Well "technically" all u need to do is get a year of schooling and a year of in feild experience or 2 years of either and pass the 8 ASE tests (I think it might be 9 now)...and then your considered an ASE certified master technician!

im less than a year away!!!

sure, just pay attention and ask questions if you dont understand something. a kid I went to school with at Wyotech knew nothing about cars and is making a very decent living as a honda tech in Mass.

its only 8 tests. the ninth one is L1, advanced engine performance. you only need that to inspect cars. or you can just take the inspection class. I havent gotten around to that yet.

For all we knock on you, look hwo far you've come from where you started... and how many other people your age have the mechanical knowledge you have?

That's a good attitude to have about it. I went in with a pretty clear idea about what kind of law I wanted to practice. It took me two miserable years at a job I hated (making crap $$, BTW) to finally get to do it. Now I'm doing what I want and I'm making decent coin. Best of both worlds.

I'm sure you hear this all the time from people who went through it, but it's alot harder than you think. Basically, get ready to go from being a top-tier student in college (like most law students were) to working you a-- off just to be average. That was my experience, anyways. It set off a bit of an identity crisis. No big deal, but it takes a little getting used to how competitive it is. It doesn't end when you get a job either.

When it comes to law school, you either "get it" or you don't. Hopefully you'll be one of the fortunate few who have the natural talent to play the game. In that case, you can pretty much choose your path. If you don't have the talent, you'll end up somewhere in the irrelevant "bottom 90%." In that case, having a good school on your resume makes it much eaiser to deal with.

journey pipefitters make 90K a year. any overtime, or general foremans rate will put you easily over 100K. dont forget to take into account taxes. just making 100K on the books doesnt mean you can take home 100K.

this is me this semster. exactly. lol....deeeefinitely a huge reality check, but it was also really nice to see all the arrogant buttheads who came in in august thinking they were better than everyone really being humbled by the whole experience :nod:

I'm going back about four pages here, but a word of advice to you or anyone else who wants to get into law enforcement: Put yourself through the academy. Treat it like college. You'll have to shell out a few thousand clams, but most likely you'll have a job before you graduate. A bachelor's degree is an excellent idea and will definitely help you if you decide to go for promotions, but getting on The Job has gotten really competitive over the last ten years.

There are two basic ways to go about it: There are the State Department of Personnel tests and the 'Chief's Tests.' Basically, the DOP test is governed by the State and you basically end up in a pool based on which counties and branches (Municipal Police, Corrections, State Forest Ranger) you're willing to work in. There are a lot of people out there running classes to help you pass this exam, but there are also a lot of people taking this exam. Combine that with the fact that the veterans of our armed forces (God bless them all) get a substantial amount of points to put them at the top of their list, and with a war going on and troops coming home and looking for cop jobs, the competition's tough.

As far as the Chief's test goes, well, the municipalities that don't go with the DOP basically give their own tests. Outside private agencies make the tests and again, there are people out there that give classes.

The latest trend is that police chiefs are now taking resumes from people who have either worked in other departments or put themselves through the academy and hiring them. It saves the department time (Takes about six months to complete the academy) and money (Costs the town money to send a recruit). I'm not guaranteeing you'll get a job if you just put yourself through, but your chances will be far better. I know a guy who had three different departments calling him while he was in the academy.

The most important thing you need to consider in this field is this: Are you absolutely sure you want to commit to this career, or are you just doing it for easy money and a pension? I'm seven years in now and still love what I do, but my father just retired after twenty five years of being bitter and miserable. He can easily look back and say, "I should have..." While there are the occasional foot pursuits and car chases and whatnot, the job isn't like you see on TV. It's stressful, and if you plan on being a family man, it can be difficult. I know at least three guys in my department alone going through divorces after extremely short marriages.

I don't have any regrets, and last year I was able to make just over $100k (A whole lot of O.T. and traffic jobs). I'm in a bureau with work that suits me and my coworkers are awesome. It has its bad days like any other job, but the good far outweighs the bad for me.

six months for the academy? more like 4 (16 weeks)

Here's my .02.... coming from a guy who is completely maximizing the dollar to intelligence ratio..or is it intelligence to dollar ratio? Anyway.....

There's plenty $$$ in "Sales" but it's a progression and not overnight success

1. Need to work you're way up meaning you'll need to start basic like retail and advance career over time to bigger/better/higher paying companies
2. Find something you like (Technology/Pharmaceutical etc) and work for the best company for the industry they're in. You'll never become wealthy working for a mom/pop shop, you'll have a better chance seeing green when the company you work for is seeing BIG green
3. Don't settle for less. Seize opportunities when they come your way and don't sell yourself short. Those that settle in life and accept mediocrity tend to be the same people who tell me I'm "lucky" to have the life I have..I prefer to think the choices I've made got me to where I am....not luck.

By not settling over a 10yr period I went from making $30k a year to $175k

...I chose technology :)

Sigh.... I guess I should make a sensible post also.....


You can't base your decision on just a 6 figure salary.

You need to factor in benifits and perks.

Some of the perks in my job are company cars. I have a $55,000 company car sitting in my driveway. Every 4-5 weeks I get a new car. It can range from a lowly 2008 C300 which is $35,000 to a 2008 CL550 which is $120,000+

In the past month I've had:
2007 E350
2007 GL450
2007 CLS550
2007 SL550
Just turned in the wife's 2007 SLK280

I've leased:
2003 C230
2006 E350
2007 E350
2007 SLK280

Then benifits.... they are damn good

401K - really good

Incredible lease/ purchase prices on mercedes-benz cars and trucks

Employee discounts on chrysler, jeep and dodge vehicles

Got a huge discount on the following:
2004 dodge neon
2003 jeep liberty
2007 chrysler sebring vert

Accessories discounts

Service discounts

I've been sent to race 500 HP Mercedes amg's at race tracks

I've gotten my hands on 1/2 million dollar cars (SLR and Maybach)

Getting back stage access to the jacob javits auto show.... working the auto show.... and going in before it is open to the public (press day)

My list can go on and on......


Don't focus just on a salary..... there can be many other perks for your job that outweigh the $$$$

you could become a hitman.

Four for corrections or municipal classes run at Seagirt. I went 22 weeks, end of August through December. A little less than six months, but close.

there are no municipal classes run at seagirt, the monmouth county police academy is in freehold.

You are 1L?

Quick! What's the rule against perpetuities? Explain. :banghead:

I wonder if they realize that "Explain" is NOT a question!!!

I don't envy you.

Seriously, though. Humbling it is. The hardest thing for me was to wake up every day and try to convince myself not to hitchhike to Islamorada to become a coconut farmer.

Now that all depends on what area you live in, with the towers going up in AC, they said they will have work for the next 10yrs, the racetrack in millville has started a lil while ago, theres 3 different phases to that if i remember correctly, and i believe they said that would be a good 5 years worth of work. theres more than that going on down here in the south, but those are just 2 things i could think of off the top of my head.

drug dealer....