it. I'm around cars but I'm a salesman so I don't have to deal with cars all the time. But I can go tear shit apart whenever I feel like it.

I started my mechanic career at an oil change shop as well. It really wasn't horrible other than the fact that my boss wouldn't let me do anything other than oil changes and trans flushes and such for a little over a year. But once he let me show my true potential for the business I hardly ever did oil changes from then on. When you like working on cars as a hobby (like 95% of us here) you really don't want that for a career. Like the old saying goes. mechanics have the least reliable cars, painters have the worst looking cars, and electricians houses burn down...
 
I got out of it because I hated everyone always asking me for favors or help. And I hated all the greedy fucking liar shop managers who didn't know a spark plug from a freeze plug! So I got in to the customer service side of it... Now I can go home and wrench on my own shit in private and enjoy it.
 
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