Reply to My Car Mechanics Post Labor Rate = $110 per hour. Why don't more HS kids train as mechanics?

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Reply to "My Car Mechanics Post Labor Rate = $110 per hour. Why don't more HS kids train as mechanics?"

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[quote=Anonymous]I know people who are ASE-certified mechanics, as well as people who are electricians and plumbers. They make good money after a few years, for sure. With electricians and plumbers, you need to go through apprenticeship and the union controls how many can enter, but right now there's a shortage so it's really just a rubber-stamp. So the first few years you get the boring work like pulling the wire and wiring electrical outlets for 50 cookie-cutter townhouses in new developments (most electricians and plumbers do new builds, not repairs), but after you are fully licensed and you can make the real bucks -- easily $100k+ per year, even if you work for a company. The ones who go on their own can make more.

As for aging, yes it's physically strenuous but by the time you are in your 50's, you probably have a few people under you so you just handle the less strenous work like giving estimates and paperwork. Then you sell your business and can makes a few hundred K from that to retire on.

Mechanics it's similar. Some places pay the mechanics by the job, so if the shop charges $100 for an oil-change, you get $30. If there's no work that day, you don't get paid, but if there's a lot of work and you're quick, you can make really good money. Then when you get your own shop, the money is even better of course. Yes, there's overhead like rent, but how many repair places do you see in the best part of town? They're usually in industrial areas so rent is pretty low anyway.

Now going back to the question of why don't more people train in it. One problem is high schools are being told to push college college college. They even rank schools based on what % of graduates go on to college. The second thing is society. Just look at DCUM, and how often someone writes that she's dating a guy but is concerned because he's a mechanic or some other blue collar field. She thinks he's not good enough for her. I know a lot of guys like this, and they've all been great guys and made excellent fathers too.[/quote]

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