My Dilemma - Advice needed

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Joined: Wed Jan 10, 2018 1:12 am

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PostPosted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 12:30 am
Hello all!

Il first start off by saying Im glad I found this site, seems like an amazing place with a wealth of knowledge about the autobody industry.

A little bit about myself and the dilemma..

My name is Paul, reside in Toronto, Canada and Ive always gravitated towards cars and bikes. Im sure like most of you, I inherited the bug from my dad who took me to car shows as a young kid. Ive also always been into painting and using my hands. I started a small business a few years ago out of college restoring/customizing vintage sneakers. Yes I know most of you who read this are going to think thats the weirdest thing but theres a huge community of people who collect vintage or even newer sneakers. A lot of the work I did was painting/air brushing etc. I got pretty well known in the Canadian sneaker world for a great attention to detail and customer service. My most notable work was 2 pairs of custom sneakers for players on the Toronto Raptors Basketball team. Long story short I always in the back of my mind told myself one day I wanted to learn auto body and eventually the ins and outs of how to paint a car the right way.

And that leads me to my dilemma, I currently have a good full time job that I would like to stay at for now. Autobody is something Id like to pursue as a serious hobby at the moment and possibly something more in the future. Unfortunately living in an urban city and in an apartment building I cant just buy a project car, dive in and learn by trial and error which I would love to have done. Im sure if I tried that in the underground garage Id be evicted in no time lol. I signed up for some auto body repair and painter classes at my local college which I plan to start soon. Ive also called a few autobody shops nearby and asked of they needed extra help on the weekends or in the evenings and explained I really want to learn and not a whole lot concerned with wages. But it seems like if you aren't doing an apprenticeship through a college they aren't interested or they just think you're a liability.

So the question is, where do I start? Im a little bit stuck because im not sure where I go from here. Should/can I be doing anything besides taking these part time autobody classes at my local college? Do I start knocking on doors in person?

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Paul

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PostPosted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 8:05 pm
i wish the biggest thing i had to worry about painting was a shoe....

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PostPosted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 8:55 pm
first never call a prospective employer on the phone, go see them in person. tell them your starting auto body classes, and if you have pictures of your shoes take them with you so they can see that you have some talent. also get with your class instructor and see if he can set you up for something. my boy took some auto body classes and the instructor got him a job right away while he was in school, then got him a job when he graduated. post some pictures so we can see your work.
Jay D.
they say my name is Jay

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