Thinking about an internship

Bill1234

Bill1234

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Hi AG, this is a question that I would like input from others. There is a good, reputable reapair shop in my town and I dont know much about auto repair , but I do know alot about detailing, hence being on this forum. I am young, but I was thinking about asking if I could do a internship with more of a learning experience at the repair place . I dont know what it would bring such as learning, but I think I would be able to help out main body repair techs and maybe do things that they would need help with. I have an interest in auto care, but I only know a little about how engines work and what to do for dents, etc.

Should I go ahead and ask?
 
Being a mechanic for a living ain't the greatest. I worked as a flat rate tech for a Ford Dealer for 7 years, got an Associates Degree in auto repair, and got 5 or 6 ASEs.

IME its a lot of hard work that doesn't always pay. Where I was at, the big earners (not me) were running fake time on tickets and doing half their income in warranty fraud. You may find a good shop, but that place may not be there forever then its often hard to find another good place. I still remember Ford had "M Time", which was time paid in actual time to chase rattles and broken wires. Guys would run fake ""M Time" on warranty tickets while they were doing cash jobs.

Dunno. I found it a hard business to remain legit in if your thinking of making a career out of it. But YMMV.
 
They dont lie and they know what they are doing, I could ask,I would be asking for no pay just internship experience.
this is their website, they do alot of custom work and work on classics Welcome To Premiere Autosport
 
Arn't you like 16? Do you not have plans on going for a degree?

My first thought is that you should be playing baseball/swimming in rivers/enjoy your summer while you still have one. There will be time to learn a trade if you want to later. I would not sacrifice your summer for an unpaid internship at a place that will not help you get into college. Go do some work for habitat for humanity, volunteer at a hospital or retirement center. You will learn a lot more valuable lessons than you will changing spark plugs.
 
During a summer 16 year olds are not swimming in a river. I currently have a par time job , but its slow right now and it will not pick up till winter. I dont have much to do and I am not even thinking about a college degree right now
 
Get the college degree if you have the chance, don't kid yourself.
 
If you can do it And make some $$ will be better. On the other hand, you are still young, and from the other thread, I am guessing still at home. So instead of spending your summer getting into trouble, I dont think it would hurt to ask. You may pick up some detailing dollars out of it. Are you in or out of HS? I have to ask so I know where to go next with this. If Yes, then does your school have a auto shop class? Its a good place to start. Your young enough to invest in this and then decide. (you may be for all I know) But hey I say go ask, whats the worst thing they can say? Just "No thanks" or it may even be an insurance issue. But most the good shops have guys who wont mind a extra free hand Im sure.
I have to disagree with some of the others here, Colledge is not always the answer nore is it for everyone. By doing this you will find out the value of the dollar and how hard the work can be. Its honest work , and unfoturnately it hardly pays big bucks.
I will bore you for a moment:
When I was about 12 my buddy lived in a pretty afluent neighborhood. One day, as kids do we were all in the kitchen of my buddys neighbor. Her dad happened to be an optomitrist who among the two Mercedes, had a Porsch. (1983 so it was a big deal then). The girls grandma was asking all the kids what they "want to be when you grow up" the range of doctor to lawyer and ivey legue answers were coming out. On my turn I said Auto Mechanic. You would have thought I just brought king kong into the house. "WHY??" I just pointed to the garage and said "Who do you take that Porsch to when it wont run?" I was a kid and didnt know how the pay was but I made my piont. I still am not a great engine guy. I can rebuild a Sikorski H60 with the best of them, but I wont drop a engine without some one with me who knows what to really do."
Let us know how it goes and good luck.
 
Well, you seem like you have already made up your mind, so what is your question? A for-profit business has little incentive to take you on, as it will slow down their work, and you are a liability to their insurance. Can't hurt to ask though.
 
college is about 2 years off for me. I was just thinking this as a summer internship job nothing big
 
swanicyouth said:
IME its a lot of hard work that doesn't always pay. Where I was at, the big earners (not me) were running fake time on tickets
Click to expand...

Sheesh, did you work where I did? :p Those guys always seemed to have a buddy in the parts dept. that would write a bunch of floor stock (oil, Freon) on the ticket so they could get flagged for work they didn't do.
 
swanicyouth said:
Being a mechanic for a living ain't the greatest. I worked as a flat rate tech for a Ford Dealer for 7 years, got an Associates Degree in auto repair, and got 5 or 6 ASEs.

IME its a lot of hard work that doesn't always pay. Where I was at, the big earners (not me) were running fake time on tickets and doing half their income in warranty fraud. You may find a good shop, but that place may not be there forever then its often hard to find another good place. I still remember Ford had "M Time", which was time paid in actual time to chase rattles and broken wires. Guys would run fake ""M Time" on warranty tickbyets while they were doing cash jobs.

Dunno. I found it a hard business to remain legit in if your thinking of making a career out of it. But YMMV.
Click to expand...

I'm often accused of being too cynical and sometimes wonder if perhaps I am. Then I'll read something such as your post and realize it's even worse than I thought.
 
Bill1234 said:
college is about 2 years off for me. I was just thinking this as a summer internship job nothing big
Click to expand...

My point is, if your plan is to go to college, do an internship in something that will be useful to your application. You need to have things to put on your application/write about in your essays. Certainly if you need the money get whatever job you can that will pay for your expenses. But in your precious time off, I would be looking at relaxing with friends or doing some community service.

If you want to go to college, why do you need this internship? Conversely, if you ultimately want to work in a garage/body shop, dont waste the time and money on a degree. Plan for your anticipated future and be smart about it.
 
I have the free time and if I want the degree I earn it. What I am saying here its just a thought. If you guys say no, ill take it into consideration
 
Sheesh, you guys are a bunch of namby-pambys...Bill wants to learn about cars, and you guys are trying to talk him out of it just because it's not going to help him get a degree...what's wrong with him learning something about cars?

Bill, I think you should approach this differently, rather than an unpaid internship--why don't you ask for a minimum wage job helping out? And if you get turned down on that, then say, well, will you do it as an unpaid internship so I can learn?
 
They have a detailing part. I think its okay from what I have seen, however I could show them the way of an autogeek. I was just saying that its a not 100 percent given oppurtunity, but I do see that they might need help in the place and I could detail. Here is what they said.

I went to get the car repaired at the place
they looked at it and said the paint is well maintained and in excellent shape. They were happy to see my car was 10 years old too
 
Setec Astronomy said:
You know, I'll answer that. But first, you have to tell me who Dave Ramsey is.
Click to expand...
He's someone who would probably say this:
Setec Astronomy said:
Sheesh, you guys are a bunch of namby-pambys...Bill wants to learn about cars, and you guys are trying to talk him out of it just because it's not going to help him get a degree...what's wrong with him learning something about cars?

Bill, I think you should approach this differently, rather than an unpaid internship--why don't you ask for a minimum wage job helping out? And if you get turned down on that, then say, well, will you do it as an unpaid internship so I can learn?
Click to expand...
 
Go for it...like was said all they can say it no. If you go for a paid position they will have you washing cars, vacumming, sweeping floors, cleaning toilets, dumping trash cans . . . .

If you tell them up front you don't mind doing a few of those things but since you're not asking for pay you'd also like to spend some time helping with _________________________ (fill in the blank) you might get exactly what you want out of the experience. Just my 2 cents.
 
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