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.