Why is it so hard to find work related to bikes?

[chris___]

Why is this? Im 17, left school last year with decent grades (all higher) and went to college for a month before deciding I wanted to be a bike mechanic. Well that was 10 months ago and still I'm doing my shitty waiting job that I've been doing since I was at school. Why is it so difficult? I've applied for 2 apprenticeships, one with Honda UK, one with EMTEC and have still heard nothing, despite repeatidly hassling them.

I've now tried applying to local Bike shops for any kind of work there, Its always the same "bring down your CV and we'll be in touch" bollocks will they! Its just pissing me off more and more now, I know what I want to do with my life but I don't seem to be able to be do it and its not like its a glamorous job is it, fixing up bikes!
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[feef]

basically I reckon it's because it's a relatively small industry, filled with enthusiasts, and so there is a lot of competition for few jobs.

I found it similar when I worked in the ski and climbing industry..

I was a technician servicing and repairing ski equipment when I was a student, but we were getting at least 2 CVs every day from people just wanting to work in the shop....

a
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[0ddball]

It does seem to be an industry that works on the 'who you know not what you know' principle and it's frustrating.

I've been wanting to get into the race car engine management and mapping scene for a while but had no luck despite having quite a bit of informal experience, just because i have no formal qualifications in that area.

Stick with it. Hopefully if you show enough enthusiam (restoring a project bike to show off what you can do might help) someone will give you a break.

[Irezumi aka Reuben]

First off get involved with mechanics. Club teams can always use a hand and generally dont mind helping you learn stuff.

If they ask for your CV then why dont you just take a few out with you when you go?

Drop them in to ALL of your local bike shops, those that you can get to or wouldnt mind moving to. And smaller specialist guys are more likely to take you on it seems. Just keep your eyes and ears open and send out CV's to EVERY shop nearby. I'm doing the same, good luck.
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[gimpy limp]

do a college course school grades mean naff all plus you can easily fake them cause employers never check.
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[RascalsCustar...]

Have you tried any of the other bike manufacturers? Yamaha...Ducati...Kawasaki...Triumph...KTM? Honda seem to be the hardest to get into, requiring high grades before they even consider you...

I remember trying to get into a bike apprenticeship years ago, had the same "leave us a CV and we'll get back to you" fob off...in the end it was a small family run business that basically told me bikes arn't an industry like cars are and nobody, apart from the larger manufacturers, really have the funding to take on an apprentice.

Try these guys...they're responsible for quite abit of motor industry training

[Zoffo]

Come to workington, always room for another town bike
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[TOM M]

[Kara]

my other half used to work in automotive engineering, it seems the best way to get into it, from design point of view is with a string of qualifications, although actually for on the job they help very little, to get into the industry a BSc. or higher seems the norm, maybe ok with HND.

[chris___]