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Old 02-03-2017, 01:47 PM   #15
circuithero
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Materials Engineer working in regulatory paper pushing role here.


A lot of good info has been said here already, so I'll just add some quips:


There is a difference between a passion and a job. If your passion becomes your job, you may grow to hate your passion. Try finding a mechanic who likes working on cars in his off time, or a cook who loves to cook at home. It's certainly possible, but I find they are often the exception to the rule. Got into cooking because you loved to cook, but after cooking all day the last thing you want to do is cook.


My girlfriend is very artistic like yourself, the OP. As such she got into graphic design and has been doing it for 10 years. She left about a year ago to pursue dental hygiene because the cut throat, low pay industry was brutal and made her drop all her own projects and grow to dislike doing it for "fun".


I like cars...a lot. But I also found out that I like racing./driving cars a lot more than wrenching on cars. It took 2/3 part time jobs and a constantly breaking turbo Miata that always needed "one more part". I never ended up getting seat time in that car over 1.5 years. What it took was a stock Civic Si, in which I learned all my race craft and got the opportunities to compete, instruct and drive a bunch of amazing cars. It also took that experience to realize that engineering was the right choice, and racing cars for a living is a pipe dream. I enjoy driving a car way too much to have it ruined by seasonal contracts, sponsor chasing and pay to drive scenarios. It's nearly impossible to make a living racing a car these days, truly an affluent sport.


Is my job exciting? Absolutely not. Is it stressful? Nope. And it pays enough to allow me to enjoy my hobbies/passions and keep them as a passion, not an obligation. You can certainly find jobs that you "love" where you will "never work a day in your life". To me that is something like Singer Design. But that takes the right circumstances, luck, education and risk taking. For every Singer Design there are hundreds of failed projects.


Based on your description my mind instantly went to custom vinyl/graphic design and wraps. Whether you can make that work or are willing to make it work is a different thing all-together.


However, one thing to keep in mind is your outlook on things and self awareness. Don't compare yourself to others and don't go chasing money. You can literally find joy in almost any task, however medial. It comes down to what Mihály Csíkszentmihályi "flow".


"In positive psychology, flow, also known as the zone, is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does."


To this point, I have had some amazing (low pay) jobs in the service industry. When I was a barista or bartender in a busy place, I would just get into the zone and power through an 8 hour shift with speed, efficiency and constant banter with coworkers and customers. You can have a cook who is miserable with his life and a cook with the exact same circumstances who loves his life. A great documentary on this topic is "Happy" on Netflix right now.


I agree with most of what has been said here and I have been there. But as a counterpoint: maybe you need to do some self reflection. Maybe you need to go back to your job and hit it with a new vigor. Forget the people, the entitlement, the poor attitude and care. Focus on the craft and doing the best damn job you can. Maybe you forgot why you love it. Maybe with a renewed focus you can save on the side and start a side business that will turn into a full business. Whether detailing or wrapping, on your own terms.


All the best,
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Old 02-03-2017, 02:45 PM   #16
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you can always become a porn star and have sex in cars
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Old 02-03-2017, 02:47 PM   #17
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Kind of glad I stumbled upon this as I'd been having similar thoughts...I actually just left a job doing marketing (mostly data entry and phone calls) for an auto finance group. I absolutely hated it so I thought I'd like doing more design work since that was my high school dream. Unfortunately college didn't go great for me and I graduated with a glorified general studies degree...anyways I'm a management analyst and I was looking to find a way to get closer to my dream again. Seeing this thread though maybe there are better ways for me to get what I'm looking for out of work and not just this 9-5 I do now.
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Old 02-04-2017, 05:58 AM   #18
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whatever you choose, make sure you proofread your resume.

Typos can kill your chances, especially on a word like "brakes"
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Old 02-04-2017, 09:19 AM   #19
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Talking to people in the industry is a great idea. I left a banking job to get my MBA in hopes of moving into the auto industry in marketing. After speaking to a few people in the industry (including @Tcoat) I found that what I wanted to do would require moving my family to Detroit or elsewhere in the States, which I didn't want to do. Take a good look at where the jobs are, and decide if you and your family can get on board!

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Old 02-04-2017, 11:32 AM   #20
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Originally Posted by daiheadjai View Post
Talking to people in the industry is a great idea. I left a banking job to get my MBA in hopes of moving into the auto industry in marketing. After speaking to a few people in the industry (including @Tcoat) I found that what I wanted to do would require moving my family to Detroit or elsewhere in the States, which I didn't want to do. Take a good look at where the jobs are, and decide if you and your family can get on board!

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Dai brings up some vey good points.

Not sure if the same service is available in the US but here the Government provides counselling services on career or job options. They will do aptitude tests and recommend jobs and the training or experience you need to get them. It was very easy too help Dai since we were able to sit down face to face, drink some coffee and talk about very specific things. There has been some great advice given here but there has also been some sort of iffy stuff since we can't really ask all the questions that need to be asked and therefore make some sweeping assumptions. If you can sit down with somebody that can actually give you real life info you are way ahead of just being told try this, this or that as is happening here. There is certainly some value to this sort of info but it needs to be tempered by the fact that in most of the cases advice is being given by people that just may not really know what they are talking about. We have no clue if that guys saying "Just start your own business" is somebody that has run their own for years or is a 16 year old that has never worked a day in their life and has no clue just what it takes.

Now the other side of the coin is that places such as this are a great place to make contacts. I have to hire engineers and techs on a regular basis and although some are only contract jobs many become permanent. Now, I am certainly not going to forward resumes from every random person on the forum but can point them in the right direction or would even consider some for my own sites if they qualify for open positions.

As Dai said you frequently have to be willing to move to get into many of the professional positions in the automotive field. The large companies naturally tend to keep their resources in or around the large cities (for us it is Detroit and Chicago in the US). Below is a tiny fraction of the positions open where I work. These are just the jobs listed for Design and Development in two locations in the US. In this category alone there are another 60 similar positions ranging from Europe to Japan and China. There are 20 other career classifications with just about as many positions posted for each.
BUT you would probably have to move to get them since the odds of you just happening to be in the vicinity are pretty low. Most of the list shown are mid to high level positions that pay well but there are a couple of entry/intern level ones available. The entry level ones are a great way to break into the industry but you would need to be prepared to move to the Detroit area and get paid like crap until you can climb the ladder. You do not start at the top!

Now of course I am talking jobs well beyond the detailing or local repair level here and none of this applies if you don't have the education or experience to even be considered. So referring back the Dai's post people looking to get into the industry should really sit down with somebody that knows what is required and map out a plan.

Now we see how many try to click the links in my pic
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Old 02-04-2017, 02:00 PM   #21
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you can always become a porn star and have sex in cars
Or if you REALLY like cars....with them but the pay probably is not that great:
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Old 02-07-2017, 02:57 PM   #22
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These are all great replies and good advice.
I spent 10 years at Kinsler Fuel Injection doing technical sales, in 06' I launched the Honda ITB program there.
Left there to join Motovicity where I was the brand manager for HKS, Kelford, Quaife, and Tokico for 5 years.

It took a lot of focus, dedication, and hard work to get there.
[One day I asked the UPS guy if he knew anyone that was hiring]

For as technical as the performance industry can be, there are very few jobs that require prerequisites, experience, or education.
For the most part, it's a revolving door.
And that, in itself, is the performance industry's greatest Pro and Con.

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Old 02-08-2017, 03:06 PM   #23
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Garage
Thank you all so much for the time and effort you all took to respond to my post.

The industry is massive and as time goes on there's far too many positions and certifications. I just get lost in it all and have the hardest time finding a place for myself.

I believe my skills and talents will prove to be incredibly helpful in my search. But I am also tired of being under someone all the time. I'd rather be my own boss and promote myself, my skills and talents and truly add something positive and amazing to this world and be compensated properly for it. I understand it won't be easy or even reliable but that's life isn't it, chaotic, unreliable and bound by circumstance.

Once I find something I enjoy, I become driven and nothing get's in my way. I just have to find my confidence and motivation. As time goes on the world grows ever so complicated, but I believe this is the perfect time to do this.

Thank you all so much once again, you're all amazing. <3
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Old 02-08-2017, 03:31 PM   #24
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I understand how you feel buddy. I always had passions for cars and did automotive engineering from univ. But after I graduated, automotive industries were recovering from recession and no one was hiring. I ended up moving to Alberta to work for oil and gas company and I hated it everyday. I ended up quitting just after 6 months and coming back to Ontario for try my luck. Luckily I got 2 month contract to work for motorsport company and I jumped on it as design engineer. 2 months turned into nearly 3yrs and I got to work on lots of cool project revolving around V8 powerplant. I just recently switched jobs to another automotive company as product designer.

But let me tell you, automotive industry is very cut throat and if you want to be your own boss, you need to have some serious skills. As many people have said before, go to school and get a certification or something in field that you want to go in. I personally can suggest CAD designing as you can get into R&D fields and thats were all the excitement is. Companies are always hiring for people who are good with CAD.
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