I’m planning on getting out of the military about a year and a half before my wife’s commitment ends, and given that we are in a very rural area with a few LBS but no real commerce or colleges to speak of, and given that my primary goal is to spend more time with her (and we can afford it) rather than move away for a job, my plan is to spend those 18 months taking some classes to help me prep for an engineering Master’s after the wife gets out, train and race a couple of IMs, and get some experience wrenching. I’ve always dreamed of working in a bike shop but never had the opportunity or money to handle it and I feel like now’s my chance. With that said, I have never done it before and I don’t anticipate either of the LBSes to be hiring.
I was considering going in and explaining the situation and saying, “Listen, I’m a responsible and hard-working guy and I am willing to work for you doing whatever you need for free for 3 months in exchange for the opportunity to learn a little wrenching and demonstrate my worth to your business. If you like having me around and can afford it after the 3 months is up, hire me. If not, no hard feelings, I will be grateful for the experience, but please give me a good reference if I look for a job at another shop.” Do you think this will work? Is it worth a shot or is my head just totally up my ass here?
I understand the idea but I wouldn’t do it. I don’t like the idea of offering to work for free because the employer may feel they are breaking the law by not paying minimum wage and you would be taking someone else’s job.
I think there are enough resources on Youtube and other media to be able to figure it out on your own. Instead of working for a LBS for free, why not advertise on your own or approach people to work on their bike for free or to have the owners just cover your costs. You can even do it as a service by approaching schools or other institutions (e.g. hospitals, shelters). Many of them will have working bikes so you can just get exposure to different models and built up your own experience.
I understand the idea but I wouldn’t do it. I don’t like the idea of offering to work for free because the employer may feel they are breaking the law by not paying minimum wage and you would be taking someone else’s job.
It’s pretty sad we’ve gotten to this point isn’t it? Unfortunately this is now a fact of life in the USA.
I don’t know about breaking the law (probably thought) with regard to working for free. What about if he hurts himself on the job? How does workman’s comp insurance view that, or handle payment for the injury? What if he hurts someone by not preparing a bike correctly, does the shop’s insurance pay the claim? Would you take the risk of losing your business so the can learn the trade?
There has to be another way to go about this. Certainly whatever you do at the shop, even if sweeping floors or changing tires and tubes all day has to be worth minimum wage.
Go for it. When I retired, I had about 3 months of leave and permissive TDY, and I did exactly that. I wrenched for free in exchange for being taught some basic stuff. It helped that I knew the bike shop guys very well for about 4-5 years, though…I’m not sure how well received it would have been if I had just popped into a shop that didn’t know me.
Like others have said “Go for it” it can’t hurt to ask.
Being a business owner I can see looking at this two ways.
Ok I’ve got a free shop flunky hanging around for three months. Certainly they can sweep the floor, do some runs, make the coffee etc. As long as he doesn’t get in the way or cause trouble so what.
“Training” people takes a lot of time. When I’m training I’m not being productive even if that person is just standing there asking me to do it slower, do it again, what did you do there etc. Having someone hanging around that is not invested in the job or holding the job in the future is going to disrupt everyone else that is, standing around the water cooler mentality. And as someone else mentioned “This guy is here for three months and I show him how to do a bunch of stuff…he goes off and starts his own shop”
It really is going to depend on the person you’re talking too, how you come across etc. If you can really express why you’re doing it, that you have no desire to do it for a living and just want to learn for personal use and you find yourself with a “Pause” in your career. The second you say “A good reference at another shop”, you’re screwed though. Why would I show you how I do everything so you can head over to another business and make money for them? I mean if you end goal is to actually work in an LBS then simply try to get a job at one. Walking in and saying “Hey I have no experience but I want to learn. I will “Volunteer” for 90 days to learn and if you think I’ll make it then I’ll work for “X””
Offer to work/volunteer for trade. I used to be in charge of merchandising for a bike shop that did this. You could volunteer to do extra things the shop needed in exchange for credit at the rate of $10/hr. It was a win win. $10 credit is $10 for the customer but obviously much less out of the shops pocket.
I have a friend who does this, actually slightly different. Bike shops nearly always can use a hand at wrenching, they get back logged really easily. Anyway, my buddy works for free but asks that he be able to buy bikes/parts for dealer cost. Win/Win. Go for it
bike mechanics work for so little money - - what’s difference does it make if you get paid or not?
Find a place who will hire and pay you for what you already know how to do, fix flats, adjust brakes and derailleurs, work with public and write up service tickets, etc. And express your desire to learn more.
If you don’t know any of the above learn that first on your own via youtube on your own bikes.
No issue with you doing this. Like others said, use the word “volunteer,” not work. Offer your voluntary services in exchange for learning the trade.
However, you need to understand, depending on the state, they may not let you do it. In most states, individuals must be paid for any time the employer “suffers or permits an individual to perform work.” There is a fine line between “volunteers” and “unpaid workers.” The Department of Labor (DOL) is really cracking down on internships around the country. Used to be no legal issues because interns received course credit in exchange for exposure to the workplace. But, the DOL is realizing that interns actually do a lot of work. They are not sitting and observing, they are doing the business of the company. Thus, the DOL is cracking down on internships. That is similar to what you are seeking. Thus, the LBS may be very hesitant to agree.
All that said, there are no legal issues on you for doing this or seeking it out, so, I would go for it.
Call it “doing an internship”, it’s much more palatable that way for both you and the employees. Pay is still zip but it’s more tasteful than working for free.
^^^this or as a consultant. A lot of wrenches get paid minimum plus what jobs they are able to do in a day and paid commission based on the task ($5 flat tire “labor” = $.50, $175 full rebuild/tune = $40…).
I jumped back into finance after 12 years under the same model: “I’ll consult for free for 60 days and if there is a mutual fit then X.” Win-win.
Thanks to you and all for helping me fine-tune my message and the advice.
What I’d actually like is to work at the shop but I was concerned my lack of experience would be a problem. It sounds like, in the interest of asking for what I want and compromising if necessary, I should ask for a JOB first, and then if experience is an issue, consider the “Let me work here for X and if it’s mutually beneficial, then hire me” and/or “Let me work in exchange for buying things at-cost”. To the poster who said I was undervaluing my skill set, you make an excellent point. Although I am only familiar with relatively basic bike tuning and wrenching, I’m a quick learner and have business experience - I was able to learn how to manage maintenance on fighter aircraft as well as fly them, I’m sure that I would be able to succeed in learning the ropes and executing the basics at a bike shop without intruding too much.
I live in California, so I’m not sure if anyone has familiarity with labor laws in this state regarding “volunteer” or “internship” work.
