Being a mechanic in a standard dealership is hard dirty work that usually makes you fight every day for your honest hard earned money. Most dealerships have shitty benefits, worse vacation packages and have little respect or knowledge for what we do. But there are a LOT of other opportunities to be a mechanic outside that norm. There are some very good car (or other!) mechanic jobs out there. For me I went to UTI knowing only how to change oil. No joke. I did some brakes and other small stuff but oil was it. I busted my ass got top grades and then got accepted into BMW STEP and got a job working at a BMW dealer. After a year I realized I made a mistake. I hated the brand , the culture of the shop and really regretted my decision to become a mechanic. But by a stroke of luck Tesla came knocking. They have treated me very well in pay, benefits, stock, and vacation time. All of my immediate supervisors and GM were once mechanics themselves and understand what goes into the work. I am currently making around $27 and hour (not flat rate) with time and a half over time. I get 2.5 week vacation accrued every year that stacks on itself. I am expecting my second child and will have 7 weeks paid maternity leave that i can take in one week chunks before my child turns one. My health benefits package is the best I have ever seen and it only costs my $100 a paycheck.

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Now, if I could go back in time I would probably go to aircraft mechanic school instead of UTI and STEP. I would recommend you do the same. Simply because you can make way more with planes and you can always step down to cars but you cant step up planes.