A positive Wyo-Tech story...

There's alot of well deserved bad stories in regards to Wyo-Tech grads. However, this is not one.

A recent grad just came to work at the shop and I have to compliment his strong work ethic and willingness to do anything. He his willing to learn, and doesn't think he knows everything.

If all grads worked like him, I would be happy to work with them. This is just a quick note stating that not ALL Wyo grads are cocky know-it-alls, and that there are a few gems mixed in. Maybe luck has something to do with it as well, but I definitely know a few local shops that won't even hire grads now due to bad experiences in the past.

I guess we'll find out, as there's one more grad possibly coming in, in a few weeks...

 

My nephew is a young gun. Knows it all, blah blah blah. He has shut up long enough to learn that he doesn't know everything. He learned that at Wyo-tech which makes it worth the price of admission.
Rod

 

Thanks for coming out and saying this.

All the idiots that come out of there make it very difficult for those that tried hard and worked their butts off to get a decent job. Anymore, when I am talking to a shop, I never tell them that I went to Wyotech, I just tell them what I have done, on what cars, and what I an do. The only time I mention that school is when I hand them my resume, I ask that they dont hold that I went to Wyotech against me. And I thought, before going to that school, it would make it easier to get into a rod shop. Ha! was I wrong on that one.

 

I Was a student and TA At Wyo Teck And 95% Of The Students Never Wanted To Really Learn Just Work On There Own Car but some did turn out preety knowlagable

 

I remember when I graduated from wyo tech, I went looking for a job and on the apps I always put "wyo tech" under the education section. I looked for almost 4 months for a job at a body shop and maybe got 2 or 3 call backs for an interview. I finally caught wind of body shops not liking people who went to WyoTech and I took it off my apps from that point on and I got a job about a week later. Its sad that the school has such a bad rap for producing such cocky know-it-all's becuase it isnt a bad school (it also isnt all it is cracked up to be either) but its good that there are a few kids comming out of there who are proving the folks saying no to wyotech students becuase of bad experiences wrong.

 

Same thing is true with any school. We have to work with the students we get. At the comunity college, we get students that can't hardly read, others that have no idea how the working world works. Then we get some that want to learn, want to work, and show up every day. We do our best to turn around the poor students, as well as help the good ones go as far as they can. Work ethic is by far the hardest thing to teach someone that dose'nt have it.

 

It's kind of like lawyers: 99% of them give the rest a bad name...

 

We've got 2 Wyo-grads at our shop. One I knew before we hired him, but both of them are OUTSTANDING. VERY hard workers that picked up our nitch FAST! These guys are passionate and will stay and practice fabricating and upholstery until you kick them out of the shop to lock up.
They are definitely not all bad, at our shop we're 2 for 2 on the good list. I do know one grad though that does have a "I'm better than you because I went to Wyotech" attitude...so I know what you're talking about. I always figured it had to do with the type of dude he was, not necessarily anything he learned at the school.
-John Joyo...

 

when i graduated from the maritime academy, we had 4 years of sunshine blown up our asses about how much money were going to make. Alot of grads turned down good jobs just because they werent 3rd mate or 3rd engineer positions paying 80k a year.

it took alot of them 6 mos to find a gig that paid much less than that, because they wanted the big money eventhough it wasnt to be had. I blame that kind of ego and self centered attitude on the constant philandering and stroking that the institution gives to its grads.

i have never met a wyo-tech grad, nor have really heard anything about wyo-tech, but since i get to hire and fire people in my position i would always hire the person who appears to want to learn, is motivated, and is punctual over a person who has a degree and is self inflated. when you hire someone you look at that individuals ability to work with your team, desire to grow, and thier ability to make you money. Anything less than that and they dont get past square one.

now i can just get motivated to finish up my mba apps so i can get into Stanford...i'll show you guys what cocky and self inflated is

 

The main Wyotech campus is here. I've hired a few students to do temporary jobs and they've all been really good kids. I suspect that if a kid has the work ethic to take a temp job while in school it probably bodes well for their future success. There are plenty of kids in that age group that have a great deal of seasoning to accomplish before they get the big "it". This is true whether or not they go to Wyotech or any school. As Tinbender said, the schools work with the students that they get - even the bad apples

 

Actually, I'd bet that it's 1% that give the rest a bad name (both lawyers and wyotech grads).

 

I know nothing about Wyo-Tech, but have experience with vocational training. It's a business. Money must be earned. There is tremendous pressure on instructors to keep students enrolled and paying up. Almost all students who don't make it to the finish line quit for personal reasons. Very few fail the courses. I quit a job teaching electronics because the dean demanded that I give some total duds extra credit opportunities so they didn't flunk out. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Bottom line...Talented, motivated kids get diplomas every year. So do worthless peces of crap.

 

True but most arent. Every guy (since moving to our new shop in Oct 2005) I have interviewed from Wyotech either has the drive and not enough talent or talent and zero drive . All are interested in what they can make their first year.
Its actually funny because my tech student is better than most of the people I have interviwed and she doesnt care if she gets paid or not because she wants to learn the ropes(We do pay her by the way). Colleen is porbably one of the best paid interns I have ever had. She goes to school in July(Ohio) to start a tech school semester to learn this professionally. No chip on her shoulder, no 'you owe me' attitude. Its nice to see that somone just wants to LEARN.Most of the Wyotech grads beleive they can learn their trade and open a shop- well good luck to the ones who try-its harder than you think.

 

Got a good friend who's Wyo-Tech paint & body grad...he said he didn't learn as much about body work as he thought he would...but he can do some pretty good fabrication work. He's supposed to help me replace my trunk pan on my '51, and straighten out some other problems, so we'll see.

 

This attitude is a result of what I see all over with people who've graduated from anything more that high-school. When you're trying to get into college, there's all kinds of recruiter/advisor types whose job it is to convince you that you'll be the best of the best and worth the most money when you get out of whatever school you're in to justify the amount of money you've spent (whether it's yours or borrowed). The secret is finding the graduate who ahs enough real life experience to know when someone is blowing smoke up their ass. What you're seeing in the attitudes of those people when they get to their shop is their mind reeling at the possibility that the picture painted by the recruiter might be wrong. Depending on their own personal ego, this adjustment mighttake a while or never at all.

I have a decent computer job (I dropped out of college) and there's a guy there with an engineering degree and all he talks about is how he's supposed to be an engingeer making 6-figures. Well, guess what, he's the laziest, most self-absorbed I've ever had the misfortune of working with. He didn't miss out on that six-figrue income because the world is mad, he missed out because education is a very small part of any person's hireability.

As for the questions about money, remember that a lot of these people have a school loan to pay for, so working for cheap won't do it. I'd love to find a job at some hot rod shop sweeping floors and learning on my off days, but the HAMB has poisoned me to the gold-chainers, so I don't see many opportunities...

 

Back in the early 80's I was in high school, My autoshop teacher(s) were pushing AATI (Arizona Automotive Technical Institute) on any of us that wanted to learn. Well that is now UTI(Hot Rod University,United Technical Institue)-sounds like an infection-Lol!
I seem remember how the teacher(s) were always saying how the techs that graduated were making the big bucks. I don't know if there was a $kickback on this or whatnot, but in the latter part of my JR. yr, we got a new=green teacher.
This guy was sharp & I think he was all of 24yrs old. He spent the time that the previous teachers did not, teaching us how to machine heads,& mill blocks, hot tank engines, do 3 angle valve jobs. I was freakin impressed!
By the way hewas attending a Cal State automotive program @ the time.

Well my senior year came around and he was dead honest with me. "I'll tell ya that you're most likely not gonna get rich working on this stuff, but it will pay most of the bills if you do a good job" Next thing I know, he's handing me a application for a pilot program that is being instituted @ a semi local J.C.=Cerritos College.
This was the 1st West Coast Edition of G.M's ASEP program. I am glad to say that I was in it. As for making a living. Dealerships have changed over the past 25 yrs & I have long since pulled away from that side.
I think that one should get all of the education that one can and with that piece of paper from a University.
Stay focused & learn all that you can.

 

I graduated from wyotech as well but i didnt have too much trouble finding a job with it on my resume. But when i started I too found out i didnt learn as much about body work as i wanted. Ive learned more in the shop this last year just from experience than any school. Wyotech is a great school but you learn a little about a lot. jack of all trades master of none. thats just my 2 cents.

 

I have been through a half dozen students, but last year i had one CALL me about resume he sent and that impressed me. He then sold his playstation to come to cali for an interview. He was slow in the beginning but has gotten 5 bucks an hour more in one year. He can now tig weld pretty good, he can do sheetmetal work, chassis and that guy is a bracket makin machine. He has not been sick one day and he busts his ass. I could not ask for better a employee. I have actually had to fix less of his mistakes then some 50 year old guys work that has been done in my shop. I'm thinkin about another grad but man is it roll of the dice to find another good one.

I think there is something to do with the penn campus. And some mid west students. California kids seem to want instant glory cuz they know it all. I think gardners and the california economy create lazy kids.

Rodger

 

I was considering Wyo-tech a while ago as a way to learn some skills, but I decided not to after I heard people coming into the shop I work at, complaining about hiring grads.

I went to a local community college for a year, and took a class in everything automotive. I figure it was a good way to start out, and learn a few skills, but I found out I was wrong. All the mechanical classes I took were a waste. It just taught you how to read out of a manual, and by that point, I had already done an engine swap. The body classes did offer something up to learn, because it involved no books, but I realise that at a certain point, you can't learn any more from the classes, and need to learn in the real world at a shop, and that a job doing the work is where you learn all your real skills.

Before I started my second semester, I started out at a machine shop, and could see how little I learned in college. They taught me about 90% of what I know at the shop, and now three years later, I'm kind of happy I didn't waste more time and money going to school.

 

The way I see it, its all on how you were raised. I have had a few friends go to Wyotech and each one of them said it was a mistake. They wasted a ton of money learning something you can learn just by starting in on a shop. I was raised that you have to bust your ass to get what you want in life and sometimes you still don't get it. 99% of people are going to have to work for someone most of their lives, so get to work, shut your mouth cause if you knew everything you'd be the one in charge, and do a good job. I can't believe how many snot nosed brats I see complaining about their desk jobs. Uh, sorry, but those jobs aren't bad. Its all about work ethic. Its the blue collar kids that usually have more drive to succeed.