Vocational Education and Careers

Did you use your Vocational Education after high school ?

 

the classes I took in high school were auto body repair.I was lucky enough to be taught by a hardcore German hardass named Mr. Zuch.Be he was very good and taught everything by hands on.I still use what he taught me.I'm now a VW/Mazda tech and I see the guys who spend 20k+ on Wyotech and UTI,and think for the most part what a waste of money.The recruiter comes to your house,promises you the world, then teaches the basics in a substandard environment.I think the kids would have been better off spending the money on tools or attitude adjustments.Sorry I got off on a tangent.But those outfits piss me off.

 

Rodknocker have u ever been to one of the schools u call substandard because I have been to both. They have the most up to date tools equipment and vehicles donated by auto manufactures. These schools provide a service to those who are looking to get in our profession. Not everyone has had the benifit of taking vocational classes at school or a family member who gives a S*** enough to teach them. I teach High School Auto collision and If its between a student doing nothing and getting into trouble or going to wyotech in hopes of learning a trade, I choose wyotech every time. Yes they can learn on the job but how long does it take to gain what u learn in a votech school? I dont know about your area but BMW dealerships in Housto ONLY hire new techs from UTI who have been through the BMW school at UTI. No new techs off the streets. Most Votech schools have Manufacture specific schools for the top graduating students like BMW and Lexus. Even the Local Chevy dealership requires all techs new and old to be enrolled in Post secondary school. U of all people should know how technical todays cars have become. If u had a choice between 2 helpers both being green would u choose the one who had school or one who has had nothing. Granted not every one who goes through one of these schools will be a good tech but neither will everyone who graduates with an engineering degree. Im tired of people bashing Votch Education. It does serve its purpose. Now thats a tangent

 

nope but i got a really cool bird house out of it..

 

I went to tech school for Diesel Mechanics and I've taken some classes that are offered by PPG, Dupont etc...
I use zilch of my diesel mechanic stuff and some of the stuff I learned at the Paint schools.

 

I've never had any formal training in automotive fields, my moldmaker schooling and experience isn't worth squat these days, so I'm open to a career change...I don'tknow if whether I'll go back to school, but I do love learning...

 

Its all what u make it, i went to wyotech and learned alot. There are some things that no trade school can teach that only are learned through experience. I am very happy with my decision. Needless to say there are alot of d-bags that have a big head cause they"went to trade school", but couldnt fix a sandwich. So yes alot of people go to school and dont use it, but that doesnt mean its wasted. Trade school is alot of money and you if have the opportunity i would say do it and make the ABSOLUTE most of it. It all depends on what u make it.

 

In high school, I took every metals and automotive class that was available to me. I was thinking about going to school to be a mechanic, but my high school metals instructor suggested I go to trade school for tool and die. I went to trade school. Long story short, I've been a tool maker for almost 10 years now, and I still love it. I honestly can't think of a better job for me.

 

I dont no about the west coast , I have been told they dont have tech high schools is this true , In mass you can go to high school or to a tech school and learn a trade when you get out your well trained . you go to shop all week hands on traning then school the next week two classes of each subject a day two math two english and alsow a shop class once a day to learn form a book about your trade , when i got out i was making good money tig welding the next day , meny people i whent to school with are still in there trade.

 

Not in the automotive field, but graduated in 53 from high school with a carpentry VoTec class, retired from carpenters union in 98 after working at the trade for 45 years, VoTec helped me. Cars are a hobby and an obsession.

 

Now after the person has gone and spent 20k on the school,now they need to buy tools(at least another 30k for the minimum), all this from a profession that pays if you're lucky about 27k a year to start.I would much rather see a kid spend his 20k on tools and go to the manufacturers schooling.I know UTI and Wyotech have their sponsered classes and manufacturer training.BUT... the biggest problem is they are not teaching these kids how to work in a flat rate shop.I've seen a bunch of kids come and go through the shop who have no clue how to make money,they can fix a basic problem in a car,but at the end of the week pure dissappointment when their paycheck is 25hrs.I respect what you do as a teacher is high school.But justifying 20k for 9 months of training with promises of making a 100k a year, I don't buy it.

 

tech schools teach a trade, not a work ethic. Shitty pay checks mean one thing,TIME TO HUSTLE!!! I was never fed any lines about what i would make after school either, i have exceeded what i was told i would make in 15 yrs from the schools predictions. So they never promise anything unobtainable as far as im concerned.

 

ok ok if I've pushed your buttons I'm sorry.I shouldn't be so closed minded.Its just that I sat in when the recruiter came to give his presentation to my brother in law,and things went south with him.So I apologize and will keep open mind from now on.

 

dont forget, a recruiter is a salesman. and im not much of a fan on salesman!! hahaha its all in good fun!

 

i had a chat with someone recently who told me they have Diesel experience. here in Australia ,my brother has a young in law who is 3 months out of his apprenticeship and gets in the hand every week $2500

I am a Diesel engineer myself but because of recent events I can't work,but rest assured I could earn $3000 a week CLEAR!
I offered the person I spoke with an "inside" contact to one of these jobs but unfortunately they have chosen not to take it up.
The only place you get money similar to this is fuck'n iraq.
Australia Needs you Yesterday if you are Qualified trades person.

 

I had a great teacher who lived, ate, breathed traditional rods. He could make ANYTHING out of medal. Since my father too was into fab and autobody, I was pretty far ahead of my class. One year I got to take a 32 Roadster that was cut up by my teacher for easier storage and he had me sit there and weld the body together. Took forever. I learned a lot and I see my teacher here and there at local rod shows.

 

2years of auto body so yes i did

 

I went as far as getting an engineering degree and a teaching certificate in vocational education. Never used any of it. Most of what I profit on, I taught myself. Some shop skills have come in handy though.

Dave

 

Not sure the direction of this post but i will say my vocational training in high school was very benificial to were i am today.Was fortunate to have a teacher that had a rail dragster that we worked on in class,learned plenty about welding and machining.Then went on to trade school and recieved a degree in mold making and have utilized that to become pretty sucsessful after 28 years in the trade.I will say that has been tough to hire anyone with a good work ethic,willing to learn and doesnt expect it all right away.I am sure due to the fact that alot of the schools have dropped their programs this hasnt helped.We are in the process of developing an apprentice ship progam to deal with this.

 

In '65 my high school hired Norm Willems as our autoshop instructor. The guy before him could of cared less about us kids. I really wanted to learn about Hot Cars and this guy was the ticket. He started with the basics but interjected "why" A longer stroke did this or more compression did that etc. etc. NA vs. supercharging, carb, vs. injection. On top of that, in March '66, he takes us to the march meet. How COOOL WAS THAT!! After three years with this guy, well I thought I knew everything, (Wrong)! Was I ever blessed to have him for my teacher. His ride then was a '32 pickup, so coooool!
The auto shop is still there, new young teacher, digs Hot Rods (built up camaro). Hope this class doesn't get cut from their budget!
Most of us in my class became anything but mechanics, but I use what I learned every day, If not on the cars it's working on the tractors.
From what I hear calif. is cutting back on vocational classes, is this true, what a mistake?
My 2 cents, OLY

The cancer car lives
Give to cancer research

 

I am going to have to refer to Ranken Tech. in St. Louis, on this one. Work ethic is the most important aspect of their institution. Oh yeah, it is also non-profit, as well.

 

This is just what I wanted to Hear. I am a high school automotive instructor at a voc. tech. center. I have a hard time convincing the school system that every one is not going to A 4 year college. I have a lot of students that have attended many of these post secondary schools that are mentioned above. All of these schools are out standing . I have several student working in the automotive field and I am very proud of them. The starting pay is very impressive. Most of the student that take my class are very serious about an automotive career. I hope that we can keep the youth interested in working with their hands. PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL VOCATIONAL SCHOOL IT REALLY WORKS. Thanks for your input. PS My class is building a old school rod.

 

autoshop,

i wish I was in your school when I was in HS..... The shitty school system down here did away with metal shop & auto shop well before I even entered HS(1993)

Even the Vo-tech school I went too sucked majorly. The teacher was more concerned with putting a tape in the VCR than giving practical knowledge in the shop.

I used very little of what was taught to me. I now own my own restoration shop specializing in pre-1965 vehicles.

 

I too am a vocational teacher, I teach collision repair technologies in a high school career and tech center. I also happen to live in Blairsville, Pa where one of the branch Wyo-tech campuses are located. I agree with the other teacher here in saying that vocational education can and does work well. I also agree that you get out of it what you put into it. I strive to share every piece of knowledge I have with my students. Some time these kids just don't care at this point in thier lives. I can pull my 627rwhp Corvette in the shop and maybe 3 kids will be interested, I used to pull in my daily driven '30 model A pickup and most would say "why do you drive something like that?". I used to own a speed shop also and I have tons of info to share with these kids, but like I said it's hard to keep them interested.
As far as post secondary schools, I recommend them to some students that truly want to move on and become a technician, partly because it takes the burdon off of my shoulders and places it with the post secondary school. The other part is that some of these students are too immature to learn some things in high school and hopefully they grow up some when they are paying for the schooling.
I have been to many post secondary schools for tours and such and I find that most of them are just cash cows. Most of them are state of the art, but that is because they are getting $27,000 off of each student that comes thru the door. The salesmen do thier job well, they make parents and students believe that if they just come to school they will work miracles. I know many of the instructors at Wyo-tech some are qualified some are not. They face the same struggles that high school teachers face with the students. Most are not motivated to learn or work. Some don't have the basic skills to function in life, they are horrible readers, they have very few math skills, and they have no work ethic. That problem comes from the home, we are all guilty of it too, all of us want our children to do better than we did and to have to work less than we had to. It's human nature and we have created many young folks that are going to have a hard time surviving in life.
I'll get off of my soap box now.

 

I agree with some of what was said here. I know of some that have gone through a VOTECH and have done well. I have a small engine business. One of the reasons I keep it a 1 man shop is NO ONE out of the VOTECH can read an IPL. Another is I have spent more time fixing their mistakes and getting nothing done of my own. In the business world today (My case at least) if a person can't come in and free up my time for what I need to do they are worthless and cost me time and money.

 

I did the two years in high school, auto body and fender, I still use what I learned as a hobby building cars. I never looked into it as a job, but chose the military instead, mostly due to living in rural Mo. with jobs few and far between.

 

My local Vocational school offered Engine rebuilding so needless to say I was there, the class was two years and I learned a ton I also was able to bring in my own motor and build it. I thought that was THE BEST schooling i ever received and I loved every minute of it not just because of what I was doing but because the instructor was a well informed and super knowledgeable person and he had a bunch of old drag racing stories from the early sixties.

 

I went to UTI back when it was 15000 and ended up getting a job at a Mercedes dealer. I learned alot at UTI but alot of it was also very basic. With these schools it's all about what effort you are willing to put in. I have seen people graduate that really didn't have a clue how to actually work on cars, but I have also seen people who learned alot and were able to apply it. I don't work on cars for a living anymore (by choice) but I don't regret going to UTI.

 

yeah i took welding, had an excelent real world teacher, he taught more than just welding. real life experiences. my school didnt offer certification. i became aws certified in stick and innershield all position, unlimited thickness at 19. i am an ironworker. did i do the best i could with what i learned? abcolutely not, but its an ok living with ok benefits.

 

Well, I'm not sure if an engineering degree qualifies as Vocational, but I use it everyday