My daughter wants to be a mechanic

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richardmayes, Jun 17, 10:29pm
Mrs and her friend had a sign on the wall in their workshop: Sexual harrassment in THIS area will not be reported. However it may be graded with marks out of ten.

I did a 2-day workshop course as part of my engineering degree, one of the old pommy fitters & turners teaching the course said he found the woman students usually produced the best work in the class, because when in doubt they would stop and ask questions.
Whereas the boys would tend to press on regardless, and f*$# the thing up completely.

richardmayes, Jun 17, 10:48pm
Yes - google her, a NZ legend among circles that still remember her.

(Although, in this day and age you would hope it's no longer necessary for a woman to be better than all the men by a MILE, before she can hope to "make it" and be recognised in any industry?)

terry012, Jun 17, 11:02pm
If I had my time over,,,Avionics Technician. why play with a dirty car when you could be working for top dollar on a clean jet,?

mopsy3, Jun 18, 2:48am
We took on a young girl on work experience a few years back. She wasn't physically strong enough to lift anything, undo anything or do anything up. She was of average size. Keen as but didn't have the strength required. BUT in saying that, have seen some young boys not much better.

mopsy3, Jun 18, 2:52am
Get her to lift a 20inch wheel up and fit it on to a vehicle on a hoist. She will soon know how strong she is. And that's only light.There is a lot of equipment available now to take the pain out of lifting and lowering but there are always times when they are not available, adequate or useful. Nothing an employer hates more than someone pulling another employee off a job because they cant do what they are supposed to be doing themselves. Time is money.

petal_91, Jun 18, 2:58am
You guys are all thinking of what you need in DIY, in a proper workshop physical strength is not needed as there they have air tools! OP's daughter wouldn't need extraordinary physical strength at all.

hollis6, Jun 18, 3:12am
If she needed to lift something heavy, I'm sure there'll be some burly hulk more than willing to lift it.

lugee, Jun 18, 3:24am
Great guy, watch his videos very regularly.

Also his former tutor/friends channel ScannerDanner, which focuses on the electronics diagnosis side, which is becoming more and more important. Another excellent channel which I regularly watch.

Snap, just saw your later post Jazz about ScannerDanner. Seems we have the same automotive channel tastes.

elect70, Jun 18, 3:57am
These days employers expect you to have a rudimentry knowlege of chosen carreer . even if did night classes to learn some of basics wouldbe a good advantage .

edangus, Jun 18, 4:08am
Agree with ya there!

bigfatmat1, Jun 18, 4:31am
obviously you don't work on vehicles

mrfxit, Jun 18, 4:48am
LOL Mopsy3's example of a 20" wheel is nothing compared to a 31" tyre on a steel 4x4 rim

mrfxit, Jun 18, 4:52am
There ARE "mechanics" that have never seen a proper dirty engine, never mind a car without a computer engine management system.
Workshop floors that SHINE with clean floor paint, (polished at night)

mottly, Jun 18, 5:06am
I've worked on cars all my life - and lordy be, I'm a sheila lol. There are many obstacles being female - having the oomph sometimes to undo firmly stuck bolts are a biggy - where the guys can whack 'em off no worries - but I heave for ages and can't budge them. And I ain't no flower either. Some of the weight involved in things is a nightmare - and in the trade, there isn't going to be a guy standing around waiting to 'help out'. Guys are more often than not chauvanistic pigs too, and don't like girls that know more than them about engines, so are likely to go elsewhere. (sad but true) Personally, small eng mech would be a much better option. motorbikes etc. Just as much skill involved, but on a slightly smaller/easier scale. Or what about an auto sparky? Even taking the sump shield off my jeep is a major - it weighs about 70kg, and sure took the wind outta me when it came off. lol. so did the bumper on my classic car. one big benefit of being a shiela though, is that the knuckles are smaller and can fit into stupid places that guy's sausage fingers cant lmao

bratpack06, Jun 18, 6:28am
My sons female friend thought she wanted to be a mechanic, is currently doing the course but is not as easy as she thought it would be, she's finding it very complicated, i dontbthink she will be ble to finish it, if your daughter is good with computers she might be better off doing IT. If she's still at school,ask the school if they have a Gateway programme and they might be able to put her at a mechanics for experience one day a week.

tahnasha, Jun 18, 6:30am
Yep she can give back whatever lip some guy gives her, I have no worries for her there, she's not easily offended.

tahnasha, Jun 18, 6:46am
I'll sort something out for her, she is good at IT but not that good.

squibble, Jun 18, 7:28am
Can she get work in a garage after school or weekends just to get work experience and to find out if that is really the way she wants to go even doing it unpaid.Better off that way than to sign up for it and then find out it is not all she thought it would be.

petal_91, Jun 18, 7:40am
OK, cordless lithium ion tools then - those can be a lot smaller . Some high end cordless units are more powerful than airtools nowadays anyway.

charlie4561, May 30, 10:15am
How about being a truck mechanic working on big rigs and such. The parts on trucks are so large than even big blokes can't man handle them, so different methods are used to work on them than light vehicles.