[SamAdams76]

An often underlooked career option in the workplace today is auto mechanic. People still have the notion that auto-mechanics are mostly high school dropouts and is one step up from pumping gas or flipping burgers.

However, that is not the case today. Since most of the easy jobs has gone to franchises (i.e. oil changes to Jiffy Lube and tires to NTW), an auto mechanic today really needs to know his (or her) stuff. It is now a highly skilled position that requires some degree of computer literacy as well as mechanical know-how.

Therefore, a good mechanic often commands salaries that are equivalent to a professional position and is a very good career option for those inclined. Especially since it appears that people are hanging on to their older cars for more years.

[sticker]

You are right on that, my nephew went to Nashville Auto Diesel College and the tuition was more than my son’s at a 4-year college

[shbox]

I am a mechanic...I was a hands-on mechanic in the shop for 15years.
I am still a mechanic, yet I sit in front of this computer all day. I support mechanics at dealerships in the field.
I can diagnose and “fix” and car sitting right here, from 1000 miles away.

A mechanic can field test (drive) a vehicle and all the information from that vehicle shows up right here on my monitor.

You are absolutely correct....I have done years of grimy mechanics but its not like that any more. There are still “wrench turners” that switch out parts in the garage....they make an honorable living doing that. Still, its not shadetree mechanics anymore.

[CSM]

I agree completely with you. I have a couple of friends that are mechanics and they make a great living. They work hard and earn every penny of it too!

[NVDave]

Young men out here in the rural areas keep asking me if it is worth getting an engineering degree, because a) it is useful and b) engineering pays well.

I tell them that engineering does pay well, but you’d better not step off the treadmill of learning the “latest thing” or otherwise your job will be outsourced in a hot second over to India.

Then I tell them that if they get into something like diesel repair... oh, can they make some nice money. Good diesel mechanics are pulling down some serious money, have good job security (because the engines are right here, and they need to be repaired right here, so they can get going right now) and it certainly isn’t boring: engine techs have to have quite a bit of training now, and it takes brains as well as attention to detail to make it as a diesel tech.

You oughta see what diesel techs make at some of these gold mines around here. And well equipped shops? Farmers dream of having a shop 1/10th as nice.