Looking for mmi intern

41NDT
Posts
855
Joined
3/19/2007
Location
AU
12/7/2012 9:09pm
lostboy819 wrote:
You must have wasted 20k at MMI
Husqerdo wrote:
Learn to read, look above The school and instruction may not be the greatest but that doesn't mean you should write off every kid that goes...
Learn to read, look above
The school and instruction may not be the greatest but that doesn't mean you should write off every kid that goes there, It's up to them to to learn the skills they will utilize while on the job.
newmann wrote:
Oh the irony....learn to read. Again, where did I say "all"? I clearly said "some". I had one autobody tech from TSTC who was quite good...
Oh the irony....learn to read. Again, where did I say "all"? I clearly said "some".

I had one autobody tech from TSTC who was quite good. Went on to open his own shop and is doing quite well.. Had another who was a total flop. Cost me thousands of dollars but I was convinced I could teach him what they could not. I was wrong. Had one from Wyo Tech that was completely clueless of the basics of prepping a panel for priming, refinishing or blending. Couldn't use masking tape properly. And the one from UTI literally could not find his way to work. 22 years old and his mother was bringing him to work and picking him up. Zero basic skills and was oblivious to the two years of training he had recieved. But they got him through on a grant or loan. They stole that money and taught him absolutely nothing. Just funneled him through and took advantage of him. Was quite disgusting and everyone associated with that school should be ashamed of themselves.

So, one good and three clueless. My experience.
Did you not interview these kids or did you just accept them because of certificate?
newmann
Posts
24437
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
USA
12/7/2012 9:21pm
41NDT wrote:
Did you not interview these kids or did you just accept them because of certificate?
Certificates are often not worth the paper they are written on. Bringing them in at the bottom and giving them a chance. Figured if they stuck it out for a two year course that they would be something I could work with.
41NDT
Posts
855
Joined
3/19/2007
Location
AU
12/7/2012 9:41pm
41NDT wrote:
Did you not interview these kids or did you just accept them because of certificate?
newmann wrote:
Certificates are often not worth the paper they are written on. Bringing them in at the bottom and giving them a chance. Figured if they stuck...
Certificates are often not worth the paper they are written on. Bringing them in at the bottom and giving them a chance. Figured if they stuck it out for a two year course that they would be something I could work with.
Yeh because sometimes the governments place kids and the employee gets a good incentive and its worth giving them a go. My traineship went for 4 yrs with schooling and the second one I did took up to 8yrs with all experience needed to gain quals
rrdecals
Posts
168
Joined
5/6/2010
Location
Durango, CO, USA
12/7/2012 9:45pm
Actually I love wrenching for him and would be out in CA if I could but I need to stay home with his little sister a bit too. Killy spent all day today working on his own bike which most of riders SX can't do. The problem is he needs to be spending his time on the bike not working on it. MMI kids are great, I know several and all have been very smart. This is a good way to get a feel for the job and maybe network from there.

The Shop

12/7/2012 9:50pm Edited Date/Time 12/8/2012 12:04pm
41NDT wrote:
Did you not interview these kids or did you just accept them because of certificate?
Back in the late 80s it was still pretty new and we would get a call from MMI in AZ looking for a job for a tech who was going to be done with the school soon and we had no reason to doubt their ability. The first couple of guys were so far in over their heads that I took them off line and had them do new bike set up. I then told MMI that if they send someone my way that it would be minimum wage until they could show they were worth more but most of them cost the shop money. We then told MMI NOT to call us because we had no interest in them because they lacked basic skills. Every now and then one would come in for an interview but very few could do the job. Of the thirty plus that came in I think only two worked out and they both had prior shop experince.

I hear some Harley grads from MMI are ok but I would not bet money on it. Maybe there are more success stories out there but they are few and far between.
Electro21
Posts
2160
Joined
6/11/2008
Location
Dumfries, VA, USA
Fantasy
12/7/2012 10:36pm
I am sure there are great mechanics that have graduated MMI, the hard part will be getting a good one to work for free in these times.
FIREfish148
Posts
5486
Joined
1/20/2009
Location
Kirkland, WA, USA
12/8/2012 1:00am
Good luck finding a kid. Hopefully you don't end up with some stuck up kid w/ rich parents, and no work ethic paying his way. Not to be negative or anything Dry
Roscoe33
Posts
942
Joined
12/10/2009
Location
London, CA
12/8/2012 5:12am
My experience with a MMI grad was very short, the "mechanic" couldn't diagnose the problem because the bike didn't run, so he couldn't fix it.

MMI has good TV commercials.
BAMX
Posts
2900
Joined
1/22/2012
Location
Fallbrook, CA, USA
12/8/2012 5:48am
This thread is cracking me up and reminding me of the my days as a personal watercraft mechanic. After spending a few summers working for a small shop, I decided to find a theoretically better job at a larger shop that was closer to my home. Essentially it was the head mechanic who was lazy but knew what he was doing, a MMI graduate and me. The boss rarely did any work so it was up to me and the MMI guy. The MMI guy was a total joke. He couldn't rebuild a motor by himself or even do basic diagnostics. He would do brilliant things like reuse gaskets and just slather them with regular red high temp silicone. I'm sure that he place has some good graduates but I have only met a few and they had other experience.
Faceaz
Posts
1364
Joined
7/28/2008
Location
Glendale, AZ, USA
12/8/2012 6:06am Edited Date/Time 12/8/2012 6:08am
mtl wrote:
A guy just got into debt (or spent $20k) to get a certification from MMI and now he is expected to work for free? Am I...
A guy just got into debt (or spent $20k) to get a certification from MMI and now he is expected to work for free?

Am I the only one that sees this as a problem?
newmann wrote:
If you have ever dealt with kids out of trades schools such as that and the autobody courses, you would understand. He should make them put...
If you have ever dealt with kids out of trades schools such as that and the autobody courses, you would understand. He should make them put up a $10,000.00 retainer for the damage they are about to do. Some of these kids have no business whatsoever having a wrench in their hand, let along getting near a vehicle with that wrench. Two year course and 24 grand of mom's money (or in the case of UTI Houston, student loans) and these idiots don't know the difference between 80 grit and 180 grit. They don't pass a phase of the course, they just advance them to the next 6 week segment and take the money. Make them retake a session and the money stops flowing. It is mind boggling the level of stupidity that UTI puts their stamp of approval on. They have certification for advanced suspension and steering yet they lay a loaded strut on the ground and zap the nut off the top without putting it in the spring compressor mounted on the wall directly behind them.

No way in hell I'd ride or let my hired gun ride a bike around on a SX track that had been touched on by an MMI intern without him putting some serious effort in proving himself. Scary situation.
Exactly. I've bought many screwed up bikes from MMI kids because they don't what they are doing.

Perfect example: Last week I got a smoking deal on a 250 from a MMI kid. He had just put $400 into the top-end all with OEM stuff. Put everything back together "to spec", but there was oil burning off the engine & it was smoking white. He was out of funds to mess with it again. Turns out he had pryed up the cylinder from the cases with a screw driver & gouged the cases. Cleaned it up a bit with a file & it now runs perfect.
bangmyhead
Posts
751
Joined
4/9/2011
Location
Comin' Straight Outta Compton, CA, USA
12/8/2012 11:42am
newmann wrote:
If you have ever dealt with kids out of trades schools such as that and the autobody courses, you would understand. He should make them put...
If you have ever dealt with kids out of trades schools such as that and the autobody courses, you would understand. He should make them put up a $10,000.00 retainer for the damage they are about to do. Some of these kids have no business whatsoever having a wrench in their hand, let along getting near a vehicle with that wrench. Two year course and 24 grand of mom's money (or in the case of UTI Houston, student loans) and these idiots don't know the difference between 80 grit and 180 grit. They don't pass a phase of the course, they just advance them to the next 6 week segment and take the money. Make them retake a session and the money stops flowing. It is mind boggling the level of stupidity that UTI puts their stamp of approval on. They have certification for advanced suspension and steering yet they lay a loaded strut on the ground and zap the nut off the top without putting it in the spring compressor mounted on the wall directly behind them.

No way in hell I'd ride or let my hired gun ride a bike around on a SX track that had been touched on by an MMI intern without him putting some serious effort in proving himself. Scary situation.
Husqerdo wrote:
Not sure what your gig is and I really couldn't care less, but to trash ALL trade school grads just shows how fricken ignorant you are...
Not sure what your gig is and I really couldn't care less, but to trash ALL trade school grads just shows how fricken ignorant you are. In this day and age it is more difficult for young people to get a start then when you were 16. Going to a trade school is one avenue that a dedicated young person can most likely succeed and build a future but yes it is up to them. For a guy who can't figure out what parts washer to buy, I think you should just STFU.
this shoulda been attached to Husqerdo's post LMAO hahaha
Braaap14
Posts
826
Joined
5/10/2012
Location
USA
12/8/2012 5:20pm Edited Date/Time 12/8/2012 5:21pm
Mmi is a joke. Myself and several colleagues have gone through their program without learning things previous work experience have taught us.


Its a product and a tittle for consumption.
PTECH
Posts
469
Joined
11/28/2011
Location
Phoenix, AZ, USA
12/8/2012 5:37pm
As a UTI graduate I can say that people who go to UTI an idiot, will leave an idiot. They don't really care about teaching people anything there. They just want to crank as many people out as they possibly can so they can stuff a fresh new batch in their place next phase and they collect the tuition checks. I learned a good amount from UTI because I gave a shit and I was interested in learning so I could get my $$ worth. That being said anyone in a trade should know better to expect much of anything from a newb trade school graduate. At least 50% of any job is taught in the practical experience. Most trade schools will teach you just enough to avoid being killed your first day, the rest is up to the poor bastard who has you as his apprentice. I graduated UTI and did a one year apprenticeship then I was made regular technician just like everyone else. It wasn't long before the old crusty mechanics were asking me for help. Long story short, you can't fix stupid and hopefully if you're the person doing the hiring, you can spot a bright guy with a certification and a stupid guy with a certification because there are lots of both out there.
4stroke4DWIN
Posts
2765
Joined
1/15/2012
Location
texas city, TX, USA
12/8/2012 5:41pm
True story, we walk back in the service area and what do we see? An MMI grad with a 3 jaw puller and a ball ping, peen hammer or how ever you spell it trying to remove a fly wheel from a CRF 450Blink while proudly displaying his MMI cert. that was his last day and a yr later that cert is still hanging at his work station. My buddy says he'll give it back if the kid ever shows his face around the shop again.

And don't get one of them to spoon a tire on and off unless you have endless amounts of tubes and about 3 hrs to spare.Tongue Tongue Laughing
jndmx
Posts
9696
Joined
1/20/2008
Location
South Kingston, RI, USA
12/8/2012 6:34pm
Some of you guys crack me up.
Any school is going to have some good folks and some folks that just skated by, that's not in any way exclusive to just mechanics training.

Do you know what they call the guy that graduates med school with the lowest possible grades?

Doctor.....
Steven_Perry
Posts
369
Joined
1/15/2011
Location
Tulare, CA, USA
12/8/2012 6:35pm
I went to UTI for HVAC.When I got out and started my first job.I was GREEN.I didn't know jack really and I made all top grades.
There are some kids their parents pay for everything and they didn't care what was going on in classes.I paid for mine so I felt I had to learn.
12/8/2012 10:43pm
jndmx wrote:
Some of you guys crack me up. Any school is going to have some good folks and some folks that just skated by, that's not in...
Some of you guys crack me up.
Any school is going to have some good folks and some folks that just skated by, that's not in any way exclusive to just mechanics training.

Do you know what they call the guy that graduates med school with the lowest possible grades?

Doctor.....
No those guys wash out and then become Military Doctors.
Marshj
Posts
124
Joined
9/22/2010
Location
NYC, NY, USA
12/8/2012 11:05pm
mtl wrote:
A guy just got into debt (or spent $20k) to get a certification from MMI and now he is expected to work for free? Am I...
A guy just got into debt (or spent $20k) to get a certification from MMI and now he is expected to work for free?

Am I the only one that sees this as a problem?
Yea. You are. Ever head of College? 100k+ in debt and work for free? Yea. Called work experience.

Multi-national corporations, law firms, every professional field does the exact same thing, 3-6 month internships = experience, networking, and potential lead into a career with that company.
12/8/2012 11:24pm
Marshj wrote:
Yea. You are. Ever head of College? 100k+ in debt and work for free? Yea. Called work experience. Multi-national corporations, law firms, every professional field does...
Yea. You are. Ever head of College? 100k+ in debt and work for free? Yea. Called work experience.

Multi-national corporations, law firms, every professional field does the exact same thing, 3-6 month internships = experience, networking, and potential lead into a career with that company.
Every internship I've ever had (all for multi-national corporations) were paid internships
Marshj
Posts
124
Joined
9/22/2010
Location
NYC, NY, USA
12/8/2012 11:44pm
Marshj wrote:
Yea. You are. Ever head of College? 100k+ in debt and work for free? Yea. Called work experience. Multi-national corporations, law firms, every professional field does...
Yea. You are. Ever head of College? 100k+ in debt and work for free? Yea. Called work experience.

Multi-national corporations, law firms, every professional field does the exact same thing, 3-6 month internships = experience, networking, and potential lead into a career with that company.
Every internship I've ever had (all for multi-national corporations) were paid internships
Welcome to pre-2008.
12/8/2012 11:51pm
Marshj wrote:
Welcome to pre-2008.
uh, I just graduated in Dec 2011, so not really
12/9/2012 2:42am Edited Date/Time 12/9/2012 3:17am
My son is an MMI Grad (Orlando 2010) and is now a Pro Mechanic/Team Manager/Engine Builder for a Honda Team.

We are a motocross family. He was attending college and saw his friends who graduated not getting jobs. He came home and said he wanted to leave college and go to MMI. I fought him on this MMI decision because I knew its a longshot to make it on the pro level but I couldnt deny him the opportunity. I also thought he could finsh college if things didnt work out at MMI.

He Graduated MMI with a 3.93 GPA, won just about every award. He was ranked #2 in his group of 60

He said during orientation (first day of classes) MMI said 50% of the students will drop out.....in the end that was an accurate number. During class they would pull a few kids out for a random drug test, I think kids were thrown out for testing positive. He said about half the kids are serious and half just didnt care. He said MMI was pretty hard especilly the manufacturer programs in the end, but he also worked 35 hours a week changing oil at a toyota dealership to pay for his rent in Florida, his days were 6am to 9pm every weekday. When MMI had their recess all the students went partying, my son went to Race Tech suspension program for a week....he wanted to do everything to get an internship and saw other students as competition.

INTERNSHIPS
He worked free internships at JGR, Rockstar Suzuki and worked for a minimum salary for Tedder during the outdoor season. This is the only way you can make it into a fulltime mechanic gig. He was fortunate that Jeremy Albrecht, Bill Keefe & Matt Tedder gave him a chance to intern or he would be working at a dealership wrenching now. He is now living his dream, doing what he loves. He is currently living with Honda's top SX rider..........dreams can come true but all the stars have to be lined up and free internships are a reality.

MMI EMPTY PROMISES
One thing that I was irritated about was MMI promising my son about getting him on a Pro Team. They promised him internships, job leads etc upon him graduating. Upon graduating they didnt do anything for him, the guy wouldnt even return his calls or emails........whats more frustrating is that now he got his job MMI keeps trying to contact him so they can use his story for recruiting more students. HE NEVER RETURNS THEIR CALLS OR EMAILS.

Anyway, there are some things to know about MMI, they do have a great program for the right student, they are also good at making empty promises and collecting tuiton.
68
Posts
710
Joined
8/25/2012
Location
Sydney, AU
12/9/2012 4:16am
Long hours
No pay
All the glory of working for a guy that prob won't make mains

Best ad I've seen for a job all year
MR. X
Posts
6913
Joined
6/24/2010
Location
North Tonawanda, NY, USA
12/9/2012 6:51am
My girlfriend is going to school to get her doctorate in higher education so i have heard plenty about the negative side of schools for profit .
Trav138
Posts
1478
Joined
3/8/2012
Location
USA
12/9/2012 7:47am
My son is an MMI Grad (Orlando 2010) and is now a Pro Mechanic/Team Manager/Engine Builder for a Honda Team. We are a motocross family. He...
My son is an MMI Grad (Orlando 2010) and is now a Pro Mechanic/Team Manager/Engine Builder for a Honda Team.

We are a motocross family. He was attending college and saw his friends who graduated not getting jobs. He came home and said he wanted to leave college and go to MMI. I fought him on this MMI decision because I knew its a longshot to make it on the pro level but I couldnt deny him the opportunity. I also thought he could finsh college if things didnt work out at MMI.

He Graduated MMI with a 3.93 GPA, won just about every award. He was ranked #2 in his group of 60

He said during orientation (first day of classes) MMI said 50% of the students will drop out.....in the end that was an accurate number. During class they would pull a few kids out for a random drug test, I think kids were thrown out for testing positive. He said about half the kids are serious and half just didnt care. He said MMI was pretty hard especilly the manufacturer programs in the end, but he also worked 35 hours a week changing oil at a toyota dealership to pay for his rent in Florida, his days were 6am to 9pm every weekday. When MMI had their recess all the students went partying, my son went to Race Tech suspension program for a week....he wanted to do everything to get an internship and saw other students as competition.

INTERNSHIPS
He worked free internships at JGR, Rockstar Suzuki and worked for a minimum salary for Tedder during the outdoor season. This is the only way you can make it into a fulltime mechanic gig. He was fortunate that Jeremy Albrecht, Bill Keefe & Matt Tedder gave him a chance to intern or he would be working at a dealership wrenching now. He is now living his dream, doing what he loves. He is currently living with Honda's top SX rider..........dreams can come true but all the stars have to be lined up and free internships are a reality.

MMI EMPTY PROMISES
One thing that I was irritated about was MMI promising my son about getting him on a Pro Team. They promised him internships, job leads etc upon him graduating. Upon graduating they didnt do anything for him, the guy wouldnt even return his calls or emails........whats more frustrating is that now he got his job MMI keeps trying to contact him so they can use his story for recruiting more students. HE NEVER RETURNS THEIR CALLS OR EMAILS.

Anyway, there are some things to know about MMI, they do have a great program for the right student, they are also good at making empty promises and collecting tuiton.
Cool great post, hard work and being focused on a goal is what it takes. Hope he goes far and finds success in the industry.

Its a numbers game with trade school grads and apprentices. We took over a thousand apprentices over a three year span, three hundred made the 3-4 yrs to graduate into our welding field.. Sounds like schools like wyotech,mmi, etc are ok if your there for the right reason. I dont agree with putting them thru when they are not progressing, their has to be legitimate skills and testing to move thru a program. If its all about the dollars like you guys say, whats the point. Look how many business owners in this thread with horrible experiences with mmi grads.
mtl
Posts
1244
Joined
9/26/2011
Location
USA
12/9/2012 8:11am
Another totally rad thing about these schools is that they bank on federal money (pell grants, veterans benefits, etc) to fund themselves.

So essentially the taxpayer is funding a big part of this pseudo-education for profit business.


I personally know several guys who went through the Barron Institute and they also heard all kinds of promises, once they signed and paid all that disappeared. They all stated that the instructors were sub-par and that no one gave a shit about what you did they just pushed everyone through. NO ONE FAILED.
12/9/2012 8:25am
My son is an MMI Grad (Orlando 2010) and is now a Pro Mechanic/Team Manager/Engine Builder for a Honda Team. We are a motocross family. He...
My son is an MMI Grad (Orlando 2010) and is now a Pro Mechanic/Team Manager/Engine Builder for a Honda Team.

We are a motocross family. He was attending college and saw his friends who graduated not getting jobs. He came home and said he wanted to leave college and go to MMI. I fought him on this MMI decision because I knew its a longshot to make it on the pro level but I couldnt deny him the opportunity. I also thought he could finsh college if things didnt work out at MMI.

He Graduated MMI with a 3.93 GPA, won just about every award. He was ranked #2 in his group of 60

He said during orientation (first day of classes) MMI said 50% of the students will drop out.....in the end that was an accurate number. During class they would pull a few kids out for a random drug test, I think kids were thrown out for testing positive. He said about half the kids are serious and half just didnt care. He said MMI was pretty hard especilly the manufacturer programs in the end, but he also worked 35 hours a week changing oil at a toyota dealership to pay for his rent in Florida, his days were 6am to 9pm every weekday. When MMI had their recess all the students went partying, my son went to Race Tech suspension program for a week....he wanted to do everything to get an internship and saw other students as competition.

INTERNSHIPS
He worked free internships at JGR, Rockstar Suzuki and worked for a minimum salary for Tedder during the outdoor season. This is the only way you can make it into a fulltime mechanic gig. He was fortunate that Jeremy Albrecht, Bill Keefe & Matt Tedder gave him a chance to intern or he would be working at a dealership wrenching now. He is now living his dream, doing what he loves. He is currently living with Honda's top SX rider..........dreams can come true but all the stars have to be lined up and free internships are a reality.

MMI EMPTY PROMISES
One thing that I was irritated about was MMI promising my son about getting him on a Pro Team. They promised him internships, job leads etc upon him graduating. Upon graduating they didnt do anything for him, the guy wouldnt even return his calls or emails........whats more frustrating is that now he got his job MMI keeps trying to contact him so they can use his story for recruiting more students. HE NEVER RETURNS THEIR CALLS OR EMAILS.

Anyway, there are some things to know about MMI, they do have a great program for the right student, they are also good at making empty promises and collecting tuiton.
Trav138 wrote:
Cool great post, hard work and being focused on a goal is what it takes. Hope he goes far and finds success in the industry. Its...
Cool great post, hard work and being focused on a goal is what it takes. Hope he goes far and finds success in the industry.

Its a numbers game with trade school grads and apprentices. We took over a thousand apprentices over a three year span, three hundred made the 3-4 yrs to graduate into our welding field.. Sounds like schools like wyotech,mmi, etc are ok if your there for the right reason. I dont agree with putting them thru when they are not progressing, their has to be legitimate skills and testing to move thru a program. If its all about the dollars like you guys say, whats the point. Look how many business owners in this thread with horrible experiences with mmi grads.
I do have to say he really needed MMI's training for jumping into this job....especially for the engine rebuilding. They always have suspension sent out so thats one thing he doesnt get to involved in.

He started from day one rebuilding the entire motor himself, splitting cases and putting the entire bike into two huge rubbermaid containers and rebuilding for the following weekend. I was amazed at his ability to do this after MMI. His rider runs East Coast 250 and made all mains. He has had only one DNF in his mechanic career because a fork actually got bent after a hard hit on a triple, not his fault.

Last XMAS he showed up at our house with 2 brand new CRF450's and worked thru the holidays busting them down, rebuild the engines. He kept one bike for parts and built the race bike for Anaheim1 450 (They ran some 450's before East Coast started) I went to A1 and it was cool seeing him and his rider on the line with big boys.

He doesnt even have time to talk to me at the races...and I went to about 10 races this year.

These guys are under extreme pressure for low paycheck. He is on salary and has worked up to 90 hours some weeks.

Tough love, low pay!
TerryK
Posts
9899
Joined
8/17/2006
Location
CA
12/9/2012 8:34am
Not sure how it all works in the US but is sounds pretty sketchy. For most trades in Canada you have to put in 4-6000hours (paid) on the job, with a few 3-4 month sessions in trade school before you are classified as a journeyman. It takes 3-5 years depending on how many hours the employer gives you. It's a good system and it certainly weeds out the deadheads. You have to be committed to go through all that but at the end you will be well employed and well paid.
circus
Posts
341
Joined
12/28/2008
Location
gladwin, MI, USA
12/9/2012 9:29am
I went to MMI in 2000 and knew nothing about motorcycles. It did cost around $20k i think, but it was well worth it to me. There is no difference in kids going to college who party it away and a kid going to MMI partying it all away. It all depends on what you want to get out of it. So in the end, the $20k investment i put into myself gave me a career into the industry around 2004 as a team manager, then a 2008 west coast championship, and around $100k in bonuses from the riders I wrenched for. Thanks MMI, worth every penny.
6/21/2013 8:39am
rrdecals wrote:
MMI Kids, do you want the glory of being a supercross mechanic? Here's your chance. Internship: long hours no pay but all the glory. Contact me...
MMI Kids, do you want the glory of being a supercross mechanic? Here's your chance.

Internship: long hours no pay but all the glory. Contact me if interested and you are in the Socal area.
im a wyotech kid im twenty no kids no girl great mind set will work for no money just wanna get started i dont drink do drugs or do anything bad for that matter pls contact me 6145898590 my name is sterling monk

Post a reply to: Looking for mmi intern

The Latest