View Full Version : Female mechanics?
The daughter has been looking for an apprentinceship since May and has been denied for stupid reasons; Vauxhall said she was over qualified and Guy Salmon said she was too determined.
I called up Guy Salmon, the particular branch and person she had an interview with; he denied ever interviewing her or any other female candidates this year.
This has annoyed me and upset her, this is all she’s ever wanted to do and yet no one takes her on because she’s a girl. Okay so she’s 20 and the funding is half paid by the Govt but she did inform them that she is happy to pay any expenses.
To me she’s the perfect candidate; smart, good sense of humour, back ground in cars, boyish at times and overall determined and hardworking.
She’s happy to stay in our area, drive to others and even move for one but no one is giving her a chance.
Is there any point of pursuing her dream or should she just find something else?
Regards, Tonyk.
Dave20046
11-10-10, 05:19 PM
where abouts are you based?
"too determined" is ridiculous, i'd try find a bit of proof that the interview took place (infact even if you don't have any) and complain to guy salmon HQ
BBadger
11-10-10, 05:19 PM
The one thing she shouldnt do is give up on what she wants.
Keep trying and trying and the right thing will come along.
Also id go back to Guy Salmon and start getting angry ...but thats just how ive been bought up.
dizzyblonde
11-10-10, 05:21 PM
Bunch of A*holes!
Theres is no real reason why a smart girl can't do a mechanics job. In fact I know of at least one lass that left school to be a mechanic, see her regular in oily overalls.
The only reason I don't tackle my own bike stuff is because I don't have alll the suitable tools available, and nor do I have a garage, if I had these I would be hands in up to my armpits. I've never been shy of assisting when YC has done anything on my bike.
I think she should keep plugging at it, someone will let her in eventually.
Maybe she looks a bit too clean and tidy to be a mechanic, in her interviews ;-)
where abouts are you based?
"too determined" is ridiculous, i'd try find a bit of proof that the interview took place (and even if you don't have any) complain to guy salmon HQ
We're based Near Maaidenhead, she applied for the Ascot job as it's not much of a drive for her. She's got all the paperwork and kept all the letters of rejection, I say to her that if she was born a boy she'd get accepted like that 'clicks fingers'. They picked another lad from our area who hasn't got any upper arm strengh and takes a bus to work. Least she can lift the heavy stuff and got her own transport.
Pee's me off that you get apprentices that don't really want to get covered in muck, but this one is dying to get dirty and happy about long hours while on her feet.
the_lone_wolf
11-10-10, 05:28 PM
...this one is dying to get dirty...
Daughter you say...
;)
Dave20046
11-10-10, 05:29 PM
Ah that's miles away, there may be an orger with the right links near you though.
Is she applying for jobs herself (directly)? Just, if it's going through one of those 'line their pockets of the gov. and waste everyone's time in the process" apprenticeship companies they might be scuppering it for her by sending on the wrong CVs/info. I had to look at a few the other day at work and all the girls' CVs pretty much said "I want a job in retail because I love shoes". Probably not relevant if she's only looking for jobs being a mechanic but maybe worth double checking!
Specialone
11-10-10, 05:30 PM
Wouldnt bother me having work done by a woman as long as the job is done correctly, should make no difference on the gender of the mechanic should it?
I would rather employ a woman who works hard with a good attitude than a lazy, bad mannered bloke.
Tell her to keep trying.
Ah that's miles away, there may be an orger with the right links near you though.
Is she applying for jobs herself (directly)? Just, if it's going through one of those 'line their pockets of the gov. and waste everyone's time in the process" apprenticeship companies they might be scuppering it for her by sending on the wrong CVs/info. I had to look at a few the other day at work and all the girls' CVs pretty much said "I want a job in retail because I love shoes". Probably not relevant if she's only looking for jobs being a mechanic but maybe worth double checking!
She's been going directly, she's regesterd with skillnet and apprenticeships.org, she just told me that all her applications will list her as a boy; least this way she'll get more interviews.
She's been calling up garages directly, they say "bring your son and we'll chat", she'll tell them it's for her and the usual reply, "right, drop your cv and we'll see."
Her cv is perfect as too is her covering letter.
yorkie_chris
11-10-10, 05:48 PM
Try get into more performance/specialist side IMO.
I've been about small garages for a long time and you wouldn't let a girl do half of that... rolling about on floor trying not to drop a gearbox on your head... very much a strength job and not one that's easy on you over time.
Maybe big garages with all fancy kit are not as bad though.
DarrenSV650S
11-10-10, 05:56 PM
She maybe looks too girly girl at the interviews
She maybe looks too girly girl at the interviews
Ha Ha Ha, my daughter look girly? Bites her nails, plays xbox 360 and ps3, room covered in car and bike posters and foul tongue. Far from girly and just talking to her you can tell that. Far from ladylike but thankfully can speak properly. For her interviews it was trousers and a shirt. Am thinking we should disguise her as a boy, blackadder anyone? :smt115
yorkie_chris
11-10-10, 06:06 PM
Get her to turn up in a tuned up escort mk2 with some oily overalls on :-P
i like female mechanics... gives you somit to look at when they are bent over... but i'm a perv.
seen a few about this way.
davepreston
11-10-10, 06:12 PM
try a sideways approach , like bae systems, working on subs/planes/wagons, they love female apprentices as there a huge company with a male dominated workforce so it makes the numbers look good
Jayneflakes
11-10-10, 06:15 PM
Tell her not to give up. I find a similar thing with Push bike mechanic jobs, people assume that girls do not know anything technical! It is just sexism and because of it, women have to try extra hard just to get a level footing with men.
My other half Carol is also a trained mechanic and spent three years working for a tool hire company, visiting building sites and fixing broken down diggers. At first the guys did not take her seriously, but when she saved them time and money by fixing diggers that hairy builders could not, they started to ask for her by name when stuff went wrong.
If these places wont take your lass, it is their loss and she can do better. Wish her luck from all of us.
xxx
Speedy Claire
11-10-10, 06:34 PM
Tell her not to become disheartened and give up her dream Tony, as far as I`m concerned she should be given the exact same opportunities as her male counterparts.
I can`t even find anything on the internet that might help her. Kia seem keen to take on females, not sure if these links are any good. Very best of luck to her
http://www.kia-apprenticeships.co.uk/?section=apprenticeships_for_women
http://www.skillnet.org.uk/?section=apprenticeships_for_women
Tell her not to become disheartened and give up her dream Tony, as far as I`m concerned she should be given the exact same opportunities as her male counterparts.
I can`t even find anything on the internet that might help her. Kia seem keen to take on females, not sure if these links are any good. Very best of luck to her
http://www.kia-apprenticeships.co.uk/?section=apprenticeships_for_women
http://www.skillnet.org.uk/?section=apprenticeships_for_women
Notice how the wording is very similar? Plus she's called every Kia dealership in the South East, not one has hired females.
male orientated workplaces are reluctant to take on females for fear of 'sexual harassment' claims.
male orientated workplaces are reluctant to take on females for fear of 'sexual harassment' claims.
She doesn't take things to heart, the interviews know that since she was 17 she's been in college depts. where she's the only girl, she knows how it works.
dont stop them thinking that though.
no more dirty calenders, sexist jokes, yada yada.
tiz a pity how today's society has gone. spoilt it for a lot of people.
dont stop them thinking that though.
no more dirty calenders, sexist jokes, yada yada.
tiz a pity how today's society has gone. spoilt it for a lot of people.
It is a shame, she's got what it takes. And just because she's a chick means she can't do the one thing she's always wanted to do.
timwilky
11-10-10, 07:18 PM
I have employed a number of female engineers and have nothing but praise for the work that they have done. I have watched them mature from young graduates working on their first projects through to reviewing their Phd dissertations with the knowledge they have worked hard and deserving of the awards they are to receive.
One of my female engineers specialised in the design and implementation of a simulation system for power plants. Another specialised in Finite Element Analysis of turbine Blades and a third in Computation Fluid Dynamics applied to a whole plant model. I have worked with female engine test engineers etc.
I have no problems with a female in a typically male environment. However, would I let my daughter grease monkey in a garage. No way, let her get qualified and work for the vehicle manufacturer in a professional capacity never on the spanners. That's for fun on her own car/bike etc.
Speedy Claire
11-10-10, 09:04 PM
Notice how the wording is very similar? Plus she's called every Kia dealership in the South East, not one has hired females.
In that case I would write/email Kia direct... I`d be saying that having viewed their apprenticeship programme she felt extremely motivated to apply blah blah blah and then detail all the dealerships she`s approached and not had any luck with. The other thing is that on that website their is an online application form which I`m assuming goes to Kia themselves?
dont stop them thinking that though.
no more dirty calenders, sexist jokes, yada yada.
tiz a pity how today's society has gone. spoilt it for a lot of people.
Your absolutely right, I did my work experience in a fabrication firm in Wales, the whole shop floor was annoyed and cross with me before I even walked in.
When I asked why it was that there was the hostility, I was told that the day before the shop foreman had been around told them to take the porn off the walls, and to watch their language infront of me.
Obviously that was corrected within seconds of meeting me, however, the fact that it had been instructed in the first place is somewhat eye opening.
What manufacture are the dealers your daughter has applied at (havent noticed if its been mentioned)
Has she tried looking at the Honda site?
If not linky here http://www.hondapeople.co.uk/careers
Quite a few female mechanic / part's apprentice's when ever i go down for my training
Sorry if its been mentioned havent read through properly
barwel1992
11-10-10, 11:32 PM
tresham collage of motorsport silverstone is where i go, long way from you but could be worth it
there are no girls doing it this year but they are allways open for lasses to get stuck in
Tony, when i worked in the pub, i was firends with a young lass. She was a mechanic, at the time working for the aa, but she had served her apprentiship with Porsche. Now to look at her, she really was 'model' material, as in, very tall, blonde, slim etc etc. There is no way when she was out of work, that you know she was a mechanic. 2 things baout this, 1 she attended a breakdown one cold wet sotrmy night to fix a classic Porsche driven by some bloke. She turned up to sort it (Knowing what it was straight away, but the bloke whose car it was wouldn't let her fix it saying that what would a woman know about porsches. After a 20 minute sit out she won, fixed his car (in about 5 minutes apprently) and he was on his way with an appology. She went off to work for some high end company last time i saw her: And 2, men just dont like women knowing more about cars than they do.
Sadly, there is too much of this 'What a woman doing a mans job' kind of predajuce(sp?) which is sad in todays world. I would just keep banging on doors and hope that someone will recognise her potential. Get her to start at the top, Aston martin, Rolls Royce etc and work downwards.
I sometimes wish i was a female mechanic...as they geneticaly have smaller hands for that blasted bolt that i just cant get too! :lol:
I'd like to see someone tell someone like Jenny Tinmouth that she cant have the job cus she is "too determined"
Your daughter can totally make it. Tell her not to lose hope. Jenny is a skilled mechanic alongside being a fricking quicker rider, and has a successfull business. She worked for many different companies before. So there are success cases out there! And many employers that have no issue about hiring a girl... just sods law that she seemed to pick two places that do for a starting point!
Good luck to her, she will knock their socks off
Owenski
12-10-10, 08:30 AM
Armed forces mush!
Might not be ideal with the whole getting shot at bit but be a bit easier down civi street once they know she's cut it there just to get her the necessery qualifications etc.
Littlepeahead
12-10-10, 09:54 AM
Maybe in interviews she needs to address their fears. Say right upfront 'I can handle the banter, I can outswer the best of them, I'm not offended by the girly calendars, I won't cry if I break a nail and I won't call in sick on the same two days every month.' It may take them by surprise but could work.
I work in cricket, very male dominated. When I went for my first job in the sport at a County Ground the Chief Exec admitted they usually only employed men in my role as you have to work with the players and they can be a bit of a handful. My response was that I'd been on tour with some very grungey rock bands in my current job and if I could handle them then a few boys in whites would be a pushover. He laughed and offered me the job.
So tell her not to give up. No such thing as too determined.
She said she sent a complaint to the branch manager of guy salmon ascot and to the head office on monday, so far no word back from either of them.
She's applied to every manufacturer in the uk.
busasean
12-10-10, 07:17 PM
tell her to stick at it - my sister did her YTS (remember them?) with the army learning how to change tank engines....
We had a female brickie on one job we worked on , she was lovely and bloody good at her job. the lads she worked with were fiercely protective and there was a few other trade contractors taken to one side and given a thump for inopropriate comments.....
Honda, Kia, Guy Salmon etc??
Your daughter is aiming too low. She needs to set her sights higher than small minded franchises like these and aim more for the exclusive end of the market where they can appreciate what someone has to offer regardless of their gender. Either that or go into a different field such as Aeronautics (I know a couple of girls who've taken this route), where she'll learn the same kind of stuff, but her car interest will be filled by yacking with the other apprentices in the canteen ands she won't hate cars at the end of each day.
I'd advise against going into a job working on cars that because you love cars - that's a sure fire way to end up hating the things. Just ask any motorcycle mechanic who's been around bikes in a professional capacity for any long length of time. My advice would definitely be to learn your spannering skills on something similar but unrelated, like aircraft, trains or boats and forget about working for some regular High Street main dealership because they are too small-minded to take women seriously.
One of my exes is a PhD, she specialises in automotive design and in particular Hydrogen powered vehicles. She is currently in Australia after being headhunted to work out there.
benji106
13-10-10, 03:13 PM
Was chatting to a couple of girls out in Wokingham the other night who worked on the army choppers, they said they were in the minority but not the only ones by any stretch.
Sadly still no luck, been to several interviews in the last few weeks but rejected for living too far away (despite informing them that she has her own car and can easily move closer).
She has thought of the military option but isn’t too keen on being away from home for long periods of time. If anyone has any experience of being a mechanic/ technician within the military who could offer her advice then please drop me a pm and I’ll forward you to her.
But thank you everyone for the support; regards.
-Ralph-
08-11-10, 04:56 PM
The problem here is definitely that she's a girl, but not for all the reasons mooted. It's because the workshop managers are worried that the productivity of all the rest of the lads in the workshop will go through the floor as soon as a young girl joins the team. They'll spend all day next to her bonnet chatting her up, instead of under their own bonnet doing what they are supposed to.
Honda, Kia, Guy Salmon etc??
Your daughter is aiming too low. She needs to set her sights higher than small minded franchises like these and aim more for the exclusive end of the market where they can appreciate what someone has to offer regardless of their gender.
I was just about to say exactly the same thing. Push the boat out and try Ferrari, I know they do a good scheme. Or Bentley, Lamboghini etc.
My opinion from knowing a few people that do the job, and from hanging around their garages... the big problem with cheaper car brands is they hire cheap 'proper bloke' (:rolleyes:) stereotypical mechanics. They fear a women will ruin the crude joke, general blokey atmosphere at work. Some women thrive working in that environment, but even they can always swing a sexual discrimination claim out of it when they've had enough.
I have no real experience of higher end manufacturers however, whenever I have been in Gray Pauls Ferrari/Maserati in Nottingham, the mechanics are top class gents, not your typical mechanics thats for sure.
punyXpress
08-11-10, 07:35 PM
So, she's not that far from Maranello ?
So, she's not that far from Maranello ?
Tried and failed, they wanted someone within 10 miles; despite her having her own car.
BernardBikerchick
09-11-10, 06:43 PM
she should go for her life !! nothing more lovely than a GIRL mechanic i say !! and such a great thing for her too !!! pursue till she gets it if she is any good i asume !? I hate jobs worths like that that don't give people a chance !! push till she gets it !!! guy salmon rings a bell but dont' know why !
guy salmon rings a bell but dont' know why !
They've got dealerships all over the London and surrounding areas mainly dealing in the more costlier cars like Jaguar and suchlike. I used to do all the retro-fit leather trim work for Guy Salmon Honda in Thames Ditton, which led to doing odd seat retrims for other GS dealerships.
ChrisSV
09-11-10, 10:59 PM
Keep on trying, and as others have said push for the higher end of things.
I work with 3 girls on my appreniceship, and all 3 are by far and away the best of the lot (out of 36), they work harder and know more than some of the people training us. Someone will take her on, it's just a case of finding somewhere that isn't bigoted against women having that kinda job.
BanannaMan
10-11-10, 04:49 AM
I'm going to be hiring a new mechanic soon, got any pics?
J/K ;)
it's just a case of finding somewhere that isn't bigoted against women having that kinda job.
Most likely will be a larger firm in/near a city.
I'm going to be hiring a new mechanic soon, got any pics?
J/K ;)
Most likely will be a larger firm in/near a city.
You can keep her, however buy one get one whole family free. :p
metalangel
10-11-10, 07:38 PM
Tell her to go for it, don't be put off.
There's female crew members on superbike teams.
There was an all female (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/motorsports/news/2003/05/29/female_crew_ap/) pit crew in the NASCAR truck series.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/motorsports/news/2003/05/29/female_crew_ap/t1_pitcrew_ap.jpg
And I remember a great Saturn ad from about 15 years ago about a woman who got a job selling cars after being ****ed off by one too many male salesman only focusing on the fripperies like the vanity mirror.
I work in a very male oriented industry (the railway) but there's quite a few women now joining and if you can ignore the occasional old codger with outdated views and enjoy the incredibly rude jokes and banter, you'll have a whale of a time (and they do, our ladies) and become cherished members of the office.
Update
She did try really hard in getting that apprenticeship, unfortunately it didn't work out.
However, bagk in December she applied for an apprenticeship with Openreach (part of bt) as one of their Telecoms engineer. They hired her in January. It's not her dream job, but nonetheless she enjoys it. She will be out on her own soon climbing up poles, installing fibre broadband and fixing faults etc. So you might see a scared 21 year old at your door who's shaking like a leaf, in which case give her a cup of tea and some biscuits.
Regards, tonyk
Good news Tony, I've just finished my one with BT - Openreach! Not a bad company to start with, use of a company vehicle is always a plus! Also lots of other opportunities to go else where within the company!
Drumming_Animal
21-06-11, 11:48 PM
Nice to know someones actually getting apprenticeships. I'm 20 and have been looking, trying and applying for all sorts for a long time. I would love to get into mechanics, so have been mainly going for those, but I get turned down by all of them. It does get extremly annoying.
I may hopefully be getting into the local bike shop soon. They said to drop a cv in, they want someone who can do it properly, knows what theyre doing and is willing to learn, yep thats me. Plus I know the owner so fingers crossed.
Congrats on getting the BT one though. It's a tough world for us young'uns trying to get work when everyone wants someone with experience or you need 45 different health and safety certificates all costing money we don't have. And not everyone wants to work the pizza delivery.
BanannaMan
22-06-11, 03:57 AM
Not as a mechanic but I recently hired a female to work as a service writer at my garage. She schedules work for the shop, talks to customers getting their info, etc., takes their payment.
Have to say the guys (mechanics) in the shop were doubtful and I did wonder how my customers would react to having a woman in that role.'
But she proved them all wrong and is the best service writer we've ever had. I honestly don't know how we managed to run the place without her. She is a 100% asset to the business.
So all you girls keep at it till you find that job!
And you employers maybe give a girl a chance at what might have been a traditional male role.
The other master tec in our dealership is a girl.
OK she does have to use the bloke wash room to scrub her hands but no one cares.
Also only 2 MOT testers in our area are girls .
Shows the imbalance .but you stick your guns your get there.
Bedhead
23-06-11, 02:06 PM
I wouldn't have a problem with a girl working on my car, there's plenty of useless blokes about so a girl who really wanted to do well at the job would be a welcome change.:)
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