looking to get my foot in the door (audio)

[Awhitewookie]

Hey everyone. I'm looking for your advice as to were/how someone could get started at an audio shop. I do not have professional experience with audio or alarms, just my own personal and friends systems experience. I have a bunch of customer relations experience from various jobs and that's it. 2 years games(arcade) supervisor at Main Event, 1 year assistant mgr. at Jiffy Lube (plus NTB on the side), and a few months at a high class sushi restaurant. I am in Austin, Texas and can think of Best Buy, Fry's Electronics, Custom Sounds, and Mothers Window Tint.

I appreciate all input!

[Octavio Palencia]

I'm on the same boat, and what I was told was that I should volunteer at the local shop (If you like your local shop) for a while and just get a feel for how things run. Even if it means cleaning and maintenance, you'll still be around the car guys. Try to get MECP certified too, over where I'm at it's like 65 bucks to take the test.

[WastedTalent]

^^^ that.

Just go into your local shops that you'd like to work at and show them pics of your work. Show them what you can do. volunteer (if they accept volunteers). Get certified and such....

[Pyr013]

Mecp seems to be a good thing. I'm looking to become an installer as well. Luckily i have three years of professional experience in low voltage electronics such as home security systems and home and pro audio, among other things. This information helps a lot. Thank you!

[Rich Schenk]

I went to a install school in Daytona beach called installers institute and got my basic mecp. And got hired by bestbuy soon after that. They also got me job offers other places too. Had one in Hawaii wish I would of taken it.

[mothra]

learn, learn, learn. if you plan on working at a store front, no matter which one, you need to get all the forum talk out of your head. The forum mentality is nothing close to what actually keeps a car audio store open. You should have your expectations set that it is a slow and very laborious learning process. The easiest way to get into the door would be through a Best Buy trainee program. I see guys go into Best Buy as a trainee and get discouraged by the way things are ran and pay. But if you understand that it's a learning experience you'll be good. Get your MECP certification since BB will pay for it and it'll help out your wallet. after you're in for a little while go to Sonus Evol or Mobile Solutions Boot Camp. than if you're looking for more money than you can look into other shops or opening your own. don't expect any custom work at Best Buy or anything beyond doing radio and remote starts all day, but that is where companies make there money to keep the lights on. I work with guys that think their is just so much better out there but you have to keep in mind that most shops pay by commission and very few pay per hour. Too many shops pressure you to be a faster installer and not a better installer. At least at BB you can refuse to work on a car if you don't feel comfortable working on it and you are paid hourly so there's no incentive to rush and get the car out fast and possible cause issues for you later down the road. The guy I install with at my shop is good team player, we help each other out all the time and just about every car that comes in allows us both to work on it. We always allow more time that it actually takes to install a product b/c you never know. Perfect example, customer comes in and buys a radio and wants to know how long it's going to take to install, I tell them it'll take 2-3 hours. this is a good accurate quote of time b/c you never know what you're going to run in to. can it be done faster, sure and most of the time it does but you need to learn how to set customer expectation. I get customers all the time that freak out about the times I give them and they always tell me that XYZ Audio down the street can do it in half the time. I tell those guys, go down the street b/c I'm not that desperate for your business to sacrifice my quality of work. I do the little things that other shops don't do and that's what makes me better. Never sacrifice your quality for speed.