280zx 2by2 Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 well senior year and I'm finally starting to weigh my options... what im thinking is join the airforce, use the system and pay for college, join a local shop/ dealership and go from there... now the details airforce... id like to join and be working in the hanger, do i have any choice in what i do or is it all dependent on my asvab scores? then there's all the other issues of how long should i stay in, retirement, deployment, relocation ect. college... i dont know what field i want to go into, auto body or mechanics, i love autobody but mechanics seems to always be there no mater how bad the economy gets... schools would be Wyotech, UTI, NADC after all the fun stuff... this is kind of iffy, cant really look 10 years into the future and tell how things are going to be and it depends on what field i decide to go into other option would be go to my local tech school for free, see if i can get into the local shops, dealerships and go from there but for some reason that route seems like it leaves me with no options all of this seems like ill be neglecting my love for z's for a while but id rather be able to have the funds and ability to fully restore a car later in my life than to just be barely surviving and having a half assed car, house, and life. Poverty and the fact that every nice 240z i see i become envious of seems to be a great motivator to go the first route... my questions are what advise do you have, what have you done similar to this, or if you can fill in any of the blanks give it a try Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkumaNoZeta Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 I went to WyoTech, in Blairsville Pennsylvania. The Automotive core is 6 months long with an elective that's done after the core that takes 3 months. You can add more electives if you wish. The teachers are great, you're there for about 9 hours a day including a 50 minute lunch period. I went in not even knowing what the difference between an I4 and V8 was, I didn't even know what a fuse was really. So I went from knowing nothing to knowing a lot in a short amount of time and I liked that, but it left me wanting to know more after graduation. The Automotive core only deals with OBD-II and the teacher may be willing to give an introduction to carburetors if you're willing to come in early or stay late. You get to take about suspension, brakes, transmissions, re-ends and stuff like that. The core is just finding out whats wrong and fixing it, giving you an understanding of how stuff works. Then the High Performance class was great, you get to play on the dyno, actually build engines (didn't get to do that in the auto core), play with carbs, distributors, tuning ECUs, and now they're working on getting an engine dyno. Its already there and stuff, just not up and running yet. The High Performance class is great if you have you're own project car that you want to work on, when I was there they didn't have the parts needed to work on the school's cars but from what I've heard that's been fixed now. The teacher there named Nate is the coolest teacher I've met, he's a younger import guy. It's been said he works for the guy that has the world's fastest DSM car, but I don't believe rumors until I have proof. The Chassis Fabrication class was my absolute favorite. You actually get to learn why some suspensions work better than others, you go over the geometry of the mounting points. And its great for learning how to weld. They have cars you can actually work on there. The teacher Dan Bracken is the best welder I have ever seen and is great at teaching it. There's also a Ray and Doug that teach for the class and they are full of knowledge on suspensions and chassis. They have great stories from their races too, like getting IRS systems banned in Super Modified circle track racing. I hated the Applied Service Management class, just because it was boring and since we had constant access to the internet during class I would play games instead of listening to the lectures so I had to work hard to pass the class. I hated it, but it's my fault that I hated it. Others may enjoy it if they can control the internet urge. I'm currently in the Street Rod and Custom Fabrication class. Its an awesome class for learning how to restore vehicles and make custom sheet metal pieces. Its both custom fabrication and custom painting so the people that take it only for the custom painting part get really pissed because you have to do all the fabricating stuff before you can paint but I love it because I personally don't care about paints and just want to fabricate. If you're the kind of person that can't take responsibility for your own screw ups and blame it on others (for example, the teachers) then it's probably not for you. The guys that are like that are what I really can't stand because they hate, and blame my favorite teachers for the things that they need to blame themselves for. I believe the prices for the classes are a little high for the short time your their and because of that how much more info you crave after the class is over. Another thing about the students that I can't stand is that about 90% of them only care about getting out of class so they can go out and party, I've never been a party person and never liked hanging around party animals. Oh, and don't even think about being with any of the girls here, they're all disease carrying liars. Another problem with the school is that the people that run it (such as the president of the company and whatever) have no idea what they're doing so that aspect sucks. But the classes are good, the teachers are great. The bad points are the students suck, the area sucks, the management sucks, the dorms suck, most of the tools aren't at their best because of previous students ruining them, and the classes aren't long enough to give you all the information you want to know which is why I buy so many books now. Also, from what I hear all the reps are liars too so its best to actually talk to people who took the classes. I still want to join the Air Force after I graduate from the Street Rod class because places seem to be more willing to hire you if you have military experience. Not to mention I would love to get the know how and experience of mechanical work by working on the planes. Getting information on the most up-to-date technologies out there. I'm not sure if the Air Force pays for college like the Army does, I know that they don't do the bonuses. If they do I would go to college for mechanical engineering or at least get a GI Bill for it if they don't fund for college. I've heard nothing but good things from people in the Air Force. It's just from what the recruiter in Fayetteville, Arkansas told me is that I have to lose 100 lbs before I can join because I'm a fat-@**. I'm sure I can do it, after I finish this school and actually have the time to work towards that goal. Right now my focus is just on school because to me anything below a 90% is failing, 91-95% is ok, and 95-100% is my goal for my grades (in actuality anything below a 70% is failing). Good luck with your ventures and I hope I helped a little Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkumaNoZeta Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 Oh, and the students are known notoriously for street racing so you will be constantly watched by the cops. I'd recommend no reckless driving at all there, I don't take my car past 1500 RPMs when I drive. And all the bad stuff the local high schoolers do is blamed on the WyoTech students too so until you can prove yourself otherwise to the locals, you would just be another unworthy jerk from WyoTech...to put it lightly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAG58 Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 If you wanna to into the AF, join AFROTC. It's my 3rd year of college and the friends I have in it really like it. Your 4 years is paid for, you have more choice of what you want to do, you're usually like by enlisted more than academy guys, you could probably get an engineering degree and run the hangars and when you get out you'll have no debt, you'll probably actually be in good shape, with tons of experience and you could basically do what you wanted with your life, be an engineer or even start your own shop... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkumaNoZeta Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 When I took the ASVAB I got like a 74 and was acceptable for every category on the list. When I was told I got a 74 I was depressed because I thought it was a super low score, but I got like the highest score out of the group of people I was with that took it. Was that actually a good score or something? I'm pretty sure the guy said like a 40-something was the average. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogriz91 Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 The new post 9-11 GI Bill is a great deal, I'm giving mine to my kids and still can't believe the gov't is going to pay for kids of veterans to go to school. If you do join, make sure you know what you're getting yourself in to. You might also get the chance to be stationed in Japan which is a great opportunity for folks who like Japanese cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
280zx 2by2 Posted August 17, 2009 Author Share Posted August 17, 2009 I went to WyoTech, in Blairsville Pennsylvania. The Automotive core is 6 months long with an elective that's done after the core that takes 3 months. You can add more electives if you wish. The teachers are great, you're there for about 9 hours a day including a 50 minute lunch period. I went in not even knowing what the difference between an I4 and V8 was, I didn't even know what a fuse was really. So I went from knowing nothing to knowing a lot in a short amount of time and I liked that, but it left me wanting to know more after graduation. The Automotive core only deals with OBD-II and the teacher may be willing to give an introduction to carburetors if you're willing to come in early or stay late. You get to take about suspension, brakes, transmissions, re-ends and stuff like that. The core is just finding out whats wrong and fixing it, giving you an understanding of how stuff works. Then the High Performance class was great, you get to play on the dyno, actually build engines (didn't get to do that in the auto core), play with carbs, distributors, tuning ECUs, and now they're working on getting an engine dyno. Its already there and stuff, just not up and running yet. The High Performance class is great if you have you're own project car that you want to work on, when I was there they didn't have the parts needed to work on the school's cars but from what I've heard that's been fixed now. The teacher there named Nate is the coolest teacher I've met, he's a younger import guy. It's been said he works for the guy that has the world's fastest DSM car, but I don't believe rumors until I have proof. The Chassis Fabrication class was my absolute favorite. You actually get to learn why some suspensions work better than others, you go over the geometry of the mounting points. And its great for learning how to weld. They have cars you can actually work on there. The teacher Dan Bracken is the best welder I have ever seen and is great at teaching it. There's also a Ray and Doug that teach for the class and they are full of knowledge on suspensions and chassis. They have great stories from their races too, like getting IRS systems banned in Super Modified circle track racing. I hated the Applied Service Management class, just because it was boring and since we had constant access to the internet during class I would play games instead of listening to the lectures so I had to work hard to pass the class. I hated it, but it's my fault that I hated it. Others may enjoy it if they can control the internet urge. I'm currently in the Street Rod and Custom Fabrication class. Its an awesome class for learning how to restore vehicles and make custom sheet metal pieces. Its both custom fabrication and custom painting so the people that take it only for the custom painting part get really pissed because you have to do all the fabricating stuff before you can paint but I love it because I personally don't care about paints and just want to fabricate. If you're the kind of person that can't take responsibility for your own screw ups and blame it on others (for example, the teachers) then it's probably not for you. The guys that are like that are what I really can't stand because they hate, and blame my favorite teachers for the things that they need to blame themselves for. I believe the prices for the classes are a little high for the short time your their and because of that how much more info you crave after the class is over. Another thing about the students that I can't stand is that about 90% of them only care about getting out of class so they can go out and party, I've never been a party person and never liked hanging around party animals. Oh, and don't even think about being with any of the girls here, they're all disease carrying liars. Another problem with the school is that the people that run it (such as the president of the company and whatever) have no idea what they're doing so that aspect sucks. But the classes are good, the teachers are great. The bad points are the students suck, the area sucks, the management sucks, the dorms suck, most of the tools aren't at their best because of previous students ruining them, and the classes aren't long enough to give you all the information you want to know which is why I buy so many books now. Also, from what I hear all the reps are liars too so its best to actually talk to people who took the classes. I still want to join the Air Force after I graduate from the Street Rod class because places seem to be more willing to hire you if you have military experience. Not to mention I would love to get the know how and experience of mechanical work by working on the planes. Getting information on the most up-to-date technologies out there. I'm not sure if the Air Force pays for college like the Army does, I know that they don't do the bonuses. If they do I would go to college for mechanical engineering or at least get a GI Bill for it if they don't fund for college. I've heard nothing but good things from people in the Air Force. It's just from what the recruiter in Fayetteville, Arkansas told me is that I have to lose 100 lbs before I can join because I'm a fat-@**. I'm sure I can do it, after I finish this school and actually have the time to work towards that goal. Right now my focus is just on school because to me anything below a 90% is failing, 91-95% is ok, and 95-100% is my goal for my grades (in actuality anything below a 70% is failing). Good luck with your ventures and I hope I helped a little it seems in my opinion wyotech grads are more respected then UTI grads.. i dont know why, just seems that way what were your total tuition costs? 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280zx 2by2 Posted August 17, 2009 Author Share Posted August 17, 2009 If you do join, make sure you know what you're getting yourself in to. You might also get the chance to be stationed in Japan which is a great opportunity for folks who like Japanese cars. lol the dream, come back with a RB swapped 240zg and cash in hand i actually wouldn't mind being shipped off (even to the worst places) i just don't like relocation's like it seems the airforce requires every 2 years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkumaNoZeta Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 It was almost $30,000 for the Auto core with High Performance elective...maybe $28,000 or so. But every elective after that cost somewhere around $8,400 so times that by 3, add the original $28,000 and it comes out to "I'm screwed" lol. Of course I am going with the full amount possible for rent and living checks from the school, which is $729/month. I use that to pay my rent, food, gas, and the books I buy so often. It has taught me how to live cheaply for sure. I still have to get money from my mom for whenever I go back home during vacations. Driving a 5.0 Mustang isn't the cheapest for between PA and AR. If you're able to find a job and a cheaper place to live you shouldn't need the rent and living checks and have a lower rate for your student loans. Some of the students here were previous UTI students and they said WyoTech was a LOT better. I think another issue of other students being dissatisfied is that a lot of them come from big cities where their high schools are as big as universities so going from a school that used that much money for equipment to one of a limited budget like WyoTech is a big difference in environment. I came from a small town in Arkansas where the most up to date piece of equipment we had in our metal shop was a $300 MIG (just one) welder that the teachers were forced to protect from the students because it was so up-to-date for them. Then I got up here where there's over 20 different MIGs and TIGs in the Chassis Fabrication and Street Rod shops for everybody to use without needing to ask first, in fact the students are responsible for the care and maintenance of them. So I loved it up here, but the still young and immature (Im no better though) students do drive me crazy. Oh, by the way. Nate from High Performance night class has a white R32 Skyline GTR that's pretty cool, along with a RHD imported Supra. I don't know where he gets all the money...maybe he does work for the fastest DSM racer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasper Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Congratulations on having the forethought/inteligence/awareness, to ask the right question,at the right time. This is only MY OPINION, take nothing as Gospel. If you have above average inteligence, (and it seems like you do),Do not even consider trade/mechanics school. Use you mind, not your hands to make a living. Your upward mobility can be endless when using your head. A pair of hands, even educated hands, are not worth much. I didn't always fix cars for a living, but I do today. There is no such thing as seniority/job security, etc in the auto world. When you get out of trade school, you'll be changing oil next to the guy with 30 years experience,(me)..... At about $10.00 an hour, same starting wage at Walmart, by the way. It gets worse.....Go to a shop and ask the older guys what they think...... Working for Uncle Sam has it's benefits. The down side is possible combat/loss of life. If I had a second chance, I would have completed my engineering degree..or better yet.....been a Lawyer. I was/am fully capable of doing both. I would suggest college, if your capable. If you choose the right school , get grants, loans,scholarships ,it will cost you less $$$$ money than for the tools to be a mechanic . There is a book printed every year. It outlines just about every job imaginable. I gives schooling requirements, expected salaries, responsibilities, projected growth of the market etc, etc, etc, GO BUY THIS BOOK. You can always learn to work on cars later in life, while your butler serves you cocktails, and the gardeners tend your Mansion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkumaNoZeta Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 He has a good point. The reason I went to WyoTech was because I listened to much to the lying reps and being a kid that got kicked out of high school I felt like I didn't have much of a future no matter what I did. After I came up to WyoTech I found out I got a high enough score on my GED test that I could have gone to the local community college for free and wish I did have. At least then I could have learned how to use CADD. By coming to WyoTech I was able to learn more about cars than anybody else I hang around knew, even the guy I was trying to learn from before going to WyoTech. My dad wasn't one to let me actually work on anything, he didn't even let me do oil changes. Anything that had to be done to the car, we HAD to take it to the shop. Now that I have my own car in my own name I can work on them whenever I please but I didn't get my own car until after I finished the Automotive core classes. I highly recommend you going to college instead of a trade school, especially if you have the kind of father that everybody else seems to have that pretty much tells you "Go out there and fix it yourself". My dad is pretty pissed at me often now because I do tend to have my car torn apart all over the garage one day while I'm checking the condition of all the various parts before the road trip to get back to school, and then a couple hours later I have it all back together so I start tearing apart the old transmission to see what exactly went wrong when I blew it hoping it was the countershaft bearings but turns out I actually blew all the teeth off of all the gears. So right now its sitting on the floor on the side of his garage wrapped completely around so none of the parts gets dirty. I have all the pictures of disassembly because I know I wouldn't remember how to put it back together. I think my dad's kinda shocked I went from barely even knowing how to open the hood to rebuilding transmissions in his garage in such a short amount of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psdenno Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 well senior year and I'm finally starting to weigh my options... what im thinking is join the airforce, use the system and pay for college... airforce... id like to join and be working in the hanger, do i have any choice in what i do........? college... i dont know what field i want to go into, auto body or mechanics, other option would be go to my local tech school for free, The Air Force offers some of the "safer" military career opportunities. However, always remember that the way you can tell when a recruiter is lying to you is that you can see his/her lips moving. They may promise an aircraft maintenance or motor pool job, but you will end up in a career field where they need a warm body - not necessarily what was promised. I speak from experience. I spent 20 years in an as an officer in an AF career field that I didn't know even existed when I signed on the line. The good part is that now I get a nice retirement check and a few other benefits. Don't get in over your head on school loans. Check schools to see about their job placement services and record for grads. Talk to someone who has gone through a similar program and get their insight. Most schools will connect you with someone near you so you can ask questions. Good luck on your career choice. Don't be afraid to change your mind and try something else if you find it's not as fun or rewarding as you hoped it would be. You're making a decision at a young age that will impact the next 45 years of your life. It's the same big scary world my son, also going into Senior year, is getting ready to tackle. Keep us posted on how it goes. Dennis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
280zx 2by2 Posted August 17, 2009 Author Share Posted August 17, 2009 Congratulations on having the forethought/inteligence/awareness, to ask the right question,at the right time. This is only MY OPINION, take nothing as Gospel. If you have above average inteligence, (and it seems like you do),Do not even consider trade/mechanics school. Use you mind, not your hands to make a living. Your upward mobility can be endless when using your head. A pair of hands, even educated hands, are not worth much. I didn't always fix cars for a living, but I do today. There is no such thing as seniority/job security, etc in the auto world. When you get out of trade school, you'll be changing oil next to the guy with 30 years experience,(me)..... At about $10.00 an hour, same starting wage at Walmart, by the way. It gets worse.....Go to a shop and ask the older guys what they think...... Working for Uncle Sam has it's benefits. The down side is possible combat/loss of life. If I had a second chance, I would have completed my engineering degree..or better yet.....been a Lawyer. I was/am fully capable of doing both. I would suggest college, if your capable. If you choose the right school , get grants, loans,scholarships ,it will cost you less $$$$ money than for the tools to be a mechanic . There is a book printed every year. It outlines just about every job imaginable. I gives schooling requirements, expected salaries, responsibilities, projected growth of the market etc, etc, etc, GO BUY THIS BOOK. You can always learn to work on cars later in life, while your butler serves you cocktails, and the gardeners tend your Mansion. I am in a gifted program, and all Pre AP classes, except for algebra III that i cant find myself passing (and it has ruined my GPA) but i cant think of a career outside of the automotive field that even so much as makes me want to go to college for... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasper Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 "I am in a gifted program, and all Pre AP classes, except for algebra III that i cant find myself passing (and it has ruined my GPA) but i cant think of a career outside of the automotive field that even so much as makes me want to go to college for... Go to the library, or go buy the JOBS book. You'll be very surprised at the choices you have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
83zxowner Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 i went to wyotech in laramie. i graduated highschool in 2006 and 3 months later i left for laramie, 9 months later and with $32,000 in student loans i graduated in march of 2007. After completing and graduating school i realized like many of my friends/ friends of friends that went to wyotech with me, that i really didnt want to make my hobby a job. i didnt want to work for eight to ten hours a day on whiney peoples cadillacs then come home to work on my stuff some more. After searching for a job for 3 months and being offered at the most $8 an hour to just change oil i said F*** that! i'm not going to slave away and live with my parents just to make my loan payments. I found a job working on appliances instead, i may not make a huge amount of money but 2 years after starting there i already own my own home at 21. the best thing about my job is i work inside year round. the electronics can be just as challanging and i dont have to be under a car in the heat or cold dripping snow or mud. What alot of the guys wont tell you is you only have a few weeks to quit. after that every day longer you stay they keep more of a percentage of your tuition that you WILL NOT get back, basically if you quit early you pay for it even without the knowledge you gather there. i may not be using what i learned for an occupation but its something i'll always have to go back to if i like. my point is make sure you really want to do it before you make your decision. i thaught i really wanted to work on cars to but after 9 months i realized it wasnt for me. you should consider working on hvac, they make great money and its always going to be needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelman Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 I spent 7 years in the AF as an enlisted guy, worked at a nuclear lab the whole time. I can say now looking back I think it was the dumbest decision I made to get out before completing my 20 years. My son and most of his friends all went into the AF and have had good experiences with it. Does it have it's down side? Sure, but so does every job you do, but where else will they pay you to be trained for a valuable job, pay you to do that job and send you all over the world to do it? No where! Plus if you get into the right career field you get to play with some very cool stuff you will find no where else. One of my son's friends works with the Predator drones, very cool if you ask me. As for the AFROTC paying for your school, not unless you qualify for a ROTC scholarship and those are very difficult to come by. They're a good deal if you can get one but don't count on it unless your grades are perfect. Psdenno related the classic story of you will be promised one thing and be given another with no say in the matter. This is exactly opposite of what I found when I was in and have heard from my son and all of his friends. Granted we were enlisted and officers are treated differently. Like some others have said I think you'd be stupid to spend $30,000 - $40,000 at a place like UTI or Wyotech. Use the military to get an engineering degree and then work in the auto industry as an engineer, you'll make 10 times more than a mechanic, still get to play with cars and don't have to get dirty doing it. Another way to look at it is consider cars your hobby and choose something else to earn a living, that way when you come home you won't be sick of cars. I speak from experience on this, my hobby was computers then I became a professional programmer, now the last thing I want to do when I get home is look at my computers, I'd rather be in the garage working on my car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
280zx 2by2 Posted August 18, 2009 Author Share Posted August 18, 2009 i went to wyotech in laramie. i graduated highschool in 2006 and 3 months later i left for laramie, 9 months later and with $32,000 in student loans i graduated in march of 2007. After completing and graduating school i realized like many of my friends/ friends of friends that went to wyotech with me, that i really didnt want to make my hobby a job. i didnt want to work for eight to ten hours a day on whiney peoples cadillacs then come home to work on my stuff some more. After searching for a job for 3 months and being offered at the most $8 an hour to just change oil i said F*** that! i'm not going to slave away and live with my parents just to make my loan payments. I found a job working on appliances instead, i may not make a huge amount of money but 2 years after starting there i already own my own home at 21. the best thing about my job is i work inside year round. the electronics can be just as challanging and i dont have to be under a car in the heat or cold dripping snow or mud. What alot of the guys wont tell you is you only have a few weeks to quit. after that every day longer you stay they keep more of a percentage of your tuition that you WILL NOT get back, basically if you quit early you pay for it even without the knowledge you gather there. i may not be using what i learned for an occupation but its something i'll always have to go back to if i like. my point is make sure you really want to do it before you make your decision. i thaught i really wanted to work on cars to but after 9 months i realized it wasnt for me. you should consider working on hvac, they make great money and its always going to be needed. thanks for this post (you too wheelman) haven't really thought about if I did work on cars all day would I really want to work on mine when i got home... and HVAC seems to be one of those things no one cares about but i always hear those people make good money (and my local tech school has a class and with the GA HOPE grant i could take the class for free) im really going to look into this, and i still wouldn't mind doing a couple years of service just to have the experience Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(goldfish) Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 "I am in a gifted program, and all Pre AP classes, except for algebra III that i cant find myself passing (and it has ruined my GPA) but i cant think of a career outside of the automotive field that even so much as makes me want to go to college for... Go to the library, or go buy the JOBS book. You'll be very surprised at the choices you have. Think like 240hoke. Got his ME and his job working on cool cars. I bet he makes good money. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=152330 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
83zxowner Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 thanks for this post (you too wheelman) haven't really thought about if I did work on cars all day would I really want to work on mine when i got home... and HVAC seems to be one of those things no one cares about but i always hear those people make good money (and my local tech school has a class and with the GA HOPE grant i could take the class for free) im really going to look into this, and i still wouldn't mind doing a couple years of service just to have the experience I guess it depends on where you live and all but here where i live a buddy of mine from work makes almost $20 an hour, which for my area is pretty damn good for basically bein right out of school and he's only been doing hvac work for about 3 years. I think he started at about $15 an hour. But like i said it depends on where you wanna work. In bigger city's your more then likely gunna make way more and if workin for someone isnt your thing you can always go out on your own. I guess all and all it seems to be pretty simple stuff to work on aslong as your good at diagnosing wiring and sealed system refrigerants. if not thats what schools for! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S30TRBO Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Here is my experience: I graduated high school, couldn’t afford college, wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life, living in small town at the time. So I started looking at all of the military branches and I chose the USAF. I am a 10 year veteran; I have traveled the world and met some life long friends and unforgettable experiences. I opted for the GI Bill figuring I would take some classes here and there but the best part is you have 10 years to use it after you separate or retire. If you take classes through the military bases usually many local community and state colleges have representatives on base you don’t have to pay nothing out of pocket. I would read up further because some things may have changed. http://www.gibill.com/ You can pick whatever career field you want to go into and get it in writing but it will come down to where the shortages of bodies are like psdenno mentioned. If you don’t mind flying for long hours, being away from family, friends, significant other for 3 months to 1 year, taking direction and follow orders then the military in general is for you. It will teach you respect, responsibility and give you a better “in†or stepping stone if you decide not to reenlist. For example, if you decide to go into government as a civil servant you can carry your military time over towards your retirement. I have thought about UTI or WYO Tech but with today’s economy, even college grads are running into not having a decent paying job, or a job in what they studied for after graduation. Some are getting lucky and “know someone†fortunately at least the USAF or any military branch will never have layoffs unless you do something stupid and get kicked out. My advice is to you my friend is meet with ALL the recruiters, hear what they have to say and most important DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING until you have thought long and hard about it and talked to family and friends. Once you have decided the recruiter will set you up an appointment to take the ASVAB. Study for the ASVAB, there are tons of prep books out there, your score will depend on what job you will have. Psdenno is right the USAF is the most relaxed service out of the rest of the branches, they are up to date with amenities and the latest technology and don’t let other recruiters tells you any different Chair Force yada yada we ALL play an important part of the puzzle in peace and war fighting time. All recruiters have a quota so they will tell you anything to have you sign, DO NOT FEEL PRESSURED, you will not ruin there day if you walk out with only a brochure. If you want to get hounded go ahead and give them your contact information, I would avoid that until the end and if a branch of service is not for you thank the recruiter and move on. It’s tough, take your time and come prepared with lots of questions. Remember there are no gas stations at 35,000 feet. Good luck, keep us posted and PM me offline if you need anything. I have friends in all branches that can talk to you if need be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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