Are mechanic jobs a struggle to find as well now?

[Reena1991]

Hi, we posted on this site quite a while ago about mechanic jobs and the responses seemed quite positive that there shouldn't be a problem in getting a mechanic job when we arrive-12 years at ford , senior tech and now at land rover. A lot of the posts I have read recently seemed to be emphasising on how hard it might be for newly arrived migrants to gain casual let alone permanent jobs And I just wanted to see if things have changed since I last posted and if this struggle to find jobs would also include mechanic jobs now? Has the Holden closure had an affect on garages and therefore their need to hire new staff? We are under the impression that wages for mechanics are pitifully low,which is something we are a bit worried about (diesel mechanics seem to get a bit more but not sure if I could be hired if I only have lightweight and van qualifications) but the one thing we hadn't really been worrying about was actually gaining employment as a mechanic but having read quite a lot of posts about jobs and lack of them we are just a bit worried about if this would also apply to mechanic jobs?

TIA to anyone who can advise

[Steve_H]

I dont think you will have a problem finding work as a mechanic as long as your expectations are not too high. Dont expect to go straight in at mastertech level, sacrifice your first year to gain experience with the models you are not used to and the way things are done here.

I dont think the closure of Holden will effect the repair insdustry unless all those workers go applying for the mechanic jobs!

I think it will be near impossible to get work in the heavy goods garages without the relevent experience, but thats where the good money is.

I worked in a modern well equiped independent for 12 months to get the experience then got a fantastic job as a vehicle inspector with the RAA.

During my first year I went to two other interviews at main dealers, 1 toyota and one ford, got offered both but the salary was less than I was on so I stayed put.

Bring all your tools,

Good luck

Steve

[DougM]

You've obviously done some research as I was going to quote diesel qualifications. That and Hybrid knowledge will most certainly help in today's market.

[Steve_H]

I agree Doug, but my first job included looking after 60 prius taxis with no prior hybrid experience. I downloaded the workshop manual and self tought myself as no one else there knew much about them either. I cant believe you dont need a licence to work on cars (even hybrids) here. I think its the main reason mechanics are low pay.

[Guest Guest14361]

Just drove past a place advertising for a mechanic on their perimeter fence

[Reena1991]

I dont think you will have a problem finding work as a mechanic as long as your expectations are not too high. Dont expect to go straight in at mastertech level, sacrifice your first year to gain experience with the models you are not used to and the way things are done here.

I dont think the closure of Holden will effect the repair insdustry unless all those workers go applying for the mechanic jobs!

I think it will be near impossible to get work in the heavy goods garages without the relevent experience, but thats where the good money is.

I worked in a modern well equiped independent for 12 months to get the experience then got a fantastic job as a vehicle inspector with the RAA.

During my first year I went to two other interviews at main dealers, 1 toyota and one ford, got offered both but the salary was less than I was on so I stayed put.

Bring all your tools,

Good luck

Steve

That's good new that there seems to still be jobs there. Getting work with heavy goods is a bit of a vicious circle I suppose, can't get work with diesel/heavy goods without experience, can't get experience because you can't get a job without experience!! I might look into seeing if there's any courses I could do to get get qualifications/experience with hGv just to boost my cv and earning potential.

will def be bringing my tools, need to save for that container though!!

[Reena1991]

You've obviously done some research as I was going to quote diesel qualifications. That and Hybrid knowledge will most certainly help in today's market.

Thanks for the reply DougDoug

[Reena1991]

Just drove past a place advertising for a mechanic on their perimeter fence

Thanks, good to know there are vacancies:smile:

[Guest Guest14361]

Seek.com.au in Adelaide region tonight

 

http://www.seek.com.au/jobs/in-adelaide/#dateRange=999&workType=0&industry=&occupation=&graduateSearch=false&salaryFrom=0&salaryTo=999999&salaryType=annual&advertiserID=&advertiserGroup=&keywords=Mechanic&page=1&displaySuburb=&seoSuburb=&isAreaUnspecified=false&location=1007&area=&nation=&sortMode=KeywordRelevance&searchFrom=quick&searchType=

[Reena1991]

thanks for the link, have had a good look as it's been a while since I've checked the job sites and there are some mechanic jobs so hopefully won't be jobless for long, seems to be way more diesel jobs, the occasional one specifies that you can be a lightweight vehicle mechanic, would be great to get into that aspect of mechanics!

[Guest LynzandStef]

There are definitely shortages of mechanics. Most garages with a vacancy have given up advertising due to the cost. It's not unusual for them to just accept that they won't find anyone decent and struggle on. They love proactive people who get in touch with them directly to ask. The big dealerships don't struggle as much as the smaller places do. The ones close to the city don't struggle quite as much. By close, I mean within fifteen minutes drive. If you're proactive about calling round when you get here you will be fine. Don't bother with Seek for mechanics. Career one is better as it has the ads from the classifieds in the newspaper. They're not all there though because, like I said, they'll advertise once then just give up. They get a lot of apprentice applications, people who are out of the industry 5 years plus and from countries other than the uk. Certain countries qualifications are not as well respected and those people usually need to pick up casual work to get local experience first. You'll be fine, just don't wait on the jobs to come to you in your living room.

[Reena1991]

There are definitely shortages of mechanics. Most garages with a vacancy have given up advertising due to the cost. It's not unusual for them to just accept that they won't find anyone decent and struggle on. They love proactive people who get in touch with them directly to ask. The big dealerships don't struggle as much as the smaller places do. The ones close to the city don't struggle quite as much. By close, I mean within fifteen minutes drive. If you're proactive about calling round when you get here you will be fine. Don't bother with Seek for mechanics. Career one is better as it has the ads from the classifieds in the newspaper. They're not all there though because, like I said, they'll advertise once then just give up. They get a lot of apprentice applications, people who are out of the industry 5 years plus and from countries other than the uk. Certain countries qualifications are not as well respected and those people usually need to pick up casual work to get local experience first. You'll be fine, just don't wait on the jobs to come to you in your living room.

 

Brilliant, thanks for the advice about the job sites. The plan is to get some cvs and contacts out to garages nearer the time and then just blitz as many garages as poss in and around where we hope to settle, will also visit garages in other areas too as we are not overly adamant about specific areas yet, beach would obviously be nice but work has to be the priority. Thanks again for the reply :-)

[steffij]

I've been in SA for nearly 3 years now. I was a truck mechanic in the uk for around 20 years working for a farm feed co running bulk tippers , when I got here I did my truck licence a week after I landed and that cost $1900 which is a lot of cash but I feel that it was well worth it as lots of jobs require one especially in the mines. I applied for a load of jobs in the first couple of weeks but didn't hear back of any of them so printed a pile of cv's of and went around the dealers the first one I went to (volvo) offered me a start but then once I started the phone started ringing with offers of interviews for the ones I applied for earlier , they don't move very quickly here. After 3 months I left to work for a earthmoving company who were frankly a bunch of muppets ! But I did get some experience on diggers & such like . For the last 2 years I have been working liebherr as a field service tech which is a good job , but I've just handed in my notice to try a fly in fly out job I've been offered . Wish me luck . I think if you are confident at an interview then you will get offered most jobs but luck plays a part .hope it works out for you

[Reena1991]

I've been in SA for nearly 3 years now. I was a truck mechanic in the uk for around 20 years working for a farm feed co running bulk tippers , when I got here I did my truck licence a week after I landed and that cost $1900 which is a lot of cash but I feel that it was well worth it as lots of jobs require one especially in the mines. I applied for a load of jobs in the first couple of weeks but didn't hear back of any of them so printed a pile of cv's of and went around the dealers the first one I went to (volvo) offered me a start but then once I started the phone started ringing with offers of interviews for the ones I applied for earlier , they don't move very quickly here. After 3 months I left to work for a earthmoving company who were frankly a bunch of muppets ! But I did get some experience on diggers & such like . For the last 2 years I have been working liebherr as a field service tech which is a good job , but I've just handed in my notice to try a fly in fly out job I've been offered . Wish me luck . I think if you are confident at an interview then you will get offered most jobs but luck plays a part .hope it works out for you

 

Can you advise on what company you did your truck license with? That was another option- to get truck license and hopefully might open doors to mining jobs. Not sure what options there would be for light vehicle and van mechanic in mines- an old mechanic friend of mine moved to WA a few years ago and he managed to get a mechanic mining job despite only having lightweight vehicle and van qualification and experience but he said that some of the diesel jobs in the mines can be open to regular mechanics, not sure how much that applies to mines or jobs in SA, might just be luck as I read recently on another thread. I'm going to physically go into garages with cv so,hopefully I won't be out of work too long and now I know they move nice and slow, I won't be too stressed if people don't get back to me straight away!

[steffij]

Can you advise on what company you did your truck license with? That was another option- to get truck license and hopefully might open doors to mining jobs. Not sure what options there would be for light vehicle and van mechanic in mines- an old mechanic friend of mine moved to WA a few years ago and he managed to get a mechanic mining job despite only having lightweight vehicle and van qualification and experience but he said that some of the diesel jobs in the mines can be open to regular mechanics, not sure how much that applies to mines or jobs in SA, might just be luck as I read recently on another thread. I'm going to physically go into garages with cv so,hopefully I won't be out of work too long and now I know they move nice and slow, I won't be too stressed if people don't get back to me straight away!

G & L Truck training in Wingfeild they were pretty good to be fair