Don't let this happen to you , make sure the person selling/building your parts has experience !
I want to share some thoughts about the job market in the automotive
industry today. This is a story of what happened to me this week .
It concerns me very much not only from a Technicians view but also from a
human safety view as well . Cars and trucks are deadly weapons and when
I work on a car before and after a repair I think to myself is this car
safe to return to a customer ?
When you bring in your car/truck for service do you consider how much
experience the Technician has and do you feel comfortable about it . How
much experience do you think a person should have before you trust them
to work on your car ? I would say I would want a technician to have
at least 5 years behind them to do just an oil change on my car . (That
would never happen because I do my own repairs) .
Or do you care more of what's going on in the waiting room , such as how
big the TV set is or how great the coffee is . I know for a fact this
is what's going on because I still get emails from General Motors
regarding customer feedback from the last dealership I worked for. A
customer actually gave them a 5 star review on their choice of coffee.
2020 -2021 has been a tough year for me , as I left dealership life
during Covid . If working flat-rate there is no money to be made . In
March 2020 my hours went down to 13 hours a week ! Yikes !
People are
not spending money at the dealer to repair their cars , if it's not
covered under warranty they don't want to do it .
Let me tell you about my background . I'm 46 years old and have 30 years
experience in the automotive industry . When I was in high school I
worked in a machine shop disassembling engines , I learned how to
machine fly-wheels , cut valves and seats and machine blocks . I was 17
years old , what kid at 17 wants to work in a place like this today?
This was back in 1992. Looking back , I should of got into computers .
At the same time I was going to Bergen Tech, in Teterboro ,NJ for a
class called Auto Specialties . I learned everything about engines and
drive-line components . I even learned how to paint cars.
In 1993 I hit the ground running and got jobs at private shops to later
dealers in 2002 . I decided I would stick with dealer life and that
lasted until 2020. As jobs change you learn everything you can , so I
learned the office end and how a shop was ran from behind the counter ,
also during this time the pay has gone up along the way as well . With
time comes experience and trust . Two things that work together .
When I was 17, I went to lots of job interviews and the big thing was
experience and without it they were afraid to take a chance . But when I
finally found a shop that took me in and trusted me that's when things
started to change and people were coming to me begging me to go work for
them . That's when I knew that I had reputation and a following , I
knew was doing something right .
I opened my own side garage doing High-Performance work in the 90's ,
building engines and doing chassis work , I also went to customers homes
and worked on their cars in their driveway or garage . Later on health
issues caused me to stop the side work but I still worked full time at a
dealer . There is so much to tell but I will try to keep it short , by
now it's March 2020 and I have 30 years experience fixing things on cars
and running a business .
Now as time went on (Dec 20) I started this webpage about Drag Racing cars
because at this point I was unemployed due to Covid, so far things are
going well but I'm still trying to make a living at it .
In the fall of
2020 I took 5 online classes on project management and got certified.
I thought this could help me get a management roll. Last week a
recruiter reached out to me on Linkedin and told me that they had a job
opportunity that I might be interested in and my work experience fits
the job very well. I asked for more info about the job and I felt very
confident I could perform said job with ease and I knew the company very
well and would love to work for them . I would have to move from New
Jersey to their location as it is in B*****g G**** , *Y.
I said sure but I would need some help relocating because it was a very
far move for me . They were looking for a project manager that also has
an extensive background in the automotive aftermarket and repair. I
said I could do the job, and I would not say that unless I could ,
remember I have a solid reputation but they don't know that yet .
Remember that machine shop that took a chance on a 17 year old? , well
this is what I was expecting to happen here . This recruiter made it
clear to me that everyone who has applied as project manger has NO
EXPERIENCE IN THE AUTOMOTIVE WORLD ! I redid my resume and sent it out
asap.
I was thinking of finally being able to buy a house and finally
having a stress free life with my wife . Two days later I got a response
from the recruiter and this is what the email said , not a phone call ,
God for bid a phone call, : " Thank you for sending your resume. I
wanted you to know that while you have an impressive background , they
have decided to move forward with other candidates who are better
matched for this role . Although your performance experience is exactly
what they want it is also just as important to them to have candidates
with product management experience as well "
So I guess the people who have no automotive experience get the job !
Needless to say I was devastated because I have the skills
for this job and I'm fully qualified , so my question is why didn't I
get the job? Do I have too much experience and the other employees
might be intimidated or are they afraid that I might want too much money
and the company doesn't want to invest in great workers , the number I
wanted was way less then what it should have been and I thought because I
was looking for some help with relocating it was reasonable .
The problem today is that company's are either hiring very experienced workers at a
lower pay rates just give a person a job so they look good on paper or
Newbies at $20.00 an hour just to fill a seat.
The end consumer needs a reality check ,This company is well over 100
years old and if you heard the name you would know it even if you
weren't a car Nerd . I'm not going to mention it out of respect because I
consider my self a professional but here is a hint H****Y.
This has been eating at me since yesterday , all industries are doing
this , as I have been reading a lot of posts from different backgrounds .
Company's have to stop treating people like numbers and treat them like
people . I hope this company sees this because this how I feel at this
moment . And I would still like to work for you in any capacity , but
please don't snowball me and tell me bluntly I'm over qualified , no one
is too qualified .
(I never wrote articles before , now I have my own webpage & I'm a Freelance Writer for Power Automedia !)
This job was to help bring to market a new segment of aftermarket
performance brakes, this brings us back to experience , would you trust a
dentist to change your oil or a kid working at Burger King to replace
your brake pads and rotors ?
I didn't think so !
Yes there are entry level jobs in big company's for people with
little to no experience , but there are people with experience who need
jobs , When you hire me you get my 30 years of experience and knowledge ,
you might not like what I have to say at times but when I work on
something, I work on it 100 % until the job is complete and the customer
gets what they want , and if I can't do something I say so, and I put
the customer in touch with the person that can.
Bring back MADE IN AMERICA , AMERICA IS STRONG BECAUSE OF IT'S WORKERS .
(I just bought a CD player for my office , on the back it says made in
China , guess what , the CD player doesn't play and the volume knob is
inop. ) I thought Sylvania was a good company ..It still is but the kid
getting payed $3 per hour used it for soccer practice.
Remember you get what you pay for , and if you pay $15 bucks an hour
to some kid right out of college for this project , and these products
make it to market you can be sure I will never buy them .
That's my story , Thank You for listening !
Comments
Post a Comment