Keith Browning Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Anyone go looking for a job lately or just looking to see what is out there? I am shocked at how few listings I can find in print and on-line. Once upon a time the classifieds was a full section of 8 to 10 pages on average in the Sunday papers. Last week there was about 1/3 of one page! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselD Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Depends on the type of job, seems there are always a job for a diesel guy at a dealer. I have had a couple offers to switch but each one was lower in pay and the facility was not as nice. I am on the lookout to get away from a dealer all together. I am honestly getting a little tired of the drama and bs we have to go through as a tech to get paid for a repair that we bust our ass to do right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshbuys Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 I'm trying to get on locally here with Union Pacific, got a buddy trying to get me in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted June 29, 2011 Author Share Posted June 29, 2011 Depends on the type of job, seems there are always a job for a diesel guy at a dealer. I have had a couple offers to switch but each one was lower in pay and the facility was not as nice. I am on the lookout to get away from a dealer all together. I am honestly getting a little tired of the drama and bs we have to go through as a tech to get paid for a repair that we bust our ass to do right. First of all, I love your shop. The floor shines! As for there always being work for diesel techs you are most likely correct. My FSE explained to me in a recent conversation that I could go ANYWHERE and get a job. The number one question he is asked is "do you know any diesel techs looking for work?" or "where can I find a diesel tech. The lack of advertising for techs at leas here in NJ is largely due to the fact that dealers put out ads and get no responses or only get guys with no training or certification... guys that cant fix shit, unmotivated and so on. Some have given up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Clayton Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Quote: Some have given up. When I started at the dealer I am at now in 2003, we were running 15 techs in a 15 bay shop. We are now at 9 techs and they have just given up hope and accepted that. 2 or 3 are actively looking to get out now (myself included). Shop could fold at any moment with that outlook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Saunoras Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 A few of you may have read my job hunt saga. 2 out of 3 shops I went hunting at were in desperate need of certified techs (both offered me more than I was making, the diesel job offered me a 60% pay increase). The manager of the diesel job I turned down called me 3 times that night to try to get me to reconsider. The next day the GM sent me a hand written letter thanking me for my time and feeling sorry that I declined. I was the only diesel cert guy that applied for the position They're starting to lose work because of it. Actually this week we've have 4-5 trucks on the schedule because the competing store can't take work in. The plain simple truth is, dealerships suck and flat rate sucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fordracer Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 We have a problem with people passing drug and back ground checks. One guy had 6 pages come back on his back ground check with a sex offense against a minor, forged checks and so on. Our service manager called a budy of his that runs a Goodyear tire store and asked him what he does to find help and he has the same problem. He said the last ad he ran he got 25 people that he had take a drug test and none of them passed. He just hired the one with the least offensive drug in his system, pot. My brother in law is a maintence tech at the Frito Lay plant in town and they had 250 people apply for a position in the plant and only 25 passed the drug test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted June 29, 2011 Author Share Posted June 29, 2011 I was going to ask what the hell is going on out there in Kansas? Now, what pothead doesn't already have a relationship with Frito-Lay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mbl35 Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 I'm looking to get out of my place. We got a new shop manager worse than our last one. He is reckless to say the least. I wish i could tell the specifics but they made me sign a confidentiality statement after i was injured on the job. I hope somthing comes along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheezit Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 no qualified tech here either. its the same crew that goes from shop to shop to get a raise. We have one local store that outs adds on craigslist now looking for diesel techs. sad thing about that place its a really nice shop, the management blows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kellyf Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 Lost my job 2 weeks ago to another tech.Came in on Monday morning and with no prior warning or anything was terminated.I am 47 and have only lost one other job and was only 18 and deserved thst one.I do diesel and gas repair and have done so for Ford for the last 12 yrs.I have a low comeback rate and turn my share of hours.I guess this guy is just better.I have been everywhere in the area and was wanted by 2 dealerships,but they had no place to put me.No body else hiring.It is a sign of the times I believe.And yes,most not all dealers have downsized.Worked for one Dealership that had 50 bays and 45 techs back in 2000.Now they have 20 techs and a lube team that does all the gravy.The economy in Jacksonville Fl really sucks and adds to the grief.If you like where you work,and make decent money YOU better stay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselD Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 Lost my job 2 weeks ago to another tech.Came in on Monday morning and with no prior warning or anything was terminated.I am 47 and have only lost one other job and was only 18 and deserved thst one.I do diesel and gas repair and have done so for Ford for the last 12 yrs.I have a low comeback rate and turn my share of hours.I guess this guy is just better.I have been everywhere in the area and was wanted by 2 dealerships,but they had no place to put me.No body else hiring.It is a sign of the times I believe.And yes,most not all dealers have downsized.Worked for one Dealership that had 50 bays and 45 techs back in 2000.Now they have 20 techs and a lube team that does all the gravy.The economy in Jacksonville Fl really sucks and adds to the grief.If you like where you work,and make decent money YOU better stay. I have been victim of a situation just like this in the past too, What it ended up coming down to was the other tech that came in was buddys with one of the service managers so they booted me to get a place for him. At the time I had been with the company for 6.5years and they supported my ASSET training early on too. They fact that I did my job well and effeciently did not matter. Thats ok though as in the end it worked out 10times for me(read several dollars an hour more)then sticking with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Bruene Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 As a habitual job changer, I've never found it difficult to find somebody interested in my services... I think the talent pool up in my neck of the woods is not as deep as it is in the U S of A... But, one thing that I will never do is take somebody's job. The last thing I want to do is put somebody out of work because I got tired of the scenery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Saunoras Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Now that I threatened to quit and subsequently got a huge raise there could be someone that comes along offering to work for less. Anything is possible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Western Canada is still in a labour crunch. I've heard of Edmonton dealers offering $20K signing bonuses to diesel techs and promising them as high a $150K a year. November will mark 9 years at my store. T'would be loverly to get half again my current pay but the devil I do know ain't as scarey as the devil I don't. Besides, I'm not sure I could find another shop that fits me as good as this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbriggs Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Quote: Besides, I'm not sure I could find another shop that fits me as good as this one. Thats partly what its about, If you like where you work and the guys you work with, why move? A few dollars or better benefits may not be worth the stress of not liking your work environment. I saw an ad for dealers north of you Jim offering $67.75/ hr flat rate. Looked good until I looked at the realestate pages for there. 500k for a 3 br mobile home, 700k or better for a 5-7 year old 3br home. The grass suddenly was no greener. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 That sounds like Fort MacMurray, Chris... it's always been way expensive up there. Back in the 70s when the tar sands were just starting up there were workers living in cardboard housing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbriggs Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 Fort mac it is. I know a guy that moved up there with a construction company, told me its not a bad place to live. I've never been past edmonton myself. I guess thats (read as the realestate cost) why lots of patch workers buy 40'travel trailers and live in them hey? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 Oil patch consultants usually have the big trailers - their per diem would pay for a damned nice hotel room or the best of the best camp accommodations but they wind up with a tax shelter holiday trailer. Even rig pigs like my son can do well... He bought a 08 6.4 with a little over 200K kilometers for about $16G... ol' Dad helped him with some minor repairs and servicing all the diffs and such... all in the comfort of our store. He's not a full time driller yet but he has his BOP cert. and he spends a lot of time as relief driller until a rig comes free.... when he works as driller, the rig pays for the fuel for his truck... all the fuel for his truck. Plus he gets a per kilometer... something like 90 cents... On top of that, he just bought a 24 foot holiday trailer. He gets a hundred and some odd dollars a day to NOT stay in camp. Add that he bought the trailer just in time to have a place to live when we were evacuated from town. Talk about being in the wrong business. In the absence of ads, it doesn't hurt to freshen up your resume.... spruce it up some... remember, that three years you were the manager in charge of the deep frier at Mickey Dees doesn't rate real high but a minor diagnostic epiphany is a God-send.... You can be everything you want to be.... waiting for it to happen isn't as good as making it happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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