I have no idea about my future! help!

Hello, I am living overseas now but am a Canadian citizen. Would anybody be needing any help in the shop I will be done school in June and have no where to go! Please guys any input would help. I was going to go to a school like HRi or Wyotech but after talking on the chat last night the guys said that was a bad idea. Any thought?

 

Post resume in the Classifieds "wanted' you give no info on what you do so ,,hard to help ya

 

1) Where exactly are you living now, what are you studing, how old are you?

 

I almost went to wyotech myself about 10 years or so ago. I really want a career in building hotrods or racecars but i seen no real future in it. Most people i talked to say you start out very broke or working for free till you get your name out there. Ive got a family so i chose trucking. Im making decent money but still wish i could build cars. A job with the power block would have been awsome!

 

Don't always listen to what everyone else tells you is a bad idea. If you want to go to a tec school go. At least you will have some formal education and have some paperwork to show for it. It always looks good on a resume that you finished something. I will be easier to get a job automotive related or not with some form of secondary education.

 

There are still ways to make money building cars/hot rods etc. which i'll get into later.


But, P.S.
There was another poster here on hamb in the n.c. area, i think wilmington, that, i think, needed shop help. Don't have time to look it up right now, but you could?

 

Join the Army

 

I want to build hot rods and am more interested in the fabrication part of it all. I have done all the mechanical stuff on my own in my garage and can do that sort of stuff but can not fabricate all though that is what I want to do. I am currently living in Dubai (None of that stuff at all here) and I am a Canadian citizen with no green card. I don't want to do anything else in life but build hot rods. Need help guys. My email is mitchelldemoor@gmail.com

 

What are you doing in Dubai? If your planning on moving state side you better get a green card 1st. We've got enough illegal immigrants here riding on the backs of U.S tax payers. Come here honestly and no problems. Good luck and you better have a back up plan. Maybe try working out in california. Lots of custom shops out there.

 

Wyotech? I have no real world knowledge as to what the reality of it may be. But, I do know that they charge tuition. No opinion about that. I do know that when I had my OT shop in Boston, I had eleven employees. Three were skilled, the rest were apprentices. Some had family money and worked for little or no pay so that they could learn. Some were paid higher than minimum wages. As they learned, as their skill levels went up, so did their pay. Most stayed with me for over ten years. What do you now know beyond wanting to get into this madness for a living? Maybe a part time "helper" job and a full time job earning a living is a possibility. Don't ever give up. You can do almost anything you want...but be realistic. You cannot flap your arms and fly!! Keep us updated on your progress through life. Use PMs to those who offer helpful info as as to not tie up the website.

 

Well, I think Canada would be a lot easier for me (any Canadian shop owners?) but I don't know how to get a green card maybe the owner of a hot rod shop would know the answer to that. And no I am not going to be doing that illegal*****.

 

Must resist urge to reply to your weekly drama thread............

 

If I were you I would pursue the classic education route, and then start the car shop on the side. Migrate from the classic job to the car shop as business progresses, otherwise I worry that you will lose your shirt in the first couple of years.

Adam

 

Are you planing to stay in Dubai or where is family. I would try getting in touch with Canadian guys first.

 

Go to barber collage... it's recession proof.

 

I am not planning on staying in Dubai only here to finish up high school. I have family in Regina, SK and Morrisberg, Ontario.

 

I would look for a job in Fabrication ,,not focused just on cars,,that way you are not limited,,also you are worth more that way..and hell,,only so many zillion $$ hot rod s you can sell ya know

 

I do body work.......however I am a mortician. It's recession proof! But seriously, find a college near your home that has a auto course, learn there, then go out and get that job. Right now in this economy, there are guys like me that have to build their own cars because we can't afford others to do it for us. Start to work for a local garage and build on the side. You might have to offer to do stuff for cheap or even free just to get your name out there. Like was said before work for a living until building rods can support you.

 

Several colleges on North Carolina (think NASCAR) have full courses in competition related automotive activities that would carry over to rod/custom uses.

 

I'm curious how you ended up in Dubai, but that's not really relevant to the question.

Don't abandon going to one of the schools just because some of the guys don't think its a good idea. I know little about the two schools you mentioned, though the son of a friend went to WyoTech returning just a year ago and has been fully employed ever since. He was recently stolen from one shop by another.

This is a talented kid and someone already known in the community, but the formal training means employers weren't starting with a beginner and could trust he wasn't bringing backyard bad ideas into a pro shop.

Just don't****ume that a year or two at someplace like WyoTech means you know everything. If you leave school with a know-it-all attitude not only will you piss people off, but they will be eager to show where your lack of real world experience is a liability.

I'd look at going to school as an opportunity to learn skills in an environment where the whole purpose is learning and and then use the credibility gained to get in the door at a shop. Come out of school with some humility and the experience can serve you well.

Can you tell I'm tired of interviewing job candidates with education and attitude but no clue? They are always worse than the ones with no education but a desire to work and learn.

Remember that unless you can start your own shop your goal is to be the person the shop owner wants to hire.

 

When I was 18 I had to get a job. I already had my own place but when I didn't have my own place I had no where to go.

Comming back this way from anywhere is a******, as is first starting out.
I'm guessing that comming from the middle east in this era is going to be about as bad as comming from SE Asia when I was a kid.

Hope someone can help you out.

Best advice I can give you is never give up. There will be something for you to do, maybe not your dream but that's what dreams are isn't it, dreams.

Yea I got*****ed into this one and I been doing so good. Guess I should read first and type next,.

 

Follow your heart,but use caution,you have to eat and have a place to sleep.As another HAMBer said get into fabrication,school or job,then you make money(the key to eating/sleeping) and build your own hot rod.Someone see,s it ,build them one ect.Ive always felt the Diesel truck industry was a very good field,build a diesel hot rod.Use your head,save money,get a solid footing under you,then persue your dream,s................YG

 

lmao!

 

Being in the Army, I like Doc's idea. Being Canadian, you can join the US Army and earn your citizenship after 5 years. Would open up a lot more opportunities for you. You can be a mechanic in the Army or whatever you want. No, I am not a recruiter!

check it out:

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/theorderlyroom/a/citizenship.htm

Now at 39, I've lived all over the world and experienced things I would have never seen without the Army. I did not think I would do more than 4 years. Now, I'm at 22 years and counting.

 

I think it is great that you ask for advice and that there are so many here on the HAMB willing to help.
Here are some thoughts not necessarily in order.
I would do an apprenticeship as a tool & die maker. That way you are exposed to all the manual skills. Welding, machining, patternmaking, foundry etc. essentially all the skill you need to build a car from the ground up.
By doing the apprenticeship you will also see where your talents are. My favorite has always been the birth of creation: Foundry work and pattermaking.
When you are done with the apprenticeship you need to decide whether to go through life white collar or blue collar. I have a masters in mechanical engineering but never used it, always being self employed in the automotive field. I can tell you that everybody from my graduation class is making more money than I am but they all envy me for being a free spirit that has seen the world. If conformity is your bag - go white collar...
Talk is cheap. Anybody can claim anything. To show off your skills build a rolling calling card. A car costs 20 times as much as a bike. There was a little blue honda dragster at the recent roadster show. There are pictures of it in Dave Lindseys GNRS thread or on the jockey journal in the GNRS thread. It is beautiful and very basic with great detail and execution. It is also based on a really cheap little vintage honda. You could build something like that for probably under $1000.
You put that in the back of your truck when you go for a job interview and I guarantee you, you will get a job at a hot rod shop.
You can always PM me if you have a question. Good Luck!

 

First off, no one said going to school was a bad idea. What was said was the truth. You will only get as much out of school as you are willing to put into it. Effort and commitment. It may be a waste of money if you do not decide to commit and won't put forth the effort it takes to learn.
Like was also said, aptitude, integrity and a desire to learn cannot be taught.

True. Even this will require your best effort.

Again, effort, commitment to what you are following. Starting at ground level and moving up as you learn and prove your skills takes time. You are not owed anything.

I couldn't help myself. I'm a teacher I have this insane desire to try and help.

I don't know how many times or ways you can hear the same thing.

The fact that you are so concerned about other peoples opinions and that you can so easily be swayed one way or the other, frankly concerns me about your chances to finish if you did go to school or be hired by someone to work in a shop.

You are young, you need to do some real sole searching, settle down and decide what YOU want to do. You have your whole life ahead of you, the choices you make now will effect you the rest of your life.

 

Further school, if you are going to work on cars, is a waste of time.
That said, I would set my sights a bit higher in choosing my lifes work, and keep working on cars as a hobby.

Of couse if you plan on making it a business, go to college, major in business admin, etc.

 

Working on cars for a living is a hard way to make any real money. I've been doing it for 35 years. What are you in school for ?

 

Make an appointment with your Guidance Counselor..........

CB
(Former Guidance Counselor)

 

Check out HitMan HotRods here in Cambridge and see what welding courses and such those guys have taken.
I talk with them pretty often, they are very cool guys.
Also call the guys at WelderSeries.
Sounds like you need some welding under your belt if you want to get into Fab work.

Norton