Should I take this shop job?

[Ian]

Heya guys…trying to make the right decision in my current situation here and was hoping i could get some input. I’m half way through college to get my bachelor’s in biochemistry. science is my go-to and ultimately what I plan on having a career in. I just finished up the fall semester passing everything, but i had to pay it out of pocket this go around and need to pay back the 5k i owe before I can continue to take classes. My plan was to work full time hours all spring and summer to pay off this debt and go back to school in the fall.

Despite biochemistry being my true calling, I really like working on cars. I’ve accumulated a lot of tools and self-taught experience as well as knowledge from forums like this. I decided this go around I really wanted to get a job dealing in some way with auto mechanics, not because I want to start a long term career in the field and get ASE certified or anything, but just because I want to have a little chunk of my life experience to have been applying my mechanic skills to make money professionally…

So after my hunt i’ve got 2 options…

I filled out an application and set up an interview for thursday at the advance auto parts near me. they see me in there a lot and can tell I know my stuff and really want me there. I would be making $9.20 an hour but they would keep me part time so i’d need to get another job ontop of it… also the job would be kindof boring and be mainly desk work so i really wouldn’t get to turn wrenches like i love…but it would be easy and i would definitely excel there…

Option 2… one of my friends works at a shop for a used dealership near me. A guy just quit so he’s pretty certain he can get me the job. It doesn’t require any certifications… apparently him and a lot of people there aren’t certified, just self taught. The pay system is kinda weird… its basically hourly minimum $8.10/hr here in ohio, so everyones there 9 to 6 monday through friday and 9 to 1 saturday full time every week…which would add up to a pretty meager $300 per week after tax… but i guess you can make more with more actual “labor hours”… which basically means that for a section of the time we’re at work we’re doing a job that has a flat rate time for it…when the jobs done we get that time added to our weekly labor hours… anything over 10 labor hours in a week gives you an extra $10/hr… so say I put 20 labor hours in for a week… i’ll make the 300 + another 100 for the extra 10 hours over i did. I’m kinda intimidated by the prospect of this job… i mean its gonna be stuff thats right up my alley, but i’m gonna have to bust butt to get jobs done unlike at advanced auto, and i’m really not going to be making any more for the time i put in unless things go really smooth and i’m able to chalk up a lot of labor hours. Regardless… either of these jobs won’t be permanent and is just to make some cash for school and get some experience… the shop job would be really cool and i would get a lot of hands on, but its intimidating and i’m certain it’s going to be difficult at first.

If i go for the shop job and things go sour I can just quit…so there’s not really any liability other than maybe burning my advanced auto opportunity… should i go for it or does it allready seem like a bad gig?

Topic

[Nicholas Mitteer]

I guess it all depends on how hard you want to work. Unless you’re used to hard physical labor and being on your feet all day, that shop job will eat you alive the first week or two. But it wouldn’t be as boring as the Advance job. Just starting out in the shop you’ll most likely get stuck doing oil and tire stuff.

[Maxwell Floyd]

If hands on experience is what you are looking for then I would go for the shop job. It will be difficult at first but if you stick with it then you will have a lot of experience under your belt by the end of it.

[Author]

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