How to Find Your First Mechanic Job

Finding the First Mechanic Job

            Hello, all. With another class of students soon to be graduating from truck mechanic programs all over the country, I thought it would be a good time to write a little about finding that first job. There are several things to think about before embarking on the search. Maybe the first consideration is to think hard about what kind of shop you want to work in. Think at first in terms of the broad categories of repair facilities:

•         Dealers. Obviously, here you would specialize in the makes the dealer is involved with, but they also work on other brands. Training will be up to date, usually done at an online source. After you work there for a while, you could be sent for specialized training for a particular engine, transmission, or system. There tends to be a political structure especially at larger dealerships, so the ability to work with a variety of people and to conform to a hierarchical structure will be important, especially if you want to advance.
•        Independents. Many work on various sizes and brands, and some may be somewhat specialized in the type of work they do. Many offer some kind of training, but new systems and technology aren’t seen until they come off warranty. By then however, repair techniques are mature and information available from multiple sources. The tool and information resources available at independents runs the scale from the absolute (and inadequate) minimum to on par with dealership resources. Most fall somewhere between these extremes, but you will probably need to do more digging for some information than you would at a dealer. Individual effort may be more rewarded because of this.
•          Fleets often run single brands and/or configurations. They vary greatly in size and capabilities. Here again much variety exists in the size of the fleet, the capabilities of the shop, and the management structure. The largest have dealer-level capabilities and training. Some are affiliated with or actually own a dealership. Others with late model equipment do only maintenance and simple repair, while a small fleet with older models may do all work in-house. Training available also runs the scale from dealer-level to nothing but what you pick up on the job.
•         Government entities like county and city shops, schools, and military bases or facilities. Road shops usually run a variety of different on and off-road equipment and may have seasonal workloads. Often there will be some welding and fabricating. Many schools purchase comprehensive maintenance plans with their new buses, so work consists only of tire work and services. The upside of the limited variety of work is a fairly clean and low stress workplace.
•          Specialty equipment installers and fitters. These put equipment like lifts, dump or cargo boxes, and plows on new or used chassis. This kind of work always includes at least some fabrication, in addition to wiring and plumbing work.  In a bigger facility, you might end up specializing in one area of installation. In addition to new installations, some repairs would be done on existing equipment. Another area of specialization is at frame, spring, and alignment shops. The job types here are probably self-explanatory, but you would need to be able to handle an especially dirty and noisy environment.
•          Manufacturers of not only trucks, but of ambulances and fire trucks, city and school buses, and military and specialty vehicles. This is basically factory work, so you may end up working on just one part of the process. You could spend your whole career installing wiring harnesses or body components, for instance. Of course, there are other more varied jobs in factories, but these invariably go to more experienced workers. If you find comfort in knowing what you will be doing every day and that there is always someone above you to go to with technical problems, a factory job may be for you.

            This is not a complete list of the employers you may encounter, but does cover the majority of workplaces hiring mechanics. Don’t forget about manufacturers who make non-vehicle equipment but need people with mechanical skills. I think you should have a career path in mind right from the start, then try to find a first job that will help you achieve your goals. For instance, do you want to spend your career as a mechanic, or do you want to advance to supervision or management? Are you interested in learning as much as possible about a particular vehicle or system, or do you want a broad range of experience? I don’t think you should worry too much about trying to find your dream job right off the bat, but neither should you jump from job to job every few years. It’s just that having a tentative path or goal will focus your job search, and employers like to hire people who seem to have a direction.

            That’s all I have for now, but in the next installment on this topic I plan to talk a little about how to narrow your choices and recognizing a shop as a good place to work. 

Truck service jobs...good for the shop as well as the customer

           

Truck service as a profit center

           Hello, all. Today I would like to talk about the much maligned and lowly service and explain why it may be the most important work a shop can do. The variety of service levels requested varies from minimal to comprehensive and everything in between and occasionally the requests are just plain puzzling. Some customers merely want the oil and filters changed, some want an LOF (lube, oil, and filter) with a minimal inspection, and some want a full inspection along with the oil and lube. Fleets often provide their own checksheets and these often have several levels depending on mileage and equipment differences. Some customers go so far as to specify an oil or filter brand, and some want to bring their own.

            Service work is an area of opportunity for a shop as well as a chance for the customer to keep his equipment in good condition. It is a rare case of being a complete win/win for both parties, if the shop is fair in dealing with the customer and proactive in selling needed work. Traditionally, the service is the loss-leader, billed at near cost. Profit is expected to come from the work found during the inspection. For this reason, services are often done by the least experienced techs and serves as a sort of training ground for new hires. The problem is that even if that tech is well trained and closely supervised, equipment defects are bound to be missed. This is a problem for the shop as well as the customer. The shop may miss out on profitable work, and the customer may suffer an untimely breakdown. Worse yet is if the breakdown is caused by something that should have been caught when the truck was in for service.

            The only way around some of this is if a detailed inspection sheet is agreed on by customer and shop and is then followed and signed by the mechanic. The sheet must specify exactly what is to be checked during service. It is not good enough that this sheet is turned in with the work order, then allowed to languish until the job is billed. The inspection must be done first, and given to the supervisor or service writer who can call the customer to authorize repair. It is always easier to sell work on a vehicle that is already being worked on than to try to schedule a second visit. The customer will appreciate getting needed repairs done during a scheduled time, rather than having to come back in, and this helps create goodwill. It always amazes me that some shops don’t follow this procedure. I guess they feel that if they schedule a full shift, there will be no time for extra work. But too much work is always a good problem to have, and if there is not quite enough work for the shift, the existing work always seems to magically stretch to fill the available time. Almost invariably a little too much work is just the right amount. Novice mechanics doing services must be thoroughly trained as to what is expected and their work closely checked until it is clear they know what to look for. 

            If everyone is vigilant in handling services all parties can benefit. The shop makes more money, and the customer gets needed repairs done when the vehicle is down for service.