4 answers
joshua
Student
Joliet, Illinois
3
Questions
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Is it hard being mechanic?
Like do you have to be physically fit to do the job? #career #engineering
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4 answers
Zahid Iqbal
Software Engineer
119
Answers
Austin, Texas
Updated
Zahid’s Answer
I don't think you have to be physical fit as I've seen plenty of guys with big bellies but it will make it harder for you. Mechanics do lot of heavy lifting and hurling around stuff, to and from the car.
As for it being tough, Reddit has some decent advice on it matter:
1. Jobs that are easy pay minimum wage. How easy a job is isn't really the way to go about planning your career. And no it isn't easy. It's back breaking work in poorly heated and rarely cooled shops. You're always chasing book time on repairs and you've got to be real smart to troubleshoot the modern computer controlled everything.
2. Get 2 jobs or three if you can manage it. Save up for a year or two, and then you cut down to one job. Then you either get an apprenticeship, or enroll at a community college. Apprenticeships usually end up with you learning everything you need to know, or you deciding it isn't for you. Either way you have two years of saving to either start buying the tools that will become a part of your daily life, or enough money to be able to focus on school. Trust me unless you have already done it the experience of working 60-70 hour weeks for 2 years is something that you can't replace.
3. Go to school and try to find a job as a lube tech at a dealership of a jiffy lube so you can get work experience. I've been working on cars most of my life and I finally just landed a job as a service tech and I'm 22.
4. What the others have said is dead on, but something else to consider is that you need to be very careful if you want cars to be one of your hobbies. Very few mechanics want to work their butts off to make rate all week, work on rusty turds where it feels like every fastener was put on by the hand of god, smash your hands, wreck your back, and deal with people who look at you like you get off on telling people that them not having that noise addressed when it first came up is now going to cost them 3x the value of the car to get repaired to then go home and work on your own stuff for fun.
Additionally if you don't already have a HUGE toolset you are going to be in debt for tools for YEARS. Even the low end professional tool boxes large enough for a serious tech are $2k+ and the tools to fill the box are very expensive so it is a high entry cost profession with low returns unless you run your own shop or are good enough to be able to beat rate consistently.
Hopefully that gives you some idea of what to expect going into the field. You can also visit a local mechanic or two and ask to interview them about entering the field, the pros/cons and hardships starting out.
As for it being tough, Reddit has some decent advice on it matter:
1. Jobs that are easy pay minimum wage. How easy a job is isn't really the way to go about planning your career. And no it isn't easy. It's back breaking work in poorly heated and rarely cooled shops. You're always chasing book time on repairs and you've got to be real smart to troubleshoot the modern computer controlled everything.
2. Get 2 jobs or three if you can manage it. Save up for a year or two, and then you cut down to one job. Then you either get an apprenticeship, or enroll at a community college. Apprenticeships usually end up with you learning everything you need to know, or you deciding it isn't for you. Either way you have two years of saving to either start buying the tools that will become a part of your daily life, or enough money to be able to focus on school. Trust me unless you have already done it the experience of working 60-70 hour weeks for 2 years is something that you can't replace.
3. Go to school and try to find a job as a lube tech at a dealership of a jiffy lube so you can get work experience. I've been working on cars most of my life and I finally just landed a job as a service tech and I'm 22.
4. What the others have said is dead on, but something else to consider is that you need to be very careful if you want cars to be one of your hobbies. Very few mechanics want to work their butts off to make rate all week, work on rusty turds where it feels like every fastener was put on by the hand of god, smash your hands, wreck your back, and deal with people who look at you like you get off on telling people that them not having that noise addressed when it first came up is now going to cost them 3x the value of the car to get repaired to then go home and work on your own stuff for fun.
Additionally if you don't already have a HUGE toolset you are going to be in debt for tools for YEARS. Even the low end professional tool boxes large enough for a serious tech are $2k+ and the tools to fill the box are very expensive so it is a high entry cost profession with low returns unless you run your own shop or are good enough to be able to beat rate consistently.
Hopefully that gives you some idea of what to expect going into the field. You can also visit a local mechanic or two and ask to interview them about entering the field, the pros/cons and hardships starting out.
Georgina Kurkul M.S., CRC
Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor
11
Answers
Oak Lawn, Illinois
Updated
Georgina’s Answer
Hello Joshua.
If you feel that you like working on cars and have a natural aptitude for mechanical work, than you should do fine. You can go to a community college to get a 2 year Applied Sciences Degree which will prepare you fully before applying to dealerships- or if you don’t want to go that route then you can fill an application to any dealership but you’ll probably have to start as a car porter first before you advance to a Lube Tech then you advance to an Auto Technician.
If you stick with it for years you can become a master mechanic aka journeyman and you can make a very good salary.
Good Luck in your career !!
If you feel that you like working on cars and have a natural aptitude for mechanical work, than you should do fine. You can go to a community college to get a 2 year Applied Sciences Degree which will prepare you fully before applying to dealerships- or if you don’t want to go that route then you can fill an application to any dealership but you’ll probably have to start as a car porter first before you advance to a Lube Tech then you advance to an Auto Technician.
If you stick with it for years you can become a master mechanic aka journeyman and you can make a very good salary.
Good Luck in your career !!
Sarbjeet Singh
Principle Engineer ( Sr Member of Technical Staff)
7
Answers
Columbia
Updated
Sarbjeet’s Answer
In my opinion, you don't have to be physically fit to be a mechanic but it helps with certain type if situation like where you might have to lift parts to mount them or bend down low to lift a part out of the engine bay like a radiator. The best advise i can give you is you have to like working with your hands and enjoy working on mechanical equipment to enjoy being a mechanic otherwise its no fun at all.
Craig Allinson
65
Answers
Updated
Craig’s Answer
All jobs can be hard in some ways, being a mechanic in cold weather by side of a road may be deemed as hard. Many jobs can be lengthy and you may get dirty.