Nature of the beast. No experience, start at the bottom.

 

You got the diploma...now get your butt in gear and find that first job.

 

Keep looking, you will find something, but you have to be very aggressive. My suggestion is to beat the pavement with resume in hand. Go to independents, dealerships. If they say nothing is open, go back in a month, let them know your name and still available for a job.

Travel to nearby cities and states and do the same. Send it out by mail first and then personally pay them a visit. Meet the manager and them know you are interested in the job.

Do research on the dealership, find out who owns it, how long they have been in business and anything else on the company. It will show them that your doing your homework, potential employers like that aggressiveness.

But you will probably start at the bottom.

 

sounds like you are completely unrealistic, you graduated on Friday man, seriously it take a lot more than a week.... you have some sort of technical training and that's great but much like a degree it's only as good as the person who earned it and the life experience they have behind it. there's many folks with degrees working at starbucks and TGI Fridays...

this is similar to the IT industry, years ago there was a rush on people going to BS schools and getting microsoft certified or cisco certs and expecting 80K a year jobs... get real. i have an MCSE that i was real proud of it ten years ago, worked real hard to get it, then in the real world i met complete morons with an MCSE and dumped the thing in a trash can.

bottom line you have no real world experience so expect to push a broom and eat serious sh*t before doing what you love.

 

There aren't to many jobs where you start at the top and I don't blame a dealer one bit for starting slow to see what you are capable of. I'd rather see them do that than have them hand my bike to some new guy and tell him it needs a new crank without knowing if he's capable of handling it.

 

How did you do at MMI? With the market as saturated as it is the dealerships can pick and choose. When I graduated from there in 2007 they provided me with the list of dealerships that were hiring and sent out my resume and transcripts to the ones I told them to. Are they not doing this anymore.

 

i worked at bike shops for 13years(since i was 16)the first one paid $11 but went out of business after 10 years,at the second shop for 3 years, i made $9.50 when i decided it wasnt going anywhere.. and i was still pushing a broom and doing oil changes 75%of the time because the head tech above me had been at the shop 21years..he made flat rate,i have seen his checks..i brought more then him home, because the service manager grew up with my wife..i was sighned up to go to mmi in 96 rite out of highschool,it was $10k then..had a job set up at the local harley dealer (liberty HD)as soon as i got back,before i even left,the pay was only going to be $6.75..i was making more then that at the shop i was already at.so i dint go.. i was talking to the service manager there last week, he said that is still the starting rate..and the school over doubled in price now..good luck.. the best bet would be to open a shop out of your garage at home to get started till you get a good rep in town then open a little bigger shop..

 

You might want to check, in areas of the Country that are doing better, Economy wise. Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana are still doing reasonably well. Times are really tough out there. I worked 4 years at a dealership in OKC, did it all, from hanging chrome to sweeping floors.

When the oilfield picked back up, I liked working at the Harley Shop, but just couldn't turn down those Oilfield buck$. Looks like I made the right move.

Good Luck and don't give up! You have a job, of finding a job, ahead of you!

 

Some shops are closing, the economy is getting better but still slow, and winter is coming. Not the best time to be looking for a job at a motorcycle shop. Use the internet, be willing to relocate, and hang in there until spring. I wish you luck. We need good mechanics.

 

don`t get yourself down there are alot of attorneys working at mc donalds who spent a 100 grand with expectatins on500grand a yr income they cannot even pay there school loans the bike industry is like boats expendable income when economy sucks those business cut way back, like spa`s and you have to realise you will be changing oil for along time there are alot of mech out there looking at the same jobs you are