Career choice

[Tezzers]

Well, the subject might be a bit broad, so I’ll just jump to the point.

I’m still in high school, but it’s nearing time to start looking for and applying to colleges. This brings up the question of “What field do you plan on going into”. I’m in a tossup between two paths that I love equally – Cars and electronics, probably computer hardware engineering.

For me both of them just seem to come naturally, and are enjoyable. I’m not sure about becoming a tech though for the following reasons.

• Dealing with people has never really been a strong suit for me – I hate having to interact with people, it’s almost painful in a sense for me (#Autistic problems)
• Working on cars as it is has been pretty un-forgiving on my back, even though I’m still young, so I’m not sure how much of a toll it may take if I do it daily
• Job availability, or lack there of locally

The thoughts I’ve been having have generally been in favor of a EE major, such as:

• Less interaction with people – I work most efficient when alone.
• Silence – Can’t be in a noisy enviornment for too long without getting really on-edge. If it were the sound of an air compressor and ratchet, repetitive sounds are fine, relaxing even to me, but from the one experience I’ve had actually being in a shop, I’d probably be on-edge fairly quick.
• Not bothered by sitting in front of a screen for hours, staring at strings of text debugging. Actually theraputic for me
• Just one downside has come to mind for me in this field, and that is the constant evolution of technology – The part that you used on this board that day may be obsolete by the end of the year, which means non-stop learning.

Sorry about going on and on, just never really did well with organizing and summarizing…

So, what was your career choice(s), and what got you set on one?
If you’re a technician, is there any advice or something you’d find important to tell someone who’s considering going into the field?

Topic

[W00DBar0n]

To me it sounds like you made your choice already. Laying out pros and cons is how a lot of people decide what they want to do, and i saw almost no pros towards trades, so EE it is for you.
I my self picked my trade because i hate working on OTHER peoples cars, but i love working on machines and my cars. I am a Heavy Duty Mechanic(Heavy Equipment Technician, if saying duty or mechanic puts a belittling feeling in your mouth) and i love it. I don’t deal with customers very often(one time only so far) and it pays very well.
One thing you said about lack of jobs locally, well in most cases it can come down to “am i willing to move?”, i my self moved over 400kms for school and another 1200km for work. There is always work, just gotta be willing to put the effort in to find it.
As for hard on the back, yes it is. BUT a lot of heavy duty shops wont even let you use a manual torque wrench above 500Ft-lbs, they supply hytorqe hydraulic torquing systems, to do the back breaking work for you, they have tons of cranes and hoists all over their shops(my first shop had 2 cranes per bay, and even more hoists laying around), they will bring in exercise programs to keep you healthy, and so on. So they try to keep you healthy and pain-free. There is many down sides, it can be extremely loud and demanding, fast paced, and a ton to learn, but i see fast paces and demanding as a good thing. We get paid very well to do what we do. Starting in the AREA i live in is $30+ an hour, a lot of the multi-year journeymen where i work make $50+ an hour.
Might want to look into this field, but i would steer you as a person away from it since you already seem to have made up your mind.

But what it took me was a willingness to not give up, and to learn as much as i could from everyone i EVER worked with, be it construction or the heavy duty field. Never stop learning.

[cbriden]

I went and got an EE degree from University of South Florida. I don’t regret my decision at all. It’s nice to have a complete understanding of electricity and electronics. If I had to do it over again I would have specialized in digital electronics (I chose radio frequency). Digital engineers are usually involved in all the circuitry (hardware & software) that controls things. Almost all products require this type of design work. Good luck making your decision.

[dreamer2355]

Working as a automotive tech is very rewarding and fun but there can be some very frustrating and stressful days. Plus the physical aspect too.

I had back surgery last year (non automotive related) and my back thus far is holding up well.

If you go into this field, i would recommend starting out hourly and DO NOT spend allot of money on Snap On, Mac or Matco tools right away. I would look for used branded tools or even start with some Craftsman.

If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask 🙂

[dave]

avoiding the tool truck is the best advice i have ever got from this forum. i was on the edge of going about $7k deep into snap-on because it is a “school program” and we get 50% off their tools… but did some soul searching and put about $1k into craftsman and I have more tools than i can shake a stick at. There are some students who are in $$$ with snap-on and it will take them years to pay on their tools whereas all own all mine outright.

[Tezzers]

Sorry about the delay in response. I’ll hopefully come back and reply to each post later on, but I can’t right now, depression is suckin’ up all my energy, but enough about my problems.

Thanks for all the input guys (And gals, if there happened to be one who responded). I’ll have to see how things play out, but as of now it’s probably best for me to work a desk job, already have back problems, and my leg is screwed up from contorting just the wrong way under the car. I guess we’ll see in the long run, but it’ll probably go on the back burner as a hobby.

~Tezzers

[drew]

IF YOU WANT TO TURN WRENCHES, THEN GO INTO HEAVY EQUIPMENT. MONEY IS BETTER, MORE FLEET WORK AND LESS CUSTOMERS, CRANES TO DO ALL THE LIFTING AND MORE ROOM TO WORK. WORK SMART NOT HARD AND YOU WONT HAVE BACK PROBLEMS JUST MENTAL PROBLEMS. HAHAHA

[W00DBar0n]

[quote=”drewski” post=33899]IF YOU WANT TO TURN WRENCHES, THEN GO INTO HEAVY EQUIPMENT. MONEY IS BETTER, MORE FLEET WORK AND LESS CUSTOMERS, CRANES TO DO ALL THE LIFTING AND MORE ROOM TO WORK. WORK SMART NOT HARD AND YOU WONT HAVE BACK PROBLEMS JUST MENTAL PROBLEMS. HAHAHA[/quote]
+1
I gotta agree. Went HD, never looked back.

[Josh]

For me, I thought I had my choice set; computer tech. Dad got me into it and I know how to build my own pc and fix pc’s. But after a while; I was not getting anywere with it and just found out I like working on cars and it just sticks in my head. I love getting down into tight spaces and turning a wrench. Something about getting someone’s “broken” car and fixing it, then starting it for the first time puts a smile on my face. Plus I feel I can help people out better with working on their ride then their computer. I do computer work, but its more of a hobby were as this is a career I fell in-love with by watching others work on cars and learning how the car works. Mainly under the hood. I plan to go to my local community collage to get my self started in the industry with shop class. But first I need the general studies courses since I suck at math. I also fell in-love with rally/drift motor sports and I would love to be a auto tech for Mitsubishi Motor sports. But my priority is to become an ASE certified master technician. I also have a few friends who have inspired me to get into the field with them constantly modding and working on their rides. But my vary first passion is aviation. Not commercial aviation but stunt aviation; like the kind you would find at an airshow. Or better yet; a military fighter aviator. But considering I am to old for military service and I have a medical condition that denies me (tried enlisting into the US Marine Corps) I choose to help people out one car at a time. Plus I will know whats going on with my car since I am the one who will service it most of the time. 🙂

Anyway, thats my shpeel on why I choose to become a mechanic.

[Author]

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