well guys some of you know im a mechanic for a construction material trucking company, and honestly its gettin old. i like working on the trucks but the company is changing, gettin more "tight" should i say, i am 22 years old, and i make $16.50/hr which in my opinion isnt enough. they used to pay health insurance, now they wont because things are tight(bull****!) so now i have to pay $70/wk just for health insurance which is alot for a single person...they wont give me anymore money, there no OT right now and its gettin old, so i talked to a guy that works for a company called D&W Diesel, which im not sure if anyone else has a company like that around them...and they are lookin for an outside sales person, to drive around selling the stuff companys need, starters injectors turbos injection pumps additives etc...i think im gonna do this, i have so much money in tools though im still paying for and need to sell some things, crap! i dont need the tool box i have if i take it home, so ill downgrade...but who knows. does anyone on here have experience with sales like this? if so let me know cuz im a mechanic, never have done this but i think i would be pretty good

 

Ok I have some advice. But first let me say that I am not trying to preach to ya. Listen to what I have to say then do with it what you will. I know when I was your age I hated old farts always telling me what I should do with my life.
Instead of telling you what you should do, I will tell you what I would do. If I were happy being a mechanic and enjoyed the work, I would stay with it. I would also be scraping every penny I could to go to classes and get every certification known to man relating to it. Now would I have done that back then? Probably not, I would be partying my *** off and driving a bad *** truck! But man if I could go back and do what my old man told me all my life, I would be retired right now driving a bad *** truck.
As for the outside sales job? I am not a salesman. I have tried it and I am just not the right guy for the job. When it comes to sale, you either have it or you dont, there is no in between and on top of that, even if you are good at it, there is no income stability unless it has a guarranteed base pay of some sort.
So if you kick *** one month then it sucks the next, you may think that you are doing pretty good half the time but at the end of the year when you see your gross income, you realise that it may average far less than an hourly job.

Now I will give YOU some advice. You only live once so do what you WANT to do but be wise about it and cover all your bases. If you really want to try it then do it. But I would do some deep thinking and make damn sure this is what I want first.
To me jobs aren't about money any more. I would gladly take a 20k pay cut for a job I love than to make more and be miserable. When I go to work every morning, it doesn't suck doing it. Oh and I lucked out and didn't take a 20k pay cut for this one

Good luck with whatever you decide. The choices you make today will shape your world tomorrow

 

which ever you choose, (to stay or go) do it with 100%!

good luck to ya!

 

i like to think that thoughts are oppertunitys... if you have done your research and think it would be a safe move for the future then try it out. but if i where you i wouldent burn any bridges with the company you are with now because the salemans job might not take off like you thought it would.

 

I agree 100% with everything Buzzy said, especially the part about how sales aren't for everyone. If your salary is based solely on commision, I'm afraid that you'll quickly find yourself turning into a liar just to put food on the table. Not for me at all.

Best of luck !!

 

Buzzy put it best.

I know that if your happy being a mechainic, you should stick with that. I am young too. (24) I spent a lot of years doing jobs that paid good, ut that i didnt really like. Now i am working for the power company, getting ready to start another line apprenticeship. I love going to work now, and that really helps.

So do what you love, the money will come if you like going to work. Maybe look around for other mechanic jobs, you willing to relocate?

 

You guys give some great advice. Buzzy has done a thorough job of explainin some key points of being a salesman.
I work with 8 truss salesman every day and have had the opportunity to become one myself. The money is great however I know I am not a salesman. Sales is a tough job. You must be able to take rejection on a daily basis and hold your head high and keep going. We are a company that promotes from within and have promoted several people to salesman that have shown the interest. Truck drivers, shipping managers, truss designers,even our former VP (demotion or promotion I don't know but he makes a killing selling and loves it) is a salesman now.
Sounds like you would have a lot going for you in this sales area if you are a diesel mechanic. You could bring some great product knowledge with you.
As has already been stated happiness is very important with what you do every day. So make sure it is something that you are really wanting to do and not just an opportunity to get out of your current job.
Good luck with your decision and whatever you choose.
Stephen

 

I hear this all of the time, however I don't think it's that easy.

Lets say that juggling makes you the absolute happiest person in the world. Unfortunately, juggling doesn't pay as well as shoveling s**t does, so unfortunately sometimes you've gotta do what you've GOTTA do, rather than do something that you LOVE to do.

 

While this may be true, it's safe to say that no one on here has either of those jobs. Or else we wouldn't be able to afford such nice CTD's

 

I'm not going to repeat everything everyone has said about sales jobs because it's all true. You won't know if you've got the gift unless you try. Just make sure you've got enough in the bank to support your self for a few months and hang on to the tools just in case. Make sure you are are running toward something you want and not away from something.