View Full Version : Re-training, good or bad idea?
pikey1986
02-02-10, 11:19 AM
Im after a few oppinions please, from what ive read a fair few of you are mechanics/welders, do I take the plunge and become an apprentice at the tender age of 23?
I am now fed up of working sh*t jobs and would like to do something that i have some kind of interest in ie mechanic or go back to engineering/welding,
Ive already come to terms with the fact Id be earning funk all for a year or so untill i get some qualifications,
Im after a few oppinions please, from what ive read a fair few of you are mechanics/welders, do I take the plunge and become an apprentice at the tender age of 23?
I am now fed up of working sh*t jobs and would like to do something that i have some kind of interest in ie mechanic or go back to engineering/welding,
Ive already come to terms with the fact Id be earning funk all for a year or so untill i get some qualifications,
if you can support yourself financialy then id say go for an apprenticeship as you do learn alot and although its crap wages like £300-£400 a month, if you get a year long course then it can be benifiting,
I was 26 when i gave up everything and come out here to retrain in an industry i knew NOTHING about, two years later i am highly qualified and earning more in a week than i was in a month before.
Sometimes you need to look at the bigger picture.
As long as you can survive through the training period then do it but make sure your commited as if you get half way through and pull out then you are in a worse position than when you started.
blue_peg_16v
02-02-10, 11:34 AM
go for it if you can survive as said
job satisfaction in the long run will be worth it
pikey1986
02-02-10, 11:36 AM
the only thing which is worrying me are council tax payments and rent wich total £430pcm but i think that i may get help from the government/council for that, im yet to enquire about that
Mattman
02-02-10, 11:37 AM
re-training would be the first thing i would do if it was financially viable (which it isnt unfortunately) as i would like to be doing a job I enjoy. But at the age of 31 with a mortgage and bills to pay its not something i can even consider at the moment.
Go for it if you can afford it.
blue_peg_16v
02-02-10, 12:01 PM
the only thing which is worrying me are council tax payments and rent wich total £430pcm but i think that i may get help from the government/council for that, im yet to enquire about that
you will get help with both as you will be on a low income
the only thing which is worrying me are council tax payments and rent wich total £430pcm but i think that i may get help from the government/council for that, im yet to enquire about that
Thats the other thing try to get as much help from goverment schemes etc as is on offer to you, even if you need to make sacrafices or work a part time evening job etc to survive through it would be worth it in the long term, but choose what you want to do wisely and make sure there is a large demand for the trade your going into.
IMO i wouldnt train as mechanic, the qualifications arent worth the paper there written on and you will probably end up working for a main stealer as a technician, only mechanics that earn decent money are people who run there own garage.
agreed, I worked as a mechanic for a while with no official qualitications (well had my BEng but thats not a mechanics qual lol) and was as good/better than the many years qualified chaps.
You dont even need to be formerly trained to be an mot tester as long as you can pass the idiot test!
3 years appreniship i started when i left school, now qualified and im happy with what im earning etc.
If i started it now, i wouldnt last just due to the poor money. Depending where you get a job you may be put on decent money if you show you are willing/capable. A small garage where you actually work for your boss is going to be better money than becoming another number at a vauxhall main dealer.
dont bother the trades **** money is **** for the effort, stress and general **** work you do going home covered in oil and dirt and grime funks me off!
also the cars are soooooo technical these days you need to drop on a good placment that will take the time to teach you college is **** aswell you propbably know more than they will teach you more health and safety than anything else!!
^ cant argue with that, its not mechanics any more!
pikey1986
02-02-10, 11:16 PM
ive had a few people say dont bother with training as a mechanic, my only reason for wanting to train as one was so i could learn how to strip and rebuild an engine, as for welding/fabricating i spent 18months after i left school training but jacked it as i spent more time with the paint sprayer than with a welder lol
pikey1986
02-02-10, 11:18 PM
btw ben what is it you do?
ive had a few people say dont bother with training as a mechanic, my only reason for wanting to train as one was so i could learn how to strip and rebuild an engine, as for welding/fabricating i spent 18months after i left school training but jacked it as i spent more time with the paint sprayer than with a welder lol
then find a decent engine rebuilder that will take you on mate, ive been in the trade for 4 years now gone from tea boy to top boy bar the gaffer and i have never once pulled an engine apart. Apart from the odd headgasket etc as said mechanics aint mechanics anymore imagine changing the big ends on like a audi a6 or bmw330 not your local garage jobs lol its either,
1. Kwik fit - Tyres, exhausts, batteries
2. Mot repairs and general servicing
3. Engine Diagnostics
4. Engine Wiring
5. Auxillary wiring
6. Clutch/Gearbox centre
7. Engine rebuilder/engineer skimmer etc
the older cars are nuts and bolts but not these new things and unless you have a obd fault reader you bolloxed lol
dont wanna piss on your bonfire but im still 21 and want to get out i love playing with cars their my life but i fukcing hate making a living on them.
pikey1986
03-02-10, 12:00 AM
playing with cars their my life but i fukcing hate making a living on them.
thats the exact words which were said to me earlier, i want to be able to enjoy working on my car and it not feel like ive been working 7days a week, im tempted to go back to welding/engineering tbh as i wont be starting from nothing as im already part trained and the money i were getting back then was between £130-£160p/w
im looking at everything mate ive just been made redundant aswell my garage shuts on 26th feb
I am in NDT which is quality control of metals really but our main area is welding inspection, the welders we work with are on £500+ a day! But they are good and know it, some of the standard welders in Fab shops are getting paid on average £600-1000 a week dependent on experience and skill etc.
You dont even need to be formerly trained to be an mot tester as long as you can pass the idiot test!
you don't need to mend them . you only need to inspect them
you don't need to mend them . you only need to inspect them
:thumb:
we had this basically we got a bollocking from vosa for failing cars on low brake pads, they said that if the eficency (sp) was ok the you cant fail them as you legally cant take the pads out and measure them! A full service is a higher standard than an MOT test and 15 year old apprentices them! :tard:
:thumb:
we had this basically we got a bollocking from vosa for failing cars on low brake pads, they said that if the eficency (sp) was ok the you cant fail them as you legally cant take the pads out and measure them! A full service is a higher standard than an MOT test and 15 year old apprentices them! :tard:
mot tests are just that.... a check to see if the car s working at that particular moment....... hgv's get a 6 weekly check over which is a mini mot, and if you cock them up or fiddle them, you can get shut down.
i know that most dealer services are a penny pinching scam anyway... local mitsubishi dealer tried to charge us £100 for the engine oil alone one an L200, so we insisted they used our oil... cost £10..... wheel beariings always needed tightening up at £30, so we did them ourselves before the service, time 5 mins per side, expertise level, not very much, and marking the filters was a laugh.. at least they started putting new ones on..
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