apprenticeship for autobody/painting

[s3xrapt0r]

hey i want to get apprenticeship for autobody/painting i just got my ged and i am ready to start a career doing that. just wondering if anyone knows of any shops int he south jersey area that have some sort of program like this.... none of the county colleges offer a course on it so i am guessing its all about finding a place to take you in ???

[evomike]

There is tons of technical schools for this, sadly I doubt you'll find any shop to take you in. The industry is so hurt right now and with soo many unemployed body men and painters I think this will be hard to come by. Just go to school for it there are plenty out there.

[s3xrapt0r]

Originally Posted by evomike

There is tons of technical schools for this, sadly I doubt you'll find any shop to take you in. The industry is so hurt right now and with soo many unemployed body men and painters I think this will be hard to come by. Just go to school for it there are plenty out there.

only tech school is pennco tech ..... there horrible lol and uti said id have to go to cali to learn .... neither me or my family can afford to keep me out there so thats a no go lol unless theres more tech schools in the sj area i dont know about.. if i cant find an autobody tehc school i gotta go to school for the toyota program at the county college :\ id rather do body work or soemthing that has to do with modding cars...... not fixing camrays and solaras all day lmao

[evomike]

There is a thing called student loans, its the only way you'll learn really. Its hard to find a shop to take you in its sorda a big hassle and workers get annoyed and will not teach you correctly cause then you can take their job for a lesser rate. Its a back stabbing shady buisness find something else.

[s3xrapt0r]

Originally Posted by evomike

There is a thing called student loans, its the only way you'll learn really. Its hard to find a shop to take you in its sorda a big hassle and workers get annoyed and will not teach you correctly cause then you can take their job for a lesser rate. Its a back stabbing shady buisness find something else.

true mabey the auto buissness isnt for me then, unless im the one running the place :\ loans dont pay for room and board tough :\ at least not that i was told. mabey ill jsut go to school for pc repair like i wanted to do before i started messing with cars lol

[evomike]

You can get room and board in the student loans

[OMGz Turbo]

Theres a few of us on these boards that went to pennco tech, its not all that bad the body program is actually decent i knew alot of kids in it.

[evomike]

Tech school is basically this you get what you put in to it, if you jerk off your gonna get jerk off results and the opposite

[s3xrapt0r]

Originally Posted by OMGz Turbo

Theres a few of us on these boards that went to pennco tech, its not all that bad the body program is actually decent i knew alot of kids in it.

really??? i heard alot of bad things about their schools. a family friend is a mechanic and he said if i went to pennco tech no shops would hire me because pennco isnt qualified to give out legit cerfications i dont know if it was mainly for the mech programs or not.

[DC2.2GSR]

Originally Posted by evomike

There is tons of technical schools for this, sadly I doubt you'll find any shop to take you in. The industry is so hurt right now and with soo many unemployed body men and painters I think this will be hard to come by. Just go to school for it there are plenty out there.

this is very true. i have been looking for work in the industry for almost a year. i'm spraying some things on the side right now because there simply aren't jobs available.

Originally Posted by evomike

*snip*

Its a back stabbing shady buisness find something else.

very true. i would not recommend getting into paint/body work at all because of the cutthroat nature of the industry.


as far as getting a job is concerned (if you're dead set on getting into the industry), i got some advice from a long time painter/SATA rep that my dad knows. he said...

forget tech school, forget training, find some shops in your area. walk into the first shop like you were going in for an interview... preferably right away on some monday morning. don't overdress, but look and act professional. shake some hands and introduce yourself. ask for a few minutes of time to talk about a possible future job with the company. ask them first if they have any entry level (read: prep/bitch work) positions available. if yes, then you might be in. if no, not right now... then ask them what would be expected of you if you were to be hired for the job. ask what schooling or certifications or skills they'd want you to have. **write them down.** ask what tech schools they recommend. just get a feel for what they want from someone who works for them. after you leave, go to another shop and do the same thing.

they may tell you to go get some education and certs and come back when you have them to talk about a job. OR, they might tell you 'sorry, nothing's available'. either way, you now know more about what some real industry shops are expecting. there's no use going to school for a few years only to get finished and walk into the first shop proudly waving your diploma expecting a job only to find that the shop would rather you skipped certain things and gotten others.

personally, i walked into the first shop i worked at and asked for a job sweeping floors if necessary under one condition... i get to look over shoulders and learn the trade. i was hired on the spot. i had no previous experience and did not go to tech school. within 6 mo i got two raises and was already cutting parts in for the head painter. about a year later i asked the owner why he hired me with no experience and he said (just about word for word): "i hired you because you came in here and presented yourself like a professional. you wanted to learn, and not to mention, you weren't already f**ked up from going to a tech school and i could teach you the right way, my way, so that you can better help my business. i didn't have to spend hours/days/weeks trying to un-teach the the improper and unnecessary things that tech school idiots teach. i could teach you once the first time and you'll learn without arguing 'well that's not the way i was taught.' "

the way i went about it might not be the only way to get your foot in the door of the auto body industry, but it worked for me. go talk to some shops, just go listen to what they have to say.

[s3xrapt0r]

awesome man good advice i guess ill go take a ride to macco down the street and a few shops around the area

[DC2.2GSR]

Originally Posted by s3xrapt0r

awesome man good advice i guess ill go take a ride to macco down the street and a few shops around the area

good to hear. just one thing, make Maaco your last stop. working for them won't necessarily be a bad thing, but if you can learn in a 'real' shop first, it'll be much easier to move on to Maaco if the situation calls for it rather than learning at Maaco and moving up to that 'real' shop later. a shop owner that you may talk with down the road a bit that sees Maaco as the first and only shop experience reference will need a lot more convincing before he hires you. Maaco is very well known in the industry as being the epitome of a "production" shop. get 'em in, dip 'em, and get 'em out. there are some situations in a 'real' shop that warrant that kind of mindset. you may be asked to do that once in a while no matter what shop you end up at. but... a shop owner will want to know that you're capable of real quality work instead of just rush rush rush. having a 'real' shop on your resume will make him a little more comfortable hiring you than if you were to have Maaco as the first and only.

let us know how it works out!

[s3xrapt0r]

Originally Posted by DC2.2GSR

good to hear. just one thing, make Maaco your last stop. working for them won't necessarily be a bad thing, but if you can learn in a 'real' shop first, it'll be much easier to move on to Maaco if the situation calls for it rather than learning at Maaco and moving up to that 'real' shop later. a shop owner that you may talk with down the road a bit that sees Maaco as the first and only shop experience reference will need a lot more convincing before he hires you. Maaco is very well known in the industry as being the epitome of a "production" shop. get 'em in, dip 'em, and get 'em out. there are some situations in a 'real' shop that warrant that kind of mindset. you may be asked to do that once in a while no matter what shop you end up at. but... a shop owner will want to know that you're capable of real quality work instead of just rush rush rush. having a 'real' shop on your resume will make him a little more comfortable hiring you than if you were to have Maaco as the first and only.

let us know how it works out!

true haha yea if i went there i guess id have to make a portfolio or something if i ever wanted to move into a real shop from macco to prove my work is good ? my friend got his car paitned at macco .... i could have done a better job with an aerosol can ..

[evomike]

Your best bet is to avoid maaco it looks bad on your resume, get a job in a body shop detailing and work up from that position

[s3xrapt0r]

Originally Posted by evomike

Your best bet is to avoid maaco it looks bad on your resume, get a job in a body shop detailing and work up from that position

i just found a tech school in my area offers courses on it so i guess ill think about taking them. thats a good idea :P ihave to ask about that posistion also when i do my walk ins