My middle son went through that in college. He majored in Computer Science at RPI. Tried to get a job at the school in the IT department…there were well over 100 times more applicants as there were jobs.
I would also have to concur with the field experience idea. A career in the Automotive field has many facets and different avenues to explore. Some guys like doing body work, others enjoy design, while others are Gear Heads and love the mechanical side of things…others are computer people. None is more important than the other really. They are all intertwined.
In todays world, with things strongly pointing toward electricity it really is the “next thing” or, honestly its the “now thing”… It would NOT hurt you to at least brush upon computer skills…whether it be cars or otherwise…because you will certainly come into contact with computing skills in this career.
I have never received formal Automotive education in any way, shape or form, all of my experience is hands on and it began at a very very early age. I have been breaking things…er I mean repairing things for a long long time at this point. It all began for me while I was still under 10yrs of age. It was simply what I was interested in and what I immersed myself in while going about my daily life. You do not need a formal education, but it helps in the beginning just to land jobs and I surely wont tell you to skip it, but it is by no means a show stopper if you do not have a formal mechanical education…
Computer skills are an absolute must have in this and many other unrelated fields. But going out and about and trying to get hands on experience is a very excellent idea… You may be surprised at what you learn about yourself and at the same time…how you go about training yourself for whatever facet of the field you want to specialize in. That sort of thing can never hurt you, saves you money and time as well.
Again, I will re-iterate how important I personally feel your geographic location actually plays a part in this endeavor. The West Coast is car Mecca… You will have more opportunities and more exposure wherever there is a strong and long standing car culture…and the West Coast checks all those boxes and more really. It also has some of the best Automotive training ops in the world really. Just something to keep in mind, but this career can be done anywhere and via many different routes. I’m just saying that it could be a very big help and a boost to your learning curve as well as makes very good opportunities to “Network” with the right folks.
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Did anyone mention joining the military? I’d guess there are many jobs in the military that would well prepare a person for an automobile mechanic career later in civilian life.
Yeah back around #67 or before even. The poor guy is probably sorry he ever brought it up.
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I have a nephew who did that. Unfortunately you have to be in for at least 10 years before you get the experience necessary to be a qualified mechanic. He went in for 3 years. And never made it past the rank of PFC (E-3). At that rank all your doing is tire and oil changes. Takes a while to make up the ranks to be given more demanding jobs. So basically he’s now qualified to work at Jiffy Lube.
Is that the military equivalent of an ase-certified master technician . . . ?