Tips on how to find an apprenticeship?

[grantlacey11]

im not saying that you are in college to have a job that you dont want, its the experience you get in college and the education about all kinds of things that you wouldnt get if you didnt attend

[Massive Lee]

To the OP - are you willing to have a full time job as a mechanic, while studying part time on top of that? It could please a shop manager to hire somebody with "more brains" who could sometimes handle other tasks than just wrenching. On your end, if you finally realize that it is not what you like, then you can return to full time studies.

I know several shop owners here and apprentices are either hired after being refered by a friend/aquaintance, or sometimes somebody who dropped a resume while leaving a great impression. Any shop could hire a goafer for cheap. Maybe that's where you can start if you are not afraid of brooming or cleaning up other peoples' mess. That's a start.

Will you work fro free for a while? Put your foot in the door, then the rest will follow. You need experience anyway.

[der affe]

^ this.

you want this so bad, but are not willing to travel for it? not a good start.

"if you are smart enough to be a mechanic, you are too smart to be a mechanic" sage wisdom!

you are on the other side of the fence looking over going " gee, that looks like fun and i like to work om my BMW it'll be neat!"
the truth is, it is really hard, dirty smelly work (esp diesel/heavy equipment), sometimes it is slow and you make no $, sometimes it is busy and you make lots of $. you have a LARGE investment in tools to do your job, it wears on you too.

it is dangerious work too. no matter how careful you are, shit can happen that will leave you fucked up for life that is beyond your control ( just look at me). you don't want to be working on cars for a living into you 60's/70's your body will be done! it can happen, with the best intensions of moving on to management once you have more responcabilities, it is hard to stop and change careers or directions.

lastly turning wrenches for a living will kill your desire to work on your own stuff. that is the reason that you are thinking about this career path anyways, right.

you should talk to techs (lots of them!) and gain a perspective from people working in the field, get the big picture, then concider if you want to jump out of school and go this route.

[mitch500]

Go to the Alberta apprenticeship board on jasper ave and 107th st. capital health building on the 7th floor.... when you get up there turn right and walk down the hall way.... there is about 20 "looking for" adds posted on the wall on various trades that are taking first years.

[mamzak]

Go to the Alberta apprenticeship board on jasper ave and 107th st. capital health building on the 7th floor.... when you get up there turn right and walk down the hall way.... there is about 20 "looking for" adds posted on the wall on various trades that are taking first years.

Thank you!



Also: To the others, this wasn't an impulsive decision by any means...I have considered everything you guys are mentioning, and have talked to about 15-20 HD mechs. Because your right, I was worried about getting bored after a while, and I was worried about the wear and tear on my body, etc, but it truly is something I enjoy doing, and I think I'm really really going to regret not going for it. Maybe I'll hate myself down the road for making this decision, but I think more than likely I will succeed in the field, and be glad I had the guts to go for what I wanted.