I was wondering if anyone knew of any restoration shops in the midwest that would be hiring Because I have ten weeks left of school and I'm looking to start my career Building and Restoring Street rod and Muscle Cars and Customs. I have my Automotive Technology degree and in ten weeks i will have my Automotive Collision Technology degree. I am a certified Painter in the EPA Rule Soruce Training. I love to work on cars and have a 1937 Plymouth Coupe That I am repainting and i made the back panel and making a fire wall cover that will cover all Ignition componets and wires. I also have a 1972 Plymouth Satellite Sebring Plus that needs restore that I will start working on when i have the money. I can put pictures of my coupe up as the process of it being redone. I also have been working on Muscle cars and Street Rods most of my life since i was 13. i am a huge Mopar Nut.
Maybe try going to work at a regular body shop and get some real world experience before you try and break in to the custom/hot rod/restoration business. Even with your education, which sounds great, you will start at the bottom where ever you go. Just my .02...
What actual experience do you have? You may need to aim lower until you have a few years under your belt?
Yeah, I hate to piss in your corn flakes bud, but you might be 10 weeks away from starting your exciting new career in sweeping the floor. I hope you minored in "get there early to start the coffee maker". Seriously though, good on you for jumping into the field. My best advice would be to take whatever you can get as far as employment goes and work your way up for a while. Your education might not get you a sweet paying gig right away, but the schooling along with a few years of experience should do you well. Best of luck.
I think it's been stated but I'll say it again, you don't know shit until you've done it . Reading books aint doing it . I'm puttin that to you now not as a dick but as real life, every kid we hired at the shop came in talking about my teacher this my teacher that , when yor teacher signs your check instead of you giving him one then you can do what he said until then its my shop and my signiture that makes the check good. Take a job doiing what will hire you then move on from there, collision and custom are 2 seperate worlds and mentalities, also know that with the exception of the guys who are on TV you will not get rich but can make a nice living doing what you enjoy . Go paint in a high prduction shop for a check and build hot rods on the side in your spare time .
All you need to know how to do is paint bodys flat black and the wheels red. Just kidding. Show them the work on your 37, might help get your foot in the door. Good luck and welcome to the HAMB. I like your ambition.
Good idea from the post above and good advice so far. Again, TAKE WHATEVER YOU CAN GET NO MATTER WHAT IT IS. I graduated in mid 2009... worst year ever to graduate... I graduated and currently live in Indiana and I went through about 50-60 interviews always getting to the last one, but not getting the job. I worked restoring cars, remodeling homes, construction, unloaded Semi-trailers, lived out of a car in California searching for jobs, worked at a auto repair shop/body shop, and then scored a killer job with a fortune 500 company... The point is that I struggled for a year and a half and now I have an excellent job. Now on the downside... I know it is exciting to graduate, but if you are just now starting your job search you are starting it a bit too late.... You need to literally force yourself to take a paper and internet search each day.. make that your job... consider relocating even.... take whatever you can at first, even if it is out of your field of study... the best way my dad put is that you need to take whatever job you can get, even if it is shoveling shit.... at least you will be making a little scratch while searching for a better job... ^Wise Man..
A lot of great advice here - most will be from old guys who tried to help a young trade school grad get started, and got burned by their own generosity trying to accommodate an "earn while you learn" working environment. The bottom line is until you can develop speed with quality, you will not be as marketable as an experienced guy. That doesn't mean you should give up your dream, but you will really need to humble yourself. I went to trade school, and then got a REAL education from a guy who took a chance on me....and yes I swept a lot of floors. By the way, he was the smartest businessman I've ever known...he could barely read a crash book and had a 6th grade education....but was one hell of a teacher. Good Luck- Bob
You know...I often wonder if you would go to school to become a surgeon if they'd say... "Hey, show us some stuff you've fixed and sewn up" post diploma? I mean really, you gotta show me you can stitch some fancy umbilical hernia repair before you can work for our hospital....LOL!!! It's funny that rod shop/body shop/upholstery shop guys act like it's a DARK art. Granted.. I've worked with ASE certified guys who don't know their BUTT from hole in the ground! And there were the guys who swore the book told them EVERYTHING! BUT, the few that said.. hey, I've learned the basics and I'm willing to learn more I've had great respect for. Don't think you're gonna be rich just because you went to school... Heck, don't think you're gonna be rich EVER. Just DIG the fact you get to make a living doing the stuff you love. Find what you like to do... and never work a day in your life (atleast that's what the captains of Smart tell me ) Good luck with finding a gig after school... This stuff ain't rocket science... it's just some shop owners are set in their ways (self included).
You may have to start at the bottom, but it is worth it. If you prove yourself you most definitely will NOT be sweeping floors for long. I NEVER swept floors out of school. I pushed myself and would not settle for less. Try the Ft. Collins CO area if intereseted. If you are in the school I think you are in, you know what I am talking about. Loveland to. Alot of shops in those areas.
Graduated from a trade school. Commuted 120 miles round trip for 11 years to have a job in my field. Didn`t want to live in the city. Did side jobs for 11 years. Quit 10 years ago and started my own buisness Doin the same thing. You have to love what you do or you will turn into a grumpy old man (or a drunk). See above. Just kidding AGAIN.
Dakota Muscle in North Sioux City, IA Lakeside Rods & Rides in Rockwell City, IA Healey Works in Lawton, IA are premier shops near you... go talk to them, see what might be available... Healey Works has job openings on its website...
Thanks everyone for the advise. In one post somone ask what experience i had, i was work in a dealer ship doing mechanic work and just by doing work on my 37 and my 72 plymouth satellite. On my 37 i had to make a rear panel from scratch and im going to make a cover for my fire wall to hide all my wires and all the ignition conponets. After i maje that im going to do a custom paint job on it. The school that im going to is Indain HIlls Community College In ottumwa Iowa, what nice about my classes is that we are only in the class room for 2 hours a day and rest of the time were in the shop working on customer vehicles or like me that took my 37 to class to repaint. I stay late after class to work on my 37 to get father on it each day.
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