Anyone here working in a dealers?

Howdy folks,

I'm into the whole car detailing thing. I think it's enjoyable. I haven't been at it that much lately, as I've been occupied with other bits (mostly creating and holding a grudge against my car), but I always enjoy it when I'm at it.


Last year I applied for a job as a car valetor in a local dealer. Was offered the job, but I didn't take it, as it clashed with too many other bits I had on (I work at photography at the moment and it didnt suit either me or the dealer to start at the time).

Anyway, since then, my interest in photography has died even more, and I'd like to get into a 'normal' job (with a guaranteed wage at the end of the week and a set routine).


So what I was gonna ask was, is it worthwhile wandering into dealers (in person) and trying to get chatting with the manager, to worm my way in that way?


I notice there is a dealer that has an ad on FAS at the moment, around the corner from me. I sent off a CV by email (their stated preference) but heard nothing back.

The place that offered me the job last time, also re-advertised the same position since, but by the time I noticed it, it was already given to someone.


I literally have 6 dealers within 1.5km of my house (and another 6 within 3km of them). So I was thinking of throwing a shirt and tie on and literally just walking from one to the next (most of them are practically neighbours).


Would I be wasting my time? Or is worth trying? I'm not sure how dealers generally operate, so don't want to be wandering around for the sake of it, getting lots of "manager is busy" nonsense, wasting everyone's time.


(my thought process here is that valetors seem to come and go like a revolving door, for some reason, in dealers, so even if no ones looking for someone at the moment, they may well be in the immediate future?).



Anyone any idea?

Cheers

Atlantic Dawn

What about if you were to set yourself up with a car/van and say to each of them you will offer to give a basic valet to say 10 cars for I don't know €300 a week or whatever and get a few of them onboard where you have that much of their work every week.

bucketybuck

I work in a dealer, have been involved in managing dealers for quite a while now.

Don't wander into a garage looking for a chat, the service manager is the busiest person in the entire building and will have no interest whatsoever in stopping to chat with a stranger about a valeting job, he has a million other things to do and the valeting is way down his list of priorities. I frequently get young lads wandering in asking if there are any jobs and to be honest nine times out of ten they make a balls of it. Catch me when I'm trying to juggle ten things and you will probably just annoy me for wasting my time.

The best thing you can do is to polish your CV the best you can, make yourself look respectable and then call into reception and leave the CV for the attention of the manager. If you left a good impression, and if you have a good CV, and if they actually have a job that needs doing, then you have increased your chances of getting hired.

I would also be aware of the importance of valeting to most workshops, its very much bottom of the barrel and the valeting guys were usually first out the door when the recession hit. Its just not economic to pay a guy to do nothing but clean cars all day, we can get apprentices to do valeting and then use a local company for a car thats really dirty.