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What should I expect when being an auto mechanic like do you get overwhelmed with the workload if a lot of cars come in?
What should I expect when being an auto mechanic like do you get overwhelmed with the workload if a lot of cars come in?
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John’s Answer
Hi Valentin,
I took a minute to look at your other questions about auto mechanics. It looks like you want to go into vehicle repair. But maybe you have some concerns. I can't help but wonder if you are asking about car mechanics because it's something you want to do or if it's the only thing you think you can do... Your questions strike me as coming from someone who really maybe doesn't want to do car repairs but maybe you think it's your only option? Could be totally wrong about this. But I'm going to try and talk through both situations. If you want to discuss either, feel free to comment. I'm happy to have more of a conversation.
Let's assume you actually love cars. You love the way they sound racing down the road. You love that new car smell. And you love making things work. If that's you, you may be in the right business. I've written two articles on becoming a mechanic that I think you'll like:
https://www.careervillage.org/questions/620826/when-does-being-an-automotive-engineer-become-difficult
https://www.careervillage.org/questions/616548/what-do-you-picture-yourself-doing-in-the-future-with-the-automotive-industry
To answer your question directly, yes you will get overwhelmed from time to time. It may be too many cars come in for you to handle. It could be your boss is a jerk that day and your customers are not happy with something. And your girlfriend breaks up with you the same day or your youngest kid (yes you are likely to have kids) gets expelled from school for fighting. It's called life my friend. And sometimes it sucks. You can't help it. All you can do is prepare a little and then when the waves start hitting you, you just roll with it and do the best you can.
Unfortunately, all jobs have their bad days. Any job you can pick will have them. That's why they pay us to do the work! If the jobs were always easy and fun, they would call them vacations and we would pay for the privilege of going instead! So, don't let the fact that there will be bad days get in the way of you doing something that you love 80% of time!
That brings me to the question I'm asking about your question. Do you even want to do cars? Or do you think that's the only thing you can do? Let me guess that maybe you aren't the richest kid in the world. Perhaps like me you are being raised by a single mom. And cars seem reachable but maybe not something you really want to do. But maybe it's the only thing you think you can do that will make decent money. If that's you, I want to encourage you to try. I want to encourage you to try to do something bigger and more than you think you can do. I don't know what that is. But I hope you ask me about it on careervillage so that I get a chance to give you advice on how to get what you really want. That is, if it's not really cars.
Wishing you lots of working hard and a little working smart,
-John
Go to school for electronics
Join robotics clubs
Take some business courses in college so that you can be the boss some day
If you don't love cars, ask another question on careervillage. Dream Big.
If you don't actually know what you want to do, get out there and explore the wide world of work. And go to college so that you have more options!
I took a minute to look at your other questions about auto mechanics. It looks like you want to go into vehicle repair. But maybe you have some concerns. I can't help but wonder if you are asking about car mechanics because it's something you want to do or if it's the only thing you think you can do... Your questions strike me as coming from someone who really maybe doesn't want to do car repairs but maybe you think it's your only option? Could be totally wrong about this. But I'm going to try and talk through both situations. If you want to discuss either, feel free to comment. I'm happy to have more of a conversation.
Let's assume you actually love cars. You love the way they sound racing down the road. You love that new car smell. And you love making things work. If that's you, you may be in the right business. I've written two articles on becoming a mechanic that I think you'll like:
https://www.careervillage.org/questions/620826/when-does-being-an-automotive-engineer-become-difficult
https://www.careervillage.org/questions/616548/what-do-you-picture-yourself-doing-in-the-future-with-the-automotive-industry
To answer your question directly, yes you will get overwhelmed from time to time. It may be too many cars come in for you to handle. It could be your boss is a jerk that day and your customers are not happy with something. And your girlfriend breaks up with you the same day or your youngest kid (yes you are likely to have kids) gets expelled from school for fighting. It's called life my friend. And sometimes it sucks. You can't help it. All you can do is prepare a little and then when the waves start hitting you, you just roll with it and do the best you can.
Unfortunately, all jobs have their bad days. Any job you can pick will have them. That's why they pay us to do the work! If the jobs were always easy and fun, they would call them vacations and we would pay for the privilege of going instead! So, don't let the fact that there will be bad days get in the way of you doing something that you love 80% of time!
That brings me to the question I'm asking about your question. Do you even want to do cars? Or do you think that's the only thing you can do? Let me guess that maybe you aren't the richest kid in the world. Perhaps like me you are being raised by a single mom. And cars seem reachable but maybe not something you really want to do. But maybe it's the only thing you think you can do that will make decent money. If that's you, I want to encourage you to try. I want to encourage you to try to do something bigger and more than you think you can do. I don't know what that is. But I hope you ask me about it on careervillage so that I get a chance to give you advice on how to get what you really want. That is, if it's not really cars.
Wishing you lots of working hard and a little working smart,
-John
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James’s Answer
Yes you sometimes get over loaded. You explain to your customer up front that we are very busy at this time and this is the estimate of time it is going to take to get your vehicle done.