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Almost 5 years ago I worked at a Shop. I had a really great relationship with the owner. At that time I was a beginner and I really didn’t have much experience. I worked hard and did all that I could to keep up. Long story short I had a rift with some of the guys in the shop who worked to force me out by not allowing me to do any work. I respectfully quit.
Fast forward 5 years. I am a way better mechanic. I can more than keep up and excel because I have the practical experience that I need. I see the owner the other day and he asks me to come back. There is only one catch the manager that I don’t like is still there. What should I do ? Please let me know what you think.
What would you do ? Right now my Junk Removal business is not making any real money by the way….
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I have an Idea of what you were going through at the shop you worked at as I had a similar experience with being starved out.
I don’t know your financial situation but if it was me I wouldn’t go back unless there was an agreement between the Owner, yourself and the others in the shop.
If it doesn’t work out your tool box still has wheels.
Thank you for your response. The business that I am running has bottomed out. Things have gotten worse. This year is the worst year of all. People are just not calling me like they use to because money is tight. I have two problems. 1) I am weak financially and 2) I need to get my license completed. Even though I study each day and I qualify for the exemption exams.
At this stage I really just need money. I don’t require training.
P.S Alot of the guys I had problems are now gone because he sold the other shop. Now he is down to 1 shop !
Personally, I would not return unless I really needed the money….
If you are going to work everyday with someone you don’t like (I don’t know how he feels about you), I don’t think it would really be worth it. Life is too short to spend the majority of your waking day around a place where you may not get along with others… There are plenty of other places to wrench in the world and make a buck…
JMHO
-Karl
Edit: I saw you may need the money… Would understand if you would do it…. Here is something a wise man once told me… “Always think two jobs ahead”… Work the job you have, a backup job in case that one doesn’t work out, and where you want to go/what you want to do in the future….
You know these are really good points. Right now I am so broke. That’s my issue. I can’t go on with my business like this. At the same time I don’t need the drama of this stuff. I tried to do mobile repairs in the summer but it’s really risky if something goes wrong. Plus people like call the city on people when work is being done on a driveway.
I’m really in a Jam. At the same time I don’t want to be manipulated !
I think that part of working in a shop environment is making sure you fit in with the crowd and be everybody’s friend. I go out of my way to stay in the clique. I let people borrow my tools. I offer free technical advice. I talk about all the traditional guy topics (we all know what those are). I make a point to go around and talk to everyone individually everyday. I think of this as part of my job. Other people have been ousted by the group because they have failed to do these things.
You may view this as a sad part of our society, but it is part of our society; therefore, you can consciously choose to play by the rules or go out on your own, which may infringe on your sense of job security.
Do what you got to do to eat.But if it did not work
the first time.It may not work a second time. :huh:[quote=”Wrench Turner” post=71329]I think that part of working in a shop environment is making sure you fit in with the crowd and be everybody’s friend. I go out of my way to stay in the clique. I let people borrow my tools. I offer free technical advice. I talk about all the traditional guy topics (we all know what those are). I make a point to go around and talk to everyone individually everyday. I think of this as part of my job. Other people have been ousted by the group because they have failed to do these things.
You may view this as a sad part of our society, but it is part of our society; therefore, you can consciously choose to play by the rules or go out on your own, which may infringe on your sense of job security.[/quote]
OMG !!!! WrenchTurner you have hit the nail on the head. I am a Mechanic that does not fit in. That’s the issue that I face. I am excellent at what I do. However my personality is not one that allows me to fit in especially with this manager. It didn’t work the first time. Why would it work the second time around. That’s a really good point.
I suffer from the same thing that you do, I sometimes do have a hard time fitting in with other people. However, I have learned to get through working with people I don’t necessarily see eye to eye with through a common ground. Most people can find something they have in common or something they can agree on. Use that to pry the social door open, and once you guys communicate, you might realize that you may end up getting along. It doesn’t always work that way. But I was to a point where I was going to quit my job and move somewhere else because I couldn’t get along with our foreman. However, things worked out in the end and me and him are fine together.
I’d probably go and see. If the owner wants you back, the issue of why you left in the first place seems kinda natural to come up again. If they recognise that and want to talk about how things are and aren’t going to go from now on, you should probably be able to let that go and start over. Atleats to an extend where you can work with someone, just straight forward work talk, not much else.
It’s hard enough getting along with the fickle service writers. Now you have to worry about your fellow man starving you out in the shop? How many of these other guys were there? Did they ever hint at a reason for starving you out? You said you were really green at the time, maybe you were doing things you shouldn’t have been but didn’t know? I hate to be the one to say it and be so blunt. Were you picking easy jobs and leaving them with the hard ones that do not pay? Did you grab 3 or 4 work orders at a time so no one else got work?
Again sorry for being blunt, but if multiple people have a problem with someone, you can’t rule out yourself. Also, some twisted bosses like that because if we are preoccupied fighting each other in the shop, we won’t be rallying against management. Also, sometimes another effect of everyone being against a particular person in the shop can give them all an outlet of sorts and keeps them from fighting eachother. I have noticed when one of these sacrificial rods leaves the shop or gets fired, that everyone starts focusing more on each other now that their focal point for hatred is gone.
Not saying there’s anything wrong with you, or that any of these scenarios is preferred or even acceptable, but they do exist and they are some I have noticed take place at least in my experience.
Good luck to you sir, maybe it’s a second chance for a first impression.
in my eyes money is money!! and sounds like you could a couple good pay checks. If i were you and you knew this would fix your money bind id go back, and just put all the bs to the side and do what u are there to do…they may have pushed you aside because you were slower at the time…Good luck
Keep us posted on your final choices
[quote=”90Acuraintegra” post=82859]in my eyes money is money!! and sounds like you could a couple good pay checks. If i were you and you knew this would fix your money bind id go back, and just put all the bs to the side and do what u are there to do…they may have pushed you aside because you were slower at the time…Good luck
Keep us posted on your final choices[/quote]
In a shop setting this can be harder than it seems it should be. I got lucky over the years, every shop I worked in I was either the head technician and at the end the owner. So most of the techs were always trying to make sure I was happy. Which is pretty easy, I am very laid back and had only three main rules “If you are not 100% sure on something, STOP and come ask me about it.” and “If you need a special tool ask me, I will get it for you, do NOT “make” something work” and last “Do the repair like your grandma was going to get in the vehicle and drive to California by herself, do not “rig” anything”.
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