New job

[Intrepidation]

Finally managed to find myself a job this month with Advance Auto Parts. I had applied there at the beginning of August after several failed attempts thanks to their online application system not working. Hadn't heard anything back in 3 weeks so I had given up. However I got a call at the end of August for an interview, and was hired on the spot with an immediate $1 raise because I have automotive knowledge. I'm very happy about this. The design industry is terrible as far as job openings go, even more so where I live now. Advance is only 7 minutes street so I have a short, easy commute that's easy on gas.

As far as service jobs go, this is what I wanted most: something at least related to something I'm interested in. It's part time for now, but I'm just thankful for something. Ended up working 37 hours this week though, so I guess they like me.

What's cool about Advance VS every AutoZone I recall going to is that the people there know their $h!. I mean most of them have way more knowledge than me about auto parts, where things go and how things work. In fact the only person without any experience is, ironically, the store manager.

Advance puts you though a learning program, the first part is a series of general knowledge and safety courses/tests, while the second group of tests are assessments to test your knowledge of vehicles. I'm disappointed that I didn't pass a few, notably transmissions and ignition/injection systems. But then I know what I know about cars based on the work I've done so far. Never said I'm an expert. Needless to say I passed the cooling system, exhaust system, and engine internals assessments. I'm eager to learn more though, so hopefully I will as I go.

So far I've been working on getting familiar with how are catalog and customer database works, as well as learning where all of the inventory goes and stocking it. I've done a few wiper blade changes and remembered that I hate hidden wiper blades like what's on our Grand Marquie and the LaCrosse, and a battery change.

Seems like an enjoyable job for what it is. In fact my only complaint is that I have yet to find a set of black shoes that don't make my feet hurt by the end of the day. If I can do something about that, then I'd have no complaints.

As a side note, Advance also seems to carry a fair share of products made in USA, which is nice for a change.

I plan to work hard and learn more so I can do well and make more money, plus there's a sense of pride working here that I wouldn't have felt at a normal service job.

I'd still like to peruse design, the thing that I wasted 4 years of my life going to college for, but right now the market is very discouraging, so my enthusiasm has waned. I'll keep my eye out for opportunities, but I've been doing that for 2 years now with limited success. We'll see. For now I'm happy to have some steady income again.

[67impss]

Good news Dodge I'm happy for ya the bills get paid and your close to work. Ride that bike you'll get healthy save $ & get a tan

[ZL-1]

Good stuff! Congrats!

[Intrepidation]

Good news Dodge I'm happy for ya the bills get paid and your close to work. Ride that bike you'll get healthy save $ & get a tan

I ride my bike because I want to, not because I have to.

Plus, nothing beats standing/waling/lifting and bending for 8 hours like supportiive, comfortable leather thrones.

Except maybe less comfortably cloth seats but with air conditioning on the hot days...

[caddycruiser]

Good news!

It's hard in so many avenues right now, lots of us are doing something "different". Some are still not sure what to think about what I'm doing selling cars with an engineering degree, but it was the right time, right place, I had to get out of what I was doing, and ultimately it's the automotive field I wanted to get into and here I get that in spades, meet company reps from time to time, sales experience and contacts galore.

Sometimes you just do something different, and it works. Glad to hear this is working for you, for however long.

[Camino LS6]

Good news, DF - and I'm glad to hear it.

Been playing "jack-of-all-trades" to make ends meet, so yeah, lots of us are wandering into things we would never have expected to be doing.

[67impss]

I ride my bike because I want to, not because I have to.

Plus, nothing beats standing/waling/lifting and bending for 8 hours like supportiive, comfortable leather thrones.

Except maybe less comfortably cloth seats but with air conditioning on the hot days...

Hey now that wasn't a mandate just a friendly aside

[NINETY EIGHT REGENCY]

Congrats to you Dodge Fan. I wish you well. This is steady income. The humble get the help. all of you who have humbled yourself to get jobs in order to survive are getting your needs met. You because you took the steps you have will be rewarded with what it is you "want" to do. Congrats Dodge Fan and enjoy yourself in what you do. To the others you hold on.. it will change for the better.

[Z-06]

Congrats DF. Spread the good word of Domestic vehicles around.

[balthazar]

Arbeit macht frei.

[Robert Hall]

Good luck!

Back in the '80s, my brother worked in auto parts for almost 10 years..eventually manager of a Nationwide Auto Parts store. Has a lot of interesting stories of the people you run into in that line of work..

Edited September 17, 2010 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[daves87rs]

Congrats man...it's something you like which is good. Just watch out for the really crazy dumb people....the stories I've heard are pretty epic.

[bobo]

Congratulations. It's sounds like the ideal thing to be doing during these difficult times.

[ocnblu]

Congratulations, DF! I hope it works out well for you.

[NOS2006]

Congratulations on the new job, DF!

[knightfan26917]

Hey DF,

CONGRATULATIONS on the new job. Going well thus far?

Cort | 37.m.IL.pigValve.pacemaker | 5 Monte Carlos + 1 Caprice Classic |* Chicagoland Meets, 2011?

MCs.CC + CHD.models.HO.legos.RadioShows + RoadTrips.us66 = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort

"So many things, they come and go" ... Cher ... 'I Found Someone'

[loki]

congrats! hope you're liking it

[A Horse With No Name]

Congrats DF....

[Blake Noble]

Someone who works at Advance who actually knows something about cars?

All of the AAP, Auto Zone, and O'Reilly's employees in Madison Co. are complete idiots. I had to buy a fuel filter for the Cutlass a few days ago (POS glass filter started leaking everywhere), so I chose to go to Advance for the first time in a few months since Auto Zone recently sold me a set of front brake pads for the Aura when I actually needed the back ones and the two O'Reilly's in this county usually stocks a lot of defective parts from my experience.

So anyway, I told the guy at the counter I needed a complete fuel filter for a 1972 Cutlass Supreme since they don't keep the decent metal Mr. Gasket ones on the shelf anywhere.

The first thing he asks me is, and I'll swear to this on whatever stack of religious goodbooks you want me to swear on, "Cutlass ... Cutlass? ... Didn't Toyota make that?"

I stumble a bit and tell him it's an Olds. Then he locates the part number, walks to the back, and comes back with just the filter without the casing.

See where this is going? I won't continue.

Edited September 26, 2010 by whiteknight

[Intrepidation]

Advance, at least the one I work at, has a pretty high standard for working. One of the big reasons I was hired is for what I know about cars, which pales in comparison to what a lot of the other guys know. In fact there is only one person in the entire store who doesn't know much.

We've got a few who have hardcore knowledge of cars, including the old ones. Even knowing how to look up a carburetor just by the number stamped one an old one picked out of a yard from a vehicle the customer forgets the year make and model of.

We look down on Auto Zone for the very reasons you just mentioned: completely clueless plus generally lower quality parts.

As for the job, I enjoy it. Great people and genuine car guys. A few of them are Jeep modders who go hardcore offroading. There's a nice sense of pride everyone has working at the store, and I have it too. So that's cool.

All stores are different and so will be the amount of knowledge employees may have, but next time you run into a problem like that, try asking for a Parts Pro, they're the most knowledgeable people.

It's a genuinely small world out there. One guy who I've become friends with told me that he used to live with a room mate in what is now our house...so I got some interesting history on our place. Then yesterday I found out that one guy was an automotive instructor at my old high school, and so in freshman year we met! Friggin' crazy.

[caddycruiser]

Good stuff! Sounds like the kind of auto parts store I'd enjoy, and it's nice when you can feel good about what you're doing & who with.

[Drew Dowdell]

Important tip Dodge fan. If someone stops in to buy spark plugs for a 1985 Continental, do not ask them if it's the diesel.*

*happened to me years ago

[Robert Hall]

Important tip Dodge fan. If someone stops in to buy spark plugs for a 1985 Continental, do not ask them if it's the diesel.*

*happened to me years ago

Those diesel Lincolns must be pretty rare...was a BMW engine, I think?

[ocnblu]

OMG Continental never had a diesel (Mark VII did though, from BMW)... plus NO diesel has sparkplugs OMG

[Robert Hall]

OMG Continental never had a diesel (Mark VII did though, from BMW)... plus NO diesel has sparkplugs OMG

The diesel was a rare option on both the Continental and Mark VII in '84-85.

There is a diesel '84 Continental on ebay right now..starting bid $1000.

Edited September 26, 2010 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[Drew Dowdell]

OMG Continental never had a diesel (Mark VII did though, from BMW)... plus NO diesel has sparkplugs OMG

Incorrect.

The Continental had a 2.4 liter I-6 turbo diesel option supplied by BMW from about '84 and '85. This engine was shared with the BMW 324d and 524 from 1985 - 1992

[Intrepidation]

Or parts for a 1983 Corvette, or a radiator for a 67 Beetle...blah blah.

[A Horse With No Name]

I just learned something...thanks guys...never new the Lincoln continental had a diesel....

[67impss]

Now diesel carburetors I've seen on a Toyota lift truck I was thinking I was having a flashback from 1976(it could happen at any time). But The City had bought 3 of them (should've been Hysters or Cats) never worked on one though promoted 6 months later.

[Intrepidation]

One thing I learned yesterday was that while we do free battery installation on most models, we're not supposed to install batteries that are in difficult areas (like on a 2nd gen LH) or that have a cross member holding them down like in a GMT360. But c'mon, that's not a challenge for me. I had that thing out and back together in 10 minutes.

[ocnblu]

The diesel was a rare option on both the Continental and Mark VII in '84-85.

There is a diesel '84 Continental on ebay right now..starting bid $1000.

Thank you guys for filling in the holes of my memory. I did not remember that.

[A Horse With No Name]

Some neat old Ford's in that barn, WMJ!

[Cory Wolfe]

Hmm... MKVII diesel. That sounds intriguing.

[Drew Dowdell]

Does that have like 6,000 miles on it or something? That is a CLEAN engine bay for a diesel!