Career Change at 35 - HGV Technician Apprenticeship
Discussion
Hi, just wondering what my chances may be like at 35 getting an apprenticeship as a HGV Technician? Im being offered redundancy at my current office based job (worked here since I left college). My current role is very different to HGV Tech but it's something I would love to do always been fascinated by trucking and mechanics and I'm pretty decent with my hands. Is anyone here a HGV Tech who can offer any advice? I know Apprenticeships are open to all ages but I get the feeling they are heavily favoured for the school leavers rather than career changers. Have I got a chance or should I just give up already and focus on something else? I'm fine with taking a pay cut and Im fine with shift work which I know a lot of this is.
SiberianHills said:
Hi, just wondering what my chances may be like at 35 getting an apprenticeship as a HGV Technician? Im being offered redundancy at my current office based job (worked here since I left college). My current role is very different to HGV Tech but it's something I would love to do always been fascinated by trucking and mechanics and I'm pretty decent with my hands. Is anyone here a HGV Tech who can offer any advice? I know Apprenticeships are open to all ages but I get the feeling they are heavily favoured for the school leavers rather than career changers. Have I got a chance or should I just give up already and focus on something else? I'm fine with taking a pay cut and Im fine with shift work which I know a lot of this is.
Sounds like a great way to go and I wish you every success in finding a training role. 10 years ago I used to run a main dealer group and technicians were always in demand (still are) so a good move. It will involve night and weekend shifts as that's when trucks are less likely to be working.
I'd research all brands and see what they're offering, I'd go for one that feels most professional rather than brand specific as the technology is pretty common if the actual designs are different. You'll need to invest in your own tools but will have a job anywhere as long as you want it.
I'd research all brands and see what they're offering, I'd go for one that feels most professional rather than brand specific as the technology is pretty common if the actual designs are different. You'll need to invest in your own tools but will have a job anywhere as long as you want it.
As a mechanic of 15 years i'd strong advise you to do virtually any other trade.
There isn't a shortage of techs. There's a shortage of techs that are willing supply their own 5 digit plus tool kit, be a mechanic, an electrician, a plumber, HVAC expert, a hydraulics expert, an IT technician, etc and spend 40+ hours breathing in nasty fumes covered in cancerous filth doing a physically demanding job for ~£20 p/h at the top end.
There isn't a shortage of techs. There's a shortage of techs that are willing supply their own 5 digit plus tool kit, be a mechanic, an electrician, a plumber, HVAC expert, a hydraulics expert, an IT technician, etc and spend 40+ hours breathing in nasty fumes covered in cancerous filth doing a physically demanding job for ~£20 p/h at the top end.
Main dealer stuff is worth it, I've a few friends who work for Scania and love it. My wife used to be workshop controller for a ford main dealer and the amount of money that their master techs were making for doing basically sod all astounded me.
Independent firms are generally a s
t show, even the big ones that look like they know what they're doing.
You have to do shift work with hgvs, you won't have to do that with cars.
Edited to add.. If I was starting from scratch again I'd be an electrician, every friend I have who's in that area is loving life. Commercial stuff seems to be the way to go.
Independent firms are generally a s
t show, even the big ones that look like they know what they're doing.You have to do shift work with hgvs, you won't have to do that with cars.
Edited to add.. If I was starting from scratch again I'd be an electrician, every friend I have who's in that area is loving life. Commercial stuff seems to be the way to go.
Edited by s p a c e m a n on Wednesday 4th March 10:39
s p a c e m a n said:
Main dealer stuff is worth it, I've a few friends who work for Scania and love it. My wife used to be workshop controller for a ford main dealer and the amount of money that their master techs were making for doing basically sod all astounded me.
Independent firms are generally a st show, even the big ones that look like they know what they're doing.
You have to do shift work with hgvs, you won't have to do that with cars.
Edited to add.. If I was starting from scratch again I'd be an electrician, every friend I have who's in that area is loving life. Commercial stuff seems to be the way to go.
Typical workshop controller who knows f all.Independent firms are generally a s
t show, even the big ones that look like they know what they're doing.You have to do shift work with hgvs, you won't have to do that with cars.
Edited to add.. If I was starting from scratch again I'd be an electrician, every friend I have who's in that area is loving life. Commercial stuff seems to be the way to go.
Edited by s p a c e m a n on Wednesday 4th March 10:39
Master Technicians usually do the problem cars that no one else can fix or dont want to fix or arent smart enough to fix. As well as explaining these issues in layman terms to customers. Furthermore, they mentor apprentices and manage junior staff.
Money seems good from what I've seen advertised, but, most of the ones I've come across in my short 4 year HGV driving history have been terrible and that is main dealers/servicing hubs and independents! They are amazing bits of kit and just looking at the size of some of the mechanicals is eye opening, so can imagine it would be great fun to work on them!
161BMW said:
Master Technicians usually do the problem cars that no one else can fix or dont want to fix or arent smart enough to fix. As well as explaining these issues in layman terms to customers. Furthermore, they mentor apprentices and manage junior staff.
Without wishing to wade into an area I have no personal experience of, a good friend of mine who was a master tech' for 2 different manufacturers in his career would agree with you.As well as what you mentioned, he said it was also very difficult to earn bonus because he'd be left dealing with the nightmare jobs that couldn't be completed in the manufacturer's specified time.
He eventually left the trade and went to be a service engineer working on commercial/industrial laundry equipment.
Yeah her master techs just used to do diagnostics, figure out what was wrong with the car and then pass it on to someone else to fix. They picked whatever job they wanted to do and would spend days on one job. Not bad for 75k, unsurprisingly they weren't bothered about bonus, they just wanted to do as few hours as possible.
She ran 25 ramps, think she knew what she was doing
She ran 25 ramps, think she knew what she was doing
s p a c e m a n said:
Yeah her master techs just used to do diagnostics, figure out what was wrong with the car and then pass it on to someone else to fix. They picked whatever job they wanted to do and would spend days on one job. Not bad for 75k, unsurprisingly they weren't bothered about bonus, they just wanted to do as few hours as possible.
She ran 25 ramps, think she knew what she was doing
That must be around £100k with bonus and overtime then - Saturdays, etc.She ran 25 ramps, think she knew what she was doing
I didn't realise mechanics' pay had rocketed to that extent in the past few years.
PorkInsider said:
s p a c e m a n said:
Yeah her master techs just used to do diagnostics, figure out what was wrong with the car and then pass it on to someone else to fix. They picked whatever job they wanted to do and would spend days on one job. Not bad for 75k, unsurprisingly they weren't bothered about bonus, they just wanted to do as few hours as possible.
She ran 25 ramps, think she knew what she was doing
That must be around £100k with bonus and overtime then - Saturdays, etc.She ran 25 ramps, think she knew what she was doing
I didn't realise mechanics' pay had rocketed to that extent in the past few years.
Master Techs tend to have "low" efficiency scores in the workshop because they spend ages diagnosing troublesome cars which are hard to fix. They have to spend alot of spare time studying to qualify as well as mentor and manage the more staff they have below them.
Lower grade techs have higher efficiency figures (Service Techs, Techs, Senior Techs) because they get the more routine, bread and butter tasks, services, warranty work. Workshop controllers might not see how much is involved in each job. Then again, there is also asymmetry of knowledge and potentially less oversight on Master Techs as no one knows how long a job really takes unless there is an official book time. Even then official book times may not be a reliable guide. Technicians from what i know of are encouraged to beat the book time (i.e. be quicker than the book time) then customer gets charged the FULL book time. There is also the bonus scheme which rewards being quick and encourages technicians to take short cuts hence, you may find tasks are skipped when you go to a Main Dealer. Therefore, paying for a job and they have not even done it properly or at all.
s p a c e m a n said:
Yeah her master techs just used to do diagnostics, figure out what was wrong with the car and then pass it on to someone else to fix. They picked whatever job they wanted to do and would spend days on one job. Not bad for 75k, unsurprisingly they weren't bothered about bonus, they just wanted to do as few hours as possible.
She ran 25 ramps, think she knew what she was doing
I suppose it's that old saying, you get paid for what you know not what you do.She ran 25 ramps, think she knew what she was doing
s p a c e m a n said:
Yeah her master techs just used to do diagnostics, figure out what was wrong with the car and then pass it on to someone else to fix. They picked whatever job they wanted to do and would spend days on one job. Not bad for 75k, unsurprisingly they weren't bothered about bonus, they just wanted to do as few hours as possible.
She ran 25 ramps, think she knew what she was doing
I've never seen a workshop with 25 ramps. Has anyone else?She ran 25 ramps, think she knew what she was doing
I know quite a few HgV mechanics, none of them had an official apprenticeship, learned on the job.
Back when they were pretty basic machines, more heavy lifting than anything technical.
They have learned to use computers now though.
Different times, you cannot get a sniff at anything without the correct paperwork, but a couple of their kids managed the same way through reputation.
Back when they were pretty basic machines, more heavy lifting than anything technical.
They have learned to use computers now though.
Different times, you cannot get a sniff at anything without the correct paperwork, but a couple of their kids managed the same way through reputation.
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