Question for svttech76.....

[Skidzz]

...or anyone else who may have knowledge on the subject. I'll be graduating college next summer, I'm taking a year after that to study for my G.R.E. before I take it and go to grad school, and during that year I plan on possibly going to a good automechanic school. I will have a bachelors in psych., but I think that I would rather work on cars for a living while I'm going to grad school, rather than work for CPS or something, which I don't think I'd like at all. Svttech76, what all types of school did you take to get where you are? I'd love to work mainly on SVT's, so what does it take exactly? Oh, and does anyone know of any good school in the Cincinnati area? I'd like to move their after I'm done with regular college. Who knows...I might end up decided I'd rather work with cars than in the psych. field....even if I don't use the knowledge for money,I still want to have the knowledge so I can work on my own cars more.

 

[DocG]

I live right outside of Cincinnati, but am not famliar with any good mechanic's schools around here....sorry. What are you thinking about going to grad school for? Also...what is CPS....I think Cincinnati Public Schools because that's where I work...but not sure if you're meaning Children's Protective Services or what. If you decide to move to Cincy.....check into going to school for School Psychology. Probably another 2-3 years of grad school. And if Cincy Public is still hiring down the road (their budget keeps shrinking)....they pay hella good. I'm going on my third year there as a school psych and am making 60k a year, and work 7 hour days, all the holidays off...spring break...2 weeks for Xmas....and am looking forward to 7 weeks off work very soon for summer

Seriously though, if you ever think about going that route, PM me. Clinical psych is cool too, but you gotta work lots of hours to make good money with the tight-ass insurance companies these days. Good luck finding out what you need to know!

 

[Skidzz]

Yep....CPS = Child Protection Services, and it is the most common job for those with a bachelor's in psych., atleast here in WV, anyway. I do plan on a Psy. D. in clinical psych. in the long run, but I would love to work on cars while I'm working towards that degree. However, I'm also looking into industrial/organizational psych. I hear that's where the money is.

 

[streetstang03]

if you plan on working at a dealership and going to school, dont plan on sleeping.

 

[DocG]

Yeah, I/O psych can make killer money. If I ever get bored with what I do now, I'd probably go back and just get a MA in that. Not much you can do with a BS in psych....at least not much you can do to make over 10 bucks an hour. Has to be one of the worst college bachelor degrees out there if you just stopped with that degree and tried to work.

Depending on the univ you goto....you could probably work full-time during the day and take classes at night, especially for a MA. If you're going for that PsyD....working full time would be real tough...especially during the day since you'd need that time for classes and clinical stuff.

 

[Skidzz]

if you plan on working at a dealership and going to school, dont plan on sleeping.

Oh I know there will be major sacrifices involved, but I think it will be worth it.

Yeah, I/O psych can make killer money. If I ever get bored with what I do now, I'd probably go back and just get a MA in that. Not much you can do with a BS in psych....at least not much you can do to make over 10 bucks an hour. Has to be one of the worst college bachelor degrees out there if you just stopped with that degree and tried to work.

Depending on the univ you goto....you could probably work full-time during the day and take classes at night, especially for a MA. If you're going for that PsyD....working full time would be real tough...especially during the day since you'd need that time for classes and clinical stuff.

True....I may just go with an MA, but I have plenty of time to decide, and I know I can make money with a master's.

Hopefully, svttech76 will chime in.

On another note, I'm minoring in writing, and I'd love to mix my love for writing and cars and possibly work for a car magazine like MM&FF or something.

 

[billfisher]

i slept maybe 2 or 3 hours a night a couple days a week and work ALL weekends to get mine.(bs CS) are you going to counsel? it added white hairs on my head.(college)

but i'm enojying life now. lots of paid training vacations. 1 week at a time.

my niece is getting her masters when she fininshes her B.S. psych in december. she is thinking about a MBA instead of maters in psych. she wants to get into HR/managment or things like that. her boyfriend is finished with his B.B.A. lucky kids do it early.

they will never know long hard hours at a factory like me and her mom have had. i waited until i was 39 to finish. better late than never. -bill

 

[Mike97gt]

I did not take any classes after high school, I took a job at a honda/volkswagon/audi dealer and made crap money about 6 years ago I ended up at my first ford dealer. So you can say I learned on the job.

If you do want to be a ford tech the pay is not that good for the first few years. Plus you need to spend thousands in tools.. Ohhh one last negitive, at a dealer you will hardly ever work on mustangs. In fact I make more money on explorers and windstars than I do mustangs and other high performance fords.

Mustang owners ( atleast the V8 ones) tend to know more about cars and don't spend as much at the dealer for services, in fact I would say 90 percent of mustang owners only go to the dealer for warrenty stuff. So don't think working at a ford dealer is installing KB's on GT's all day...

now for the positives of working on fords..

You will learn A TON about cars, I thought I knew a lot before I worked on them now I realize I knew nothing back then...

You will learn how to fix your car and you will have the tools to do the job..

Now as far as schools.. UTI runs a ford ASSET program. see if they have a school in your area. the ford asset program is a one year course to prep you to work at a ford dealer

A new tech has a lot to learn and the job can be very very frustrating for the first few years. I think it takes atleast 5 years to become decent as a tech and to make good money.

 

[Skidzz]

I did not take any classes after high school, I took a job at a honda/volkswagon/audi dealer and made crap money about 6 years ago I ended up at my first ford dealer. So you can say I learned on the job.

If you do want to be a ford tech the pay is not that good for the first few years. Plus you need to spend thousands in tools.. Ohhh one last negitive, at a dealer you will hardly ever work on mustangs. In fact I make more money on explorers and windstars than I do mustangs and other high performance fords.

Mustang owners ( atleast the V8 ones) tend to know more about cars and don't spend as much at the dealer for services, in fact I would say 90 percent of mustang owners only go to the dealer for warrenty stuff. So don't think working at a ford dealer is installing KB's on GT's all day...

now for the positives of working on fords..

You will learn A TON about cars, I thought I knew a lot before I worked on them now I realize I knew nothing back then...

You will learn how to fix your car and you will have the tools to do the job..

Now as far as schools.. UTI runs a ford ASSET program. see if they have a school in your area. the ford asset program is a one year course to prep you to work at a ford dealer

A new tech has a lot to learn and the job can be very very frustrating for the first few years. I think it takes atleast 5 years to become decent as a tech and to make good money.

Thanks a lot man. Kinda discouraging, but reguardless of what I do FOR A LIVING, I WILL be going to a mechanics school. If for nothing else, I will at least be able to work on my own cars. There's no such thing as too much knowledge. I like the sound of that UTI program, I'll have to look into that. Thanks for the info.

 

[Mike97gt]

Thanks a lot man. Kinda discouraging, but reguardless of what I do FOR A LIVING, I WILL be going to a mechanics school. If for nothing else, I will at least be able to work on my own cars. There's no such thing as too much knowledge. I like the sound of that UTI program, I'll have to look into that. Thanks for the info.

I think it's great idea for you to go to some sort of mechanics school. Plus when your in school you ge BIG discounts on tools. It will help you out big time with your own cars even if you never work a day in a shop.

 

[Skidzz]

Wow that's cool as hell. I didn't even think about discounts and things like that. Awesome.

 

[blackfang]

I am not too big on the big school names like UTI and all. Some of my Master Techs and Techs just went to a good local school, and had experience working in the business and had Toyota send them to school.

Not saying UTI is bad, but not just the only choice. I learned just from working on the cars myself and from the other techs i work with.