So I'm 19 and currently on my third semester of college at St. Pete community college in FL. I'm extremely passionate about the automotive industry and i want to do everything and anything i can to be apart of it. The problem is that i don't know where to start. I'm currently attending college where i am now because i basically don't know what else to do or where else to go. What else is knew with college students right? I'm going for my associates degree, but i can tell my hearts not in the place i want it to be. Ive been into cars since i was a kid and im positive its what i want to do for my career. I have a step brother that went to Wyotech for hot rod autobody. He got a job in a good shop right after. But after talking with him he has told me that he doesnt think it would be a good idea to go there. Mainly because he didnt think the school was all that great, and because its left him with a dead end job he says.

From forced induction engine work to any other race applications, i want to do it all. Mostly high end performance kind of stuff. But i know to do what i want and go far with it in life i need a good education. Im not the smartest guy in the world so going to the University of Florida for engineering is out of the question. But i want to get the right education to not be stuck in a dead end job and hopefully one day be self employed and own my own garage and/or company.

So to the point. Bout time right? Could anyone help me out and point me in the right direction to where i want to go with the field that i want to do? I just want to know what schools are out there and where i could be recommended to go for what i want to do. Can anyone backup wyotech??? So i can stop trying to believe the videos they send me about how its such a great school. Answering these questions for me would be amazing and greatly appreciated.

 

Check out the local CC's for engineering programs. Does UF have local divisions? Also, internships. Go talk to different shops in your area and see if you can intern there to find out if it is what you want to do. If I were you, I would look into Managerial and Engineering classes that way you'll have auto and owner experience. Whatever you do, do it 100% or you'll regret it. I hope this helps.

 

well i want like hands on experience from a school. Theirs not really a lot of shops looking for internships anyways, and math is not at all my best friend so engineering wouldn't be my choice

 

Okay so even though I am not even near an expert on automotive, but as a college grad (whoo!), I do have some input.

I just graduated with my bachelors degree in accounting. Luckily, I was able to work full-time and still go to school full-time. So that give me a HUGE leg up on a lot of grads. So yeah, I'd say definitely get into a hands-on school if you can.

Next - my ex-boyfriend went for his associates in mechanics. He was dumb as a brick, and finished all but his last semester. He said that he loved mechanics, but shouldn't have tried to make it his career. He started to lose interest in it as a hobby. So just something to keep in mind. If it ever starts losing it's 'glimmer', just take a step back and think about it.

My instructors always told us that never get into a job (or position, rather) that you can't move up. Even if you aren't the smartest guy in the class, you can still be good at what you do, so stick it to the smarty pants.

Finally, a guy in my brother's high school graduating class used to race on the dirt track at home. He went to school in North Carolina for something in NASCAR or to be a pro racer or something. Maybe you could get on a pit crew?


Just some things to throw out there. Not sure if it'll help or not!

 

Whatever you do, do not go to UTI (which is what ^^^ are talking about with the NC school). I live near it, know people who have went and have talked to shops and garages who will never employ those people. Sorry.

 

Are you talking about wyotech?

 

maybe it was that, sorry, UTI is next to wyotech.

 

Yeah I'm with Khans, you love cars and stuff but if you work on cars for a living bro most likely you'll end up taking your car some place to get your oil changed within years. Like my pops says never mix business with pleasure, it will lead to no pleasure and all business..

But if your one of those guys that is all ate up and wake up in the mornings and eat a bowl of cerial while reading a random chiltons then I would say try to go to a local job fair, that is what they are for. I'll get more info on how to get about it. I'm active duty military and they have a class call TAPS. That is when your about to get out and they give you all this info on how to do applications and look for a job. A buddy of mine just went threw it and I'll ask him about it.

 

Awesome thanks! Well my step brother went to Wyotech an got a job right off the bat makin 20 something an hour at a shop. This sihts ruff lol

 

Okay I have another little bit of information, kind of going off what TokenAsianGuy said:

Job fair is an awesome idea. So yeah for sure check that out and see what people are looking for. You don't want to drop all that time and money into school (especially since automotive is a semi-specialized career path).


Buuuut something I found EXTREMELY helpful (and I'm assuming most colleges do this) - but I loved accounting in high school. So I went on a college visit to my now alma mater (AIB College of Business). I told them I was interested in accounting but didn't know if I actually wanted to be a CPA, so what were other possibilities (they had basically handed me a page with like, 50 different majors)?

So to help me, the guy giving the tour gave me something like a questionnaire. When I got done, he 'graded' it and pinpointed exactly what major I should go for. It wound up being finance, and I absolute LOVED my finance classes, but not my accounting classes as much. Now I'm looking for a job as an underwriter or credit manager so I can do the fun financing stuff, and not so much a bookkeeper or staff accountant.

So yeah, when you go on a college visit just ask about something like that, then you kinda know what you want to be looking for. If you're die hard about working on cars for a living, it'll reinforce that. If you're wanting something automotive-related but not necessarily wrenching, it'll tell you that too!