| Author | Message | ||
     Toona |
May I suggest 2 books, either this one: 48 Days to the Work You Love by Dan Miller  Or, What color is My Parachute: What What Color Is My Parachute book online | ||
| Teeps |
I hear ya Al. Fortunately my corporate job allows me to follow my passion for machines. And, there is always new technology to maintain the need for learning. The difference is now I don't have to get dirty or damaged, if I don't want to... Oh yea, the pay is good (for what I do), benefits are ok. Some would say great considering I get 23 days vaca & 13 holidays a year. | ||
| Toona |
I personally see a lack of skilled (practical/hands on) workers coming into the work force. I wouldn't mind doing hosting an apprenticeship, but most workers coming in to my shop expect to start at the pay rate that their fathers are at after a full career, when they are just starting. Plus, they just can't do the job, yet, they expect pay like they have been working here for years. As a business owner, I hire employees to do the job that I can't do or don't have the time to do. I buy your time/you sell me your time. My "job" just happens to be a hobby that I make good money at. I enjoy my work. I'm not sure if you are "religious" or not, but if you are, pray about it, but don't expect an immediate answer. My wife and I prayed about changing businesses for about a year. I went from repairing appliances for 18 years to purchasing my current business from my father 10 years ago and going full time in it 8 years ago. As Al said above, Being self employed you have to bust your butt. EVERYDAY. Whether you feel like it or not. In the 24 years since I graduated high school, I have only had a "real job" (where I worked for someone else) for 5 weeks. BTW, I never went to college-never had the desire to. But I never stopped learning. | ||
| Doughnut |
What ever you decide to do, make sure you love it man! I was driving OTR for a while, and while it was good work, it came at a cost and I ended up not enjoying life because I could not enjoy my work. "Offically" become a cop on the 30th, loving it so far and loving life. Find your dream and grab it.  | ||
| Etennuly |
I personally see a lack of skilled (practical/hands on) workers coming into the work force. I wouldn't mind doing hosting an apprenticeship, but most workers coming in to my shop expect to start at the pay rate that their fathers are at after a full career, when they are just starting. Plus, they just can't do the job, yet, they expect pay like they have been working here for years. As a business owner, I hire employees to do the job that I can't do or don't have the time to do. I buy your time/you sell me your time. Those are exactly the sentiments that have befallen my business for many years and as time goes on it is getting worse. I have read here in these posts the other side of this. People doing the school and going to the job expecting the pay scale of the guys that have put in ten years plus. It is so irritating that these yearlings come into the field with the "big money" attitude. They cannot be left on their own to do a job. They spend great amounts of time standing around because they don't know what to do next, I continually have to stop the work that I am doing to hold their hand or demonstrate that a job that I have issued actually can be done. A shop owner cannot make the money necessary to stay in business without experienced help. That experience takes time, and time is money, You would think that the one that has to pay for it is the rookie, wrong. They may not make a lot during this period of a few years, but the shop has to expend the space that could be held by a seasoned pro, that costs money. I did it, everyone that is a true professional has done it, and those schools, well they don't teach much PRACTICAL skill. In reality they can't, it truly needs to be done through an apprenticeship that someone is willing to deal with. I have had many apprentices over the years. The program is the same for every shop owner that I know. You spend three to four years teaching a person your skills, loaning him your tools, teaching them how to work smart and make better money and right when you can depend on them to do some work on their own they quit. They usually go to a competitor and make money for them leaving you holding the bag. Pay raises won't hold them because they feel as if they have out grown the teacher and need to leave the nest. Being a bodyshop owner I don't mean to make it seem like a bad trade, because it is not. It is how ever an art form. It cannot be learned overnight. It takes at least four years to learn the skills necessary to be handling jobs from beginning to end. There are many chemicals that have to be learned inside and out to use them properly. Those materials have become so expensive that a mistake can easily wipe out the profit on a week long job. Being an automotive professional, be it mechanical, electrical, collision, or even the office and management team, takes time to learn. For the past few years so many people that I have interviewed have thought; I'm bored with what I do and now I want a profession. But I already have a family and a mortgage and car payments and no health insurance. I have been a house painter with latex a brush and a roller. Why can I not come into your shop and make big money while I learn a whole new set of skills, paint is paint, right? And I have a whole pickup load of tools, what do you mean I don't have any tools? Claw hammers and circular saws, ladders, levels and such just don't transfer. | ||
| Kuuud |
Astute words, all. MikeJ, it's certainly not too late at your age to do anything. At 30 (or so) I attempted to go back to college for the third time. It was as hard as the first two times with balancing school and work. I also felt funny about being older than most of my fellow students. Well, I didn't make it and have had second thoughts every since. I was tired of being poor so I took a gov't job. The pay and bennies are good, and in only 6 more years I can retire...actually 5 years 10 months and 18 days...but who's counting! Is my job important? Yes. Is my heart in it? No. Would I do things differently? Yes. I traveled the world and had all kinds of adventures, but succumbed to the carrot of 'security'. and IRA's. I remember when I was in my 20's that all my grandparents friends kept saying I was so lucky, and if they had the opportunities I had, how they would do things differently....So go for it! Follow your heart. Success will follow. Who was it that said "No man every said on hid death bed that he should have spent more time at the office". | ||
| Kuuud |
Astute words, all. MikeJ, it's certainly not too late at your age to do anything. At 30 (or so) I attempted to go back to college for the third time. It was as hard as the first two times with balancing school and work. I also felt funny about being older than most of my fellow students. Well, I didn't make it and have had second thoughts every since. I was tired of being poor so I took a gov't job. The pay and bennies are good, and in only 6 more years I can retire...actually 5 years 10 months and 18 days...but who's counting! Is my job important? Yes. Is my heart in it? No. Would I do things differently? Yes. I traveled the world and had all kinds of adventures, but succumbed to the carrot of 'security'. and IRA's. I remember when I was in my 20's that all my grandparents friends kept saying I was so lucky, and if they had the opportunities I had, how they would do things differently....So go for it! Follow your heart. Success will follow. Who was it that said "No man every said on hid death bed that he should have spent more time at the office". | ||
| Kuuud |
I mean to say...Thumper, it's never too late and MikeJ, I agree with everything you say. | ||
| Thumper74 |
Thanks for all the input guys. I've been off for four days in a row for the first time in about 8 years. I've managed to review my resume, start and beat Call of Duty 4 and get a decent jump on Forza Motorsport 2. I picked up Dead Rising, but it's hard to get into... I picked up 48 Days to the Job You Love and I'm about halfway through it. I'm freshly shaven and I have an interview for a good job (same work field) Monday. I hope I do well. It just seemed to be a luck thing. I have a Ford dealership interested in me as well as a possible position at a Harley/Buell dealer. When I get knocked down, I tend to pick myself back up. I found a Buell for sale at a local dealership just like my last one... The wanker who was supposed to come look at my Sporty decided not to show. | ||
| Igneroid |
Alot of very good advice in this thread. I'll add my 2 cents.... Do what you like, even if it dont pay that well. I know alot of rich people and alot of happy people and not that often, they are same people. That money thing aint all its cracked up to be..... | ||
| Court |
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| Glitch |
I still haven't decided what I want to do when I grow up. With all this talk of doing what you want, and you'll never go to work again. While that sounds good, it can also lead to you not liking what you used to. Ever since I turned my hobby into my work, I've very nearly abandoned my hobby all together. | ||
| Barker |
+1 on the Dan Miller book. Me? I always wanted to work in TV/Film. Got my first job, Weekend Production assistant, 15 years old, $0 an hour @ the local TV station. I told the station GM I wanted a job, I did not want to get paid because I did not know what I was doing. Just let me hang out and learn. A year later I was weekend Technical director. Making $20 an hour as a high school junior. Finished high school, came on full time as morning Producer/director. Had my on 1/2 hour show. My film career stared when I showed up on the set dressed in black,(uniform of production assistants) with a fanny pack full of tools, flash lights, lighters, pens, tape, and a mini yellow pages. I ran around the set helping people. Never sitting down, never complaining, always ready with a solution, Not getting paid, just acting like I was part of the paid crew. After a few times like that a guy asked, Know anybody that can help with audio? I said I also do Audio. He hired me, From that day on, I got paid for working on movies. By that time I knew the biz well, and got to see almost every part of the process as a stowaway. Worked thru college, finished my B.S. on my 20th birthday w/ a 4.0 working 40ish hours a week. After school, I worked freelance all over the world. Some of my clients include: E! ESPN NASCAR FOX Food Network National Geographic The Smithsonian UPN ABC NBC Lots of Christian Artists Multiple Short and feature films. Then I got married and grabbed a 9-5 making commercials for the ABC station in Nashville. I also still do some freelance work. I'm doing a week long shoot in Key West next month! Moral of the story. Don't start following the money, follow the passion. I would do What I do for free. I am frequently asked to talk "careers" with college seniors and recent college grads. I laff every time they tell me "When I go look for a job, I wont take any thing under 40k a year." | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
What Doughnut said. I still do drive trucks for a living but it suits me! I still get a buzz doing it, maybe not as much as I did 20 years ago though!  | ||
| Stretchman |
Don't believe it. I am both poor and miserable. If it was up to me, I'd be doing net pron. But the Good Lord never saw fit to endow me. Oh yeah, I am also old, bald and fat. | ||
| Brinnutz |
I don't mean to hop in and hijack, but how do you find what you have a passion to do, as a career anyways? I'm having a reeeallll hard time right now. I have no passion for anything and can't seem to figure out anything that I can put my heart into. | ||
| Thumper74 |
Go pick up the 48 Day to the Work You Love. It's a fast read, I'm almost done. I read it in between calls at work (insurance, ugh) and it's pretty interesting. Be warned, it's a faith based way to find what your calling is. I guess you can look at it like this... What do you think about everyday? I like drawing and figuring things out. With some help and direction, I'm leaning towards CAD or mechanical engineering, but I'm still researching. Other than that, I can't help ya. It seems like a personal journey. If you'd like, I can send you my copy of the book. (Message edited by Thumper74 on November 27, 2007) | ||
| Bonjoxb12s |
Thumper.... be careful if your going to an HD/Buell Dealer. The 1125 will sell great, but if you haven't noticed the Harley sales are hurting this year. If it's not a dealership in a "year round" riding climate, I'd suggest going somewhere else. The slow time = no pay | ||
| Brinnutz |
Thumper, I have "What Color is Your Parachute," I was ordered to read it by a retired Naval Officer, Captain I believe....LOL I gave up my dream for really no reason, and there isn't a snowballs chance in hell of me getting there again...How do I get over that, knowing I was so close, and walking away. | ||
| Djkaplan |
I'd be careful getting your job and what you have a passion for mixed together. I used to be wild about cars. One of my hotrodding buddies asked me to be the service manager at a garage he opened in Atlanta. I actually quit my job at an engineering firm to follow my passion for working on and modifying cars. After a few years of doing really good, hard work at this gargage, I realized I had burned myself out on personal automotive matters and the last thing I wanted to do was work on and tinker with my own stuff. I never got the passion back and now just look at cars and trucks as devices to move me and my stuff, nothing more. The fire and enthusiasm I used to have for 4-wheel vehicles disappeared completely. Since my avocation was a job at that point anyway, I decided to go back to my real life and get a position in engineering again. The garage job did influence where my professional path went, though. I decided just flying a desk wasn't enough anymore and I had to be able to get my hands dirty, so I started doing design work for manufacturing companies. I always look back on those years with fondness for the people I knew (coworkers as well as customers) and the stuff I learned (not just about mechanical issues, but people stuff too), but I would never go back to it without just the money influencing me. I still do my own automotive work, but grudgingly, and never with the joy and enthusiasm I have for motorcycles. Strangely, though... I still have fun when I help friends fix their cars and trucks. I saved a friend of mine about $1000 in labor fixing up a used truck he just bought. When he asked me what he owed me, it was a great pleasure to say, "A beer". Money would have ruined it for me. And of course, all my girlfriends never had to pay for any maintenance or repairs on their cars, sometimes for years after we broke up (even the ones that dumped me!). | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
Interesting point Danny. It is very easy to confuse loving your job, with turning your hobby into a business. The first one works, the second often does not, and I am not sure why exactly. Perhaps the ideal life is to have a challenging, and interesting job, with a meaningful level of remuneration, and another entirely different and totally absorbing hobby that one does simply for the fun of it. Ying Yang sort of thing.  | ||
| Djkaplan |
I could use less yin and more yang right now, though. | ||
| Lost_in_ohio |
Jon......I loved BBQ and became very good at it. Next thing ya know I am catering first for family and then church and then clients. Really great BBQ is a ton of work. Hours and hours. Initially I found satisfaction from great food and the extra income. What ruined it from me was the constant complaining of the clients. I would hook the smoker up to my truck and haul it to their location and cook the food, Now it can take 12 hours to cook it. They would complain that the smoke was ruining their party(I setup were you told me too), They would complain that the meat was pink (It is supposed to be it is smoked), They complained no vegan food(you asked for BBQ and saw my flyer on what I offer), My canopy was the wrong color(it was white), I ruined their lawn (Duh the cooker is 2800lbs and hot to boot), Your prices are pretty high (the food is good and quality meat is expensive, I am not gonna cook it for free. Then the whole not getting paid thing. I took a few to small claims court and won but what a pain in the ass and with the time invested I was making pennys an hour. It has taken me 5 years to get back to the point of enjoying cooking again. | ||
| Nevrenuf |
not everyone that works in the motorcycle business gets to go to daytona/sturgis/laconia etc. alot of them are getting the other people ready who are going. if you can get into something that isn't quite your passion but more of a desire so you don't lose that passion then your gonna be better off for it. like the old saying goes "a cobblers kids have no shoes and a carpenter's house is never done(that's what i've been for most of my working life and my house still isn't complete) | ||
| Djkaplan |
"like the old saying goes "a cobblers kids have no shoes..." My step-father was born during the Depression. His father became a cobbler when their share-cropping farm couldn't support the family anymore. There is only one picture of Earl from back then... a picture of him and his brother Roy. Yup. Neither of those cobblers sons had shoes in that faded old photo. | ||
| T9r |
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| Thumper74 |
Yep! Most Chef's I know eat McDonalds. Most of my fellow Mechanic friends drive beaters. | ||
| Mikef5000 |
Anybody know anything about the airline mechanic industry? I might have an 'in' with a commercial airline working on their smaller (35-55 passenger) airplanes. Seems like a more interesting (JET ENGINES!) and more fun (NO CUSTOMERS B!TCHING) version of auto mechanics. We will see. | ||
| Barker |
I work in TV, and I don't own a TV. If you like riding bikes, don't work in a dealership. | ||
| Nevrenuf |
mike, if you can get into the airline business, you won't regret it. especially if you can get on with someone like southwest. don't know how the market is but it's usually turns out to be a good gig. |
