Getting a job as a mechanic...

[adamc11]

Hi guys...
Was just wondering whats involved with becoming a mechanic... apprenticeships, tafe courses? How many years do they go for?

Thanks.

[BOGANV8]

they go for 4 years.... 1st and 2nd year crap pay bout 2something a week.. you go to tafe for 3 yrs then the last year of your apprenticship is spent in the shop.....

[adamc11]

Do you learn everything, i.e. your basic oil change to cam changes, clutch changes, engine rebuilds?

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

You learn pretty much everything to do with making a car go. If you are taken on by a business as an apprentice, you go to tafe a couple of days a week but most of your time is in the shop. Depending on who you work for, the first two years can be pretty crappy or bloody awesome. I was lucky, my apprenticeship was good, I suppose because I was 19 when I started it, and I had a pretty good boss.

[Shounak]

Do you learn cam changes and engine rebuilds as an apprentice mechanic? I would think that would be in an engine builder's/(performance shop or those head reco places) apprenticeship.

Clutch, brake, oil changes are fair game for any mechanic, probably with most of the emphasis being on the latter two.

Wouldn't you just learn the basics of engines etc in trade school during your apprenticeship, but not learn engine building unless you specialised?

Anyway, clutch, brake, oil changes are very easily learned from books and really aren't that hard. Could you see yourself doing it day in, day out for the rest of your life or the mechanic apprenticeship a stepping stone to something more specialised?

[natas.308]

it all depends on where you do it, if you start at lets say, a gearbok place, thats all you will learn, if you go to a service center,well, 99% of your work will be doing services, from oil changes to sometimes (as in my case at nissan) you may have to replace cams and pistons/ engine rebuilds etc.

Its reall yup to you, what you want to do, my advice would be to decide what area you want to be involved with, and go from there, not all mechanics do everything, and alot send the bigger and more time comsuming jobs to specialists

[andyman]

Do you learn cam changes and engine rebuilds as an apprentice mechanic? I would think that would be in an engine builder's/(performance shop or those head reco places) apprenticeship.

Clutch, brake, oil changes are fair game for any mechanic, probably with most of the emphasis being on the latter two.

Wouldn't you just learn the basics of engines etc in trade school during your apprenticeship, but not learn engine building unless you specialised?

Anyway, clutch, brake, oil changes are very easily learned from books and really aren't that hard. Could you see yourself doing it day in, day out for the rest of your life or the mechanic apprenticeship a stepping stone to something more specialised?

you do engine building in the tafe course, you also learn how to pull apart and put back most things on a car during that course

[natas.308]

sorry about bad spelling... ie: gearboX and really

[andyman]

it all depends on where you do it, if you start at lets say, a gearbok place, thats all you will learn, if you go to a service center,well, 99% of your work will be doing services, from oil changes to sometimes (as in my case at nissan) you may have to replace cams and pistons/ engine rebuilds etc.

Its reall yup to you, what you want to do, my advice would be to decide what area you want to be involved with, and go from there, not all mechanics do everything, and alot send the bigger and more time comsuming jobs to specialists

most mechanical occupations is covered by the same tafe course (in nsw) all the way to motorbike mechanic as in my class

[natas.308]

sort of, but if you work at , say, a service center does doing a 6 week module on phuematics make you a professional at it because you read about it, unlikely, my point was no matter where you go you will only learn a handfull of stuff and the rest comes down to common sense.
Or do what i did, 2yrs at nissan service, 1yr at a gearbox specialist, 3yrs at an engine rebuilder, Im still learning new things all the time, thus why i am doing (as of next year) a mechanical engineers degree, and im sure after that i will still be lerning new ways to do things

[natas.308]

sort of, but if you work at , say, a service center, does doing a 6 week module on phuematics make you a professional at it because you read about it, unlikely, my point was no matter where you go you will only learn a handfull of stuff and the rest comes down to common sense.
Or do what i did, 2yrs at nissan service, 1yr at a gearbox specialist, 3yrs at an engine rebuilder, Im still learning new things all the time, thus why i am doing (as of next year) a mechanical engineers degree, and im sure after that i will still be lerning new ways to do things

[adamc11]

Ok thanks guys. Reason i was asking is because i'm currently doing an engineering degree at melb uni, but am really having second thoughts as i'm not enjoying it a whoe lot and have 3 years of the course to go. Was wondering, on average what salary are say mechanics, gearbox specialists, engine rebuilders on?

[natas.308]

Ok thanks guys. Reason i was asking is because i'm currently doing an engineering degree at melb uni, but am really having second thoughts as i'm not enjoying it a whoe lot and have 3 years of the course to go. Was wondering, on average what salary are say mechanics, gearbox specialists, engine rebuilders on?

bout 600 800 employee

if u work for youself, u will make as much as you want (in a way)

but going from a degree to an apprenticeship is bit like going from a clusport to a barina.... each too there own i guesse

good luck with it all anyway

[natas.308]

I should read what i have written b4 posting hey ?
bad speller... lol

[Shounak]

Ok thanks guys. Reason i was asking is because i'm currently doing an engineering degree at melb uni, but am really having second thoughts as i'm not enjoying it a whoe lot and have 3 years of the course to go. Was wondering, on average what salary are say mechanics, gearbox specialists, engine rebuilders on?

Finish your degree. The Melb Uni Eng Degree is good, have you done that thing where they build and race the cars. I forget the name of the thing, but RMIT's nearly no.1 in it.

Are you doing mechanical engineering? I've got a few friends at Melbourne and they're guaranteed about $50k (minimum) as a starting salary. My friend who finished mechatronics got about $80k first year out.

I would strongly suggest that you either finish your degree or transfer into something else you like.

[BOGANV8]

Sorry i should of been a bit more clearer on my description you go to tafe for 3 years 1 day a week or 3days a month depends how they do it these days.. the other 4 days are sepnt in the shop doing work with the tradesman......

If you can find a shop that kinda does everything you will get a good backround and basics of nearly all the car... I was lucky and got a job at a place that did most things cam replacment some manual g/box overhauls and engine rebuilds Best 4 yrs of my life (KINDA ) but also this was 11 years ago too

But as said above most days its quicker just to send that kinda stuff out and all you do is R + R engines or g/boxes.....

[stocky]

Finish your degree. The Melb Uni Eng Degree is good, have you done that thing where they build and race the cars. I forget the name of the thing, but RMIT's nearly no.1 in it.

Are you doing mechanical engineering? I've got a few friends at Melbourne and they're guaranteed about $50k (minimum) as a starting salary. My friend who finished mechatronics got about $80k first year out.

I would strongly suggest that you either finish your degree or transfer into something else you like.

agreed. mechanics pay is ****. youll be sick of it in no time as well. thats what happened to my brother

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

At tafe you learn the theory and how things work. You even get your hands dirty. Depending on where you work, the type of work there will determine how much hands on experience you get with each module.

With mechanical engineering there are also different areas of expertise. The first year of anything is pretty ordinary though, stick it out, it gets better.

[Sabbath']

If you love it. Do it. But you have to know that you're going to love it. You've got to know what you want to get out of it aswell.


I do block release to trade school. One week every 6ish weeks. The rest of the time is on job.

[adamc11]

Yeah i'm doing mechanical engineering doubled with science. Hopefully it gets better, but its a lot of maths (which i don't mind), but the mechanics part of it (forces, vectors, moments of inertia, angular velocity etc) is a real bore.

[Shounak]

Yeah i'm doing mechanical engineering doubled with science. Hopefully it gets better, but its a lot of maths (which i don't mind), but the mechanics part of it (forces, vectors, moments of inertia, angular velocity etc) is a real bore.

I think it's the FSAE, but it's where students fully design and build a car from scratch. They fabricate it from carbon fibre using equipment from Boeing and have funding/sponsors every step of the way.

You build the engine, shell, all of it. You don't physically race the car, but you compete with dyno and paper printouts.

Make some enquiries about it, my friend at Melb is having a crap load of fun doing it. But it's heaps of work.

Btw, be thankful you're not doing mechatronics. Crazy stuff.

[adamc11]

Yeah the car would be fun to do, but thats in the last year or two. Right now its boring as hell and it feels like such a waste learning things i will never need to use again.

[sixshooter]

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[96VS]

Adam, finish your degree mate. I did mech eng, and it does get better. The first 2 years are intense, but teach you the underlying theories. The last two years are easy, and generally more interesting. And besides that, an engineering degree doesn't necessarily mean you will be mapping out vectors and forces for the rest of your life. Computer programs take care of that. I did work exp at a crane place and it was quite hands on... which I loved! Got to tinker with all sorts of hydraulics and welding machines. Then theres the fact an engineering degree doesn't mean you have to do engineering at all. You can get heaps of other types of jobs with it. It shows how smrat you are!

[andyman]

i work at a good place, i work on cars, trucks, mowers (pushies through to industrial ones with 3 decks) loaders, backhoes, industrial vehicles all the way down to small plant like wipper snippers etc,

pays not bad, im a second year on 400 after tax work a 9 day fortnight, rdo every second week