Exploring Mechanic Jobs

In an early article, I asked rhetorically, “why not a trade?”.  Contrary to societal pressure, college is not for everyone.  Don’t believe me?  Look at it this way:  college is best-suited for those who learn by books and lecture, i.e., people who are scholars or scholarly-inclined.  Most people prefer not to learn that way.  Many of us tend to learn by doing.  Moveover, many people prefer working with their hands as opposed to sitting in a classroom for much of that day.  For those that prefer the latter, that’s fine, too.  Different strokes for different folks, after all.

To get to the point, the job of mechanic is certainly a viable one for those of us on the autism spectrum, especially for those of us who are A) visual thinkers, and B) they prefer working with their hands.  Visual thinkers on the autism spectrum can potentially be real assets to a garage, since they have the potential to visualize the entire engine and related systems, and thus understand the workings of a car inside and out – to say nothing of all of its individual components and how they fit together.

Yes, you’ll likely have to go to some sort of trade school (ATI, for example), but you’ll spend less time and far less money than you would at a four-year college, and you’ll likely get lots of hands-on learning/training in the process.

However, you might be better off trying join a garage with will allow for you to learn on the job.  With increased experience along with whatever formal classroom training would be necessary, you should be on the fastest track to success.

Important note:  if you choose auto (or diesel) mechanic for a career, be sure to go the ASE route.  By that, we mean get certified from the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence.  More importantly, it is in your best interest to go the extra mile and get Master certified.

Here are the requirements for Master certification.  All of these are doable if you put your mind to it and have the discipline to see it through.

Getting ASE certified will definitely make you command a higher hourly pay than those who are not certified, usually by 20-30 percent more.  That said, your hourly rate depends heavily on where you live.  If you live in a small town and all you do is change oil and rotate tires, you will obviously be on the lower end of the pay scale.

If, however, you live in a major metropolitan area where there are lots of luxury / exotic cars, you stand to make lots more money.

To offer an example, I live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.  I see Maseratis all the time.  Heck, in the five years thus far that I have lived here, I have seen several Lamborghinis in person while driving around.  Just the other day, I saw a red Lambo convertible drive down the opposite lane from me.  No joke.

Major metro areas with strong economies mean there are lots of folks who have luxury cars and many of those need lots more maintenance than, say, a Toyota or a Honda.

Therefore, just as doctors who specialize in a certain area of medicine tend to make more money than those in general practice, as a mechanic, you’ll make lots more money if you specialize in, say, Mercedes, BMW, Masarati, Porsche, Jaguar or even Cadillac.  All of these makes are money pits to varying degrees, meaning that mechanics who specialize in such makes stand to command hourly rates on the high end of the scale (to say nothing of enjoying steady work).

In some cases, working on high-end makes requires some degree of factory training (this alone might merit a subsequent article in the future – something further to explore).

http://morrisgroup.ca/luxury-specialist-what-it-takes-to-become-a-luxury-brand-technician/

It will likely require, in part, the reputation for doing solid, meticulous work – something we autists excel at anyhow – in addition to building a track record for lack of fear of working on strange or more complex vehicles.  Another example:  the auto trade school UTI offers extra classes for certain brands.

Whatever it takes, do it, so you can specialize in high-end makes, and prove to the world (and, more importantly, to yourself) that those of us on the autism spectrum are skillful, knowledgeable, and strong assets who can make good livings doing productive work.

Such necessary ambition, focus, and determination shall be among the greatest help in assuring that we can all and learn and grow together.