O/T Changing careers in your mid 30's/building cars

Far as why you quit,,maybe had you sad that originally............

and you don't have to lower it,,I have had that automated message a few time,,and just ignore it cause its off,,we only charge what it costs

and that new rating thins is BS,,you can have 100% feedback and still get screwed,,ebay has really just screwed things up

 

It ain't how much you make an hour, it's how much you make a year.
I don't know your age, but as a shop foreman(when I was one) starting pay was minimum. Nobody got much until they proved out, then they were advanced according to their ability to produce, with there being no limits on that. I suggest you might rethink that attitude.

If you were making $12 right now, that's $12 more than you are making unemployed. If you are working, making $12 and a better deal comes along, then that better deal is leverage to improve your status without changing jobs!

 

With your background, what about having your own business doing value appraisals, (even part time or temporarily for extra cash). Should be a lot lower stress as you don't have to answer to any bosses, insurance companies or bodyshops. Set up a booth at swap meets or other car gatherings to hand out cards and be able to write off the expenses related to the occasion. It would be related to your hobby, and you would learn about many of the specialty cars are in your area that you may not otherwise see. I know it sounds like a conflict of interest, but some of the local appraisal guys even buy the occasional car from people that initially contact them for an appraisal.

Just a thought.

(p.s. I know exactly what you're going through. 5 yrs ago I quit my job in management at a local dealership bodyshop after 9 yrs, with nothing to go to. We could'nt really afford it but I took two months off just to clear my head. To this day if I hear a phone that has the same sound as the one in that office, it sends shivers down my spine.)You're doing the right thing.

 

Working for a dealership bodyshop, you definately understand the nature of the beast! I have been off now for nearly a month, but my head is certainly not clear yet. Doing value appraisals is not a bad idea. I have done them in the past and would certainly not be difficult for me.

 

The difference is that I was thinking about quitting my job to go work there and it would have been a big step down. They needed to win me over to leave my job and they didn't do it. I also have a college degree and plenty of fabrication experience for that job, very different than a kid out of high school begging for a chance. Sorry if that sounds cocky, maybe I'm wrong but it makes sense to me.

 

My belief is that it is more about the freedom and time you get versus the pay you get.

I used to have a salaried job in IT, set my own schedule I just had to get X amount of work done in a given week. If I did it over the course of 3 days or 7 days my boss didn't care as long as it was done. When the economy took a downturn in the early 90's things got tight and people started leaving and they didn't hire replacements so we had to make up the slack. I looked for other work and found an hourly w/OT and mileage. Looked good on paper. I could put in 50 hours by Wed and still have to report on Thur and Fri. I lost freedom that was priceless. My annual salary went up by 10K but I started missing the kids games, school events, etc. Freedom and piece of mind far out weighs the salary unless your are talking big enough money that you can bank enough to buy your freedom back in a few years. Like in my case, if it was 100k increase it might have been worth it for 2 years if I banked the 200k. I still say might. Some things you can never buy and once you miss them, it's gone.

I currently set my own schedule, do what needs to get done when I want to do it and make 1/2 of what I was at a job. The two big differences are freedom and cash.

 

You and I know that. A lot of people just never believe they can make their own decisions and be free too. Freedom to me, even when I was punching that time clock, was knowing if they fucked with me I could clock out, roll my tool box out the door and never look back. No job is better than the next one. A person (chooses) to keep a job they don't like, and/or visa-versa

It took me about 30 years (about 10 years into my civillian career), to figure it out, but when I did, if I could live on the pay at any given time, when I got a raise, ALL of it went into savings. Got a lot of flack from the better half at the time, but now she thanks me.

I'm fruegel. In my opinion(yea we all got one!) the biggest mistake a lot of people make is just as soon as they start making a fairly good living, they blow the benefits on a bigger house and a new car. Then when times get tough they think it's news. Times get tough two or three times in EVERYBODY's lifetime.

 

Well, tried to get a job at a tire store today installing tires. Pays $12/hr and virtually no stress. I could make ends meet. Needless to say the owner does not want to hire me because I am "OVER QUALIFIED"!! WTF! How can someone be over qualified?? Told me that he didn't want to risk it because I would just jump ship when a higher paying job came along. I guess he didn't understand that I need a lower stress job and would be happy installing tires. No public to deal with, no customer service! Oh well, I will keep trying.

 

I'm 42 and went back to school to be a dentist when I was 30. Best thing I ever did. I was also in a dead end job and stressed about it all day, everyday. I always wondered what the hell am I gonna do. I learned to keep plugging along and if you keep trying things seem to come along and work out. I don't know how it happened but I got to a point where I realized no matter what happens to me and I mean NO MATTER WHAT, I'm gonna be alright. I think I'm rambling but that previous statement may seem kind of obvious and sometimes I can't explain how I got there, but it made me feel good.
With jobs I think it's good to kind of make a list, whether mental or written about things you like. With me I liked to work with my hands, help people, wanted to be my own boss, set my own hours, etc. My dad was a doctor and I knew I didn't want to do that. Now I'm no fancy pants dentist, but it works for me. I sucked it up and went back to school and everything's been good since. Besides I still get to play with drills and pliers at work...HA! My dad works on 30's and 40's Fords all his life and that's how I got into the car thing. I agree with some people in this thread that I would rather not turn a hobby into a job. At least that applies to me and maybe not everyone. There are stories good and bad that apply to both circumstances. I feel for you though because I've been there. Anyway, don't know if any of this helps but I hope so.

 

You have to look at it from his standpoint. Because you have made better $$$ and in a less labor intensive job, you are a flight risk. He know's that if you get fed up one day you are gone because $12 an hour is a getting by wage for you. If you take Joe down the road who has never earned more than $10 an hour, Joe's loyalty will be to the $12 an hour. If Joe is an average Joe, he'll move his buget up and spend the extra $2 an hour and now the MGR has Joe locked in. Joe's motive for staying is the fear of going back to a $10 an hour job so Joe becomes a kissass. If the MGR has ego issues then he'll also train Joe to stoke his ego. Not saying this is true of your tire store MGR, but most likely he runs his crew in a fear state so they are always on gaurd. I found that pretty common with the L/S tire stores. 4 years ago I tried to go into that field, interviewed several times but it was at a tire store with initials A/T. The store MGR wanted to hire me even know it was a big pay cut for me. The district MGR said no way and that I would be gone within a few months. It's their loss, you just can't take it personally and understand that you will most likely run into that more.

 

Yeah, I understand, it is just frustrating to not be able to get a job because of those reasons. All I know is that I don't ever want to go back to the insurance adjuster/body shop estimator/manager position again. Well supposed to be selling a car today, so that will keep us going for awhile. Don't want to sell, but we do what we have to to get by.