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Hello I am still relatively new to the forum so let me start by saying that I have been working in the same small shop for a little over 10 years now, for the past 3 and a half I have taken on the roll as lead tech overseeing 5 other techs I don’t mind the environment but but due to the lack of training I have received since starting there I am starting to feel the need to move on before I am completely obsolete. I have been offered 2 jobs in the past week one of them is with a well known local GM dealership, I am not wanting to go that route because of past experience with the shop manager and the fact that they have a huge employee turnover. The other offer was from a new Chrysler dealership that is scheduled to open in a few months. The owner as other dealerships in the same town for different brands. But my question is have any of you ever started at a new dealership or new shop. There is no guarantee that there will be work coming in right away. That has me a little scared at the moment. I am going to talk to the owner tomorrow and was wondering what some of you thought about starting in a shop that has no known reputation.
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I’ll say first that choosing between a GM and a Chrysler dealership is like choosing between the electric chair and a firing squad. That aside, let me get to the part of this post that means something possibly useful.
You sound like you’re in a generally very good employment position currently. It seems like it’s too good to want to give up just for manufacturer training. Manufacturer training is great. but it’s not worth leaving a good job for. I’m a self-taught mechanic, meaning I did not go to tech school, only a high school grad. The only school I’ve been to is manufacturer training for Kia, Suzuki, and Mitsubishi. I’ve worked at 2 independent shops for short times, and been a dealer guy for most of my career. In my experience, manufacturer training is very heavily focused on manufacturer-specific aspects of various vehicle systems. When I go to engine management training for example, it is more about the specifics how that manufacturer does things their way, as opposed to general theory and application like a tech school would teach
Where I’m going with this is that will not learn anything from manufacturer training that you cannot learn by buying the right books for yourself and beginning a self-study program to gain a better understanding of your professional workload. If that’s something that you’re interested in, I’m sure I can suggest study material if you specify the areas you feel the need to train in. If you don’t like other things about your shop and just want to get into a dealership, then I’m not really addressing that. It’s just that manufacturer training will not put you in a position to go back into independent repair with a definitive edge, so you should only be going that route if you want to commit to a specific brand. The training will make you stronger, but is not such a big deal that it’s the sole reason to leave a good job for.
Thank you for your input. I didn’t take either of the jobs I have thought it thru and for the moment I think I will be better off just staying where I am. Yes the factory training and a little more money where things that I was looking for. I figured it had to be easer only working on one line of car instead of all makes and models, but that is part of the challenge that I like. As far as books I Do have a copy o Paul Danner’s Engine Diagnostics in my toolbox at all times it comes in really handy I guess I need to pick up a few more on theory and start studying them.
[quote=”Fopeano” post=129006]I’ll say first that choosing between a GM and a Chrysler dealership is like choosing between the electric chair and a firing squad. That aside, let me get to the part of this post that means something possibly useful.[/quote]
You always crack me up with your eloquent disdain of domestics. I love it B)
[quote=”Jasondtn” post=128882]Hello I am still relatively new to the forum so let me start by saying that I have been working in the same small shop for a little over 10 years now, for the past 3 and a half I have taken on the roll as lead tech overseeing 5 other techs I don’t mind the environment but but due to the lack of training I have received since starting there I am starting to feel the need to move on before I am completely obsolete. I have been offered 2 jobs in the past week one of them is with a well known local GM dealership, I am not wanting to go that route because of past experience with the shop manager and the fact that they have a huge employee turnover. The other offer was from a new Chrysler dealership that is scheduled to open in a few months. The owner as other dealerships in the same town for different brands. But my question is have any of you ever started at a new dealership or new shop. There is no guarantee that there will be work coming in right away. That has me a little scared at the moment. I am going to talk to the owner tomorrow and was wondering what some of you thought about starting in a shop that has no known reputation.[/quote]
Fopeano is 100% correct. dealership training doesn’t teach you how to work on a car. It teaches you how to work on that brand of car. If you are going dealership you need to specificly look at many things.
Which shop will work with you on your school schedule?
Who pays better?
Do you have or will they furnish tools required?
Who pays for uniforms?
Location – which one would you choose – access to home and school
Which environment do YOU prefer?Then you have to look at some other issues
What do you see yourself doing in 3 Years? in 5 Years?
Which shop do you think will provide you with the best opportunity to achieve those goals?
Which shop offers continued training?
Which service manager do you think you could get along with best, and will be patient with an entry level tech that might make a few mistakes?My personal things are opportunities for advancement. Assuming you want to advance from line technician. Are these dealers both in your city? Because local economy can play a lot into work load. Do you know anyone who works at either place – you can ask how good the company is to work for – benefits, training, general treatment of employees can make you happy or miserable. May look at Google reviews for both places – that will tell you how they treat their customers – which may well reflect on the treatment of staff. Finally I would think about your interest – are you wanting to do heavy work – or are you more interested in higher tech.
[quote=”Jasondtn” post=129186]Thank you for your input. I didn’t take either of the jobs I have thought it thru and for the moment I think I will be better off just staying where I am. Yes the factory training and a little more money where things that I was looking for. I figured it had to be easer only working on one line of car instead of all makes and models, but that is part of the challenge that I like. As far as books I Do have a copy o Paul Danner’s Engine Diagnostics in my toolbox at all times it comes in really handy I guess I need to pick up a few more on theory and start studying them.[/quote]
One thing I have found in life, set aside some time weekly, possibly daily if you can and re-read/re-learn things. Look over old books. Study new ones. A book won’t teach you how to be a mechanic, but it can help with understanding new concepts and remembering old ones. Visualization is a big thing I learned in the military. When nothing is on tv, or you’re bored re-think that job that gave you nightmares. Think about what you could’ve done different, what went right. You’d be amazed.
Everything that Pitt has said is 100% true. If you can answer those questions yourself than you have an understanding of what it is you are looking for in exact in your career. I just so happen to work for a new dealership/shop that just barely opened up in the summer that just passed. They are going into their first year anniversary this June. I was told it was very slow their first months opened. Work has picked up and keeps picking up as we go. Except for right now because of all the BS snow storms here in the East Coast has been having. I am sure it is slow for many other shops out there as well. But yeah, I can only imagine how this summer coming up will be. I am looking to really see work pick up. I am looking to stick around in that shop for a while. Everyone there is really cool and there isn’t any problems at all. I want to see how much changes there be 10 to 20 years from now.
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