3 Biggest Struggles for New Technicians

what's up everybody as Charleston today we're gonna be talking about some of the biggest struggles that new technicians face whether it's your first month on the job or you're knocking on the door of finishing tech school there's a million things going on in your brain did I make the right choice am I gonna make enough money how am I going to afford tools what's my career gonna look like in ten years with electric cars there's so much to consider and I remember being there I remember having more than one freakout moment about all of those things were about to come my way today I teamed up with Universal Technical Institute the place I went to tech school to help answer some of those questions and curb those fears that you guys may be facing so here are the three biggest things I've seen new technicians struggle with and more importantly how to overcome them first up tools I have talked to tons of potential technicians just finishing up tech school or knocking on that door almost done with their their time at school and one of the first questions I always got asked was what about tools how many tools do I need for the first day of work who makes the best tools where should I buy these tools at guys I get it you go into a shop and you see a technicians toolbox that's you know to the ceiling filled with thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars worth of tools and you think how am I gonna get there do I really need all this stuff on my first day while the concern about tools is the most common thing I get asked it's also thankfully the easiest one to solve I always recommend to potential technicians look start with the basics you're gonna need hand tools no matter what you do your half inch drive your 3/8 drive your quarter inch drive the sockets the extensions pliers all those things are going to be pretty common no matter where you work if you want to work for forward cool you need hand tools if you want to work for a Ferrari cool you need hand tools there's no reason right off the bat especially if you don't already have something lined up to start investing heavily into those specialty tools if you spend a bunch of money on Ford specialty tools and get the job of a lifetime off with someone else now you have a bunch of tools that you're probably never going to use so going in start with the basics once you get into your shop now what we're going to do is we're gonna go to that shop form in those head technicians and we're gonna ask them if we can look through their toolbox and see what they use what are the most common things that that master tech reaches for on a daily basis go to their role cart because the technicians role cart is the most common stuff that we use look how its organized what's at the front what's at the back what's within easy reach in that cart and those are the things that you're gonna want to focus on next when it comes to brand as a new technician to me I don't really think it matters you're probably gonna end up losing more tools than you are going to be breaking them so start off and buy smart with the tools that you can afford I do like to focus on tools that have a lifetime warranty but we don't need to spend a hundred and seventy-five dollars on a ratchet if we can't afford to do that guys one of the biggest issues I see when it comes to new technicians and tools is that they get themselves into debt please whatever you do do not start your career off in any more debt than you absolutely have to guys it terrifies me when I hear from technicians that spend thousands and thousands of dollars on the tool truck their first few months when they don't even know if this career is gonna be right for them so please buy smart make lists see what other people use in their shop use that as a guideline and buy the best tools that you can afford next up is how do I know my first job is going to be the right fit for me now this question actually comes in in about 40 different forms what jobs will I do how much am I gonna make will I get training is someone gonna be there to help me when I have a question am I gonna work flat-rate what happens if I break something while I'm working on it and I gotta get stuck changing oil for a year before I actually get to do something interesting all of these questions really circle back to how do I know the place I'm going to work is gonna be the right fit for me now there's no way I can possibly blink and answer that question for everyone this is a very specific and individual decision to make you're focused on making a good impression you to the Future employer and that's a good thing you should be focusing on that but it's important to also understand that you are also interviewing them like I mentioned I have interviewed so many technicians and had some really killer amazing interviews that I've done with people and then had some where it felt like it was pulling teeth and the guys and girls that ask the most questions were the ones that did the best job in the interview they asked all those questions I rattled off at the front and the ones that just sat there and only answered my questions we're typically the ones that didn't get hired now there may have been other factors to it but them not having a single question for me is a red flag that gives me concern as an interviewer you need to be asking the questions to make sure that the environment is right for you I do feel like you starting out as a technician you should have a dedicated mentor you should have that person to go to when you have a question that is responsible for training you and helping grow you into that good technician great technician master technician whatever it is that you want you should get all the training that is available that you could possibly get and if you interview with the place that says they are going to start you out on flat-rate you need to just get up and walk out because no new technician should ever be started out on flat-rate guys this is your career you really need to look at what you want your life to be design the perfect life and then begin to find the shop or the dealership or the racecar team whatever it is that best suits you and your values and what you want your life to be and guys remember you never have more negotiating strength you never have a better opportunity to ask for more money than the day you're interviewing for the job in fact seconds before you say yes you are never in a better position to negotiate for more money keep that in mind but remember this never talk about money for question on the last one really more than the other to hit the closest home for me and that's worrying about things like ase testing I had so many freak out moments legit like Charles tweaking out moments over these ASE tests that I took while I was at tech school I was convinced that no one would hire me if I didn't have all of them passed and ready to go guys the truth is it didn't matter and what I mean by that didn't matter it didn't matter in the big picture all those things we talked about in number two were way more important yes there are some employers that are going to require you to have ASE certifications yes it looks really good on a resume to say that your master ase-certified yes you get a little patch for your jacket on your shirt that's cool too and if you want those things I think you should go get them shops will use ASE certified technicians as part of their marketing strategy and they should we should be telling our customers hey this technician worked really hard and passed these tests and those ASE tests that I totally freaked out about it didn't matter anyway not only did you have to pass the test but you had to have two years of automotive experience year one counted for tech school but I still had to work a whole nother year before I actually was ASE certified now I do think ASE is a valuable thing I have sat in and helped write ASE tests it's a fascinating process and I do think that it can increase your value as a technician and help you negotiate more money but for right now don't worry too much about it you can always pass those tests and you can always get those certifications down the road all right guys I'm gonna wrap it up their questions and comments feel free to leave them down below if you liked the video hit that thumbs up button don't forget to subscribe any quick thank you to UTI for helping me make this video for you guys thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time

Channel: HumbleMechanic

Views: 51,250

Rating: 4.955987 out of 5

Keywords: uti, universal technical institute, mechanic school, mechanic issues, bad mechanic, mechanic fail, tech school worth it, is tech school a rip off, how to become a mechanic, buying mechanic tools, best mechanic tools, automotive tech school

Id: 6nN5cG3Fd_o

Length: 8min 34sec (514 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 31 2018