Career Choices

[jhwatts]

I worked as a machinist for about six years. I worked in a few different job shops doing about everything, milling, turning, welding (tig & mig), metal fabrication, grinding, cnc set up and programming etc. At the same time I went to night school and eventually made my way to college. I earned a B.S. in physics with a minor in mathematics. I have now worked in the nuclear industry for about seven years as a nuclear instrumentation scientist. I have government security clearances, attended several training classes and professional seminars, and I even have one of these green belt certificates thingies, and not far from getting a black belt. I enjoy machining and I even have a small shop at home with a lathe, mill, home brew cnc etc. I have tried to get back into machining but most places will not even look at me because of my qualifications. They basically say I am over qualified. The last guy I talked to about employment said it sounds like I should be teaching school. Any thoughts.

[championp]

Tell the last interviewer he's a moron! If someone told me I was overqualified for a job I would come unglued! Then I would get as much work as I could into my home shop, expand, and take away all his customers and put him out of business, and buy all of his equipment for pennies on the dollar!

Or......(more realistic)

What I've found is most effective for interviewing (this really happened to me), tell them you just got finished with an interview and you got the job. I really scheduled two interviews on the same day and got hired on the first. It seemed like a better work atmosphere for my personality. I told the second interviewer that I only showed up out of professional courtesy because I always keep my appointments, and that I just got hired somewhere else. You should have seen it! The tables were turned and this guy was trying to convince me that I should work for him! I still have that job and I have started my own shop. But if I was in the market... I would have no trouble getting a job now(Ithink )

Best of luck,
Chris

[championp]

What part of the us are you in? I could use someone of your caliber at the end of the year.

[jhwatts]

I am located in East Tennessee.

[championp]

I am in Ogden, Utah. I have a small cnc job shop with a few larger jobs coming up at the end of 2006. and a couple of smaller jobs in the meantime. by the time this big ordr comes in, i wil definitly need some help running this businss and getting the work done, I will probably buy a turning center and a lagrer capacity VMC to handle all the work. I'm not afraid of working with intelligent people, I actually enjoy it. Keep in touch and maybe there will be an oppurtunity to do both,

[stupidog]

Maybe you are looking at the wrong field. Have you considered becoming a manufacturing engineer?
I work at a large automotive supplier in East TN and you sound like the kind of person we look for. As a former machinist, I get all the chances I want to keep my hand in on conventional (or cnc) equipment. As an added plus, we buy lots of machine tools which we then set up for long-term production.
Right now a group of us are commuting to Texas every week to set up all the equipment for a new plant there. In the normal couse of our work we launch new products quite a bit as well.
Our basic role is as insurance for when things go wrong with a metal-cutting process but there is a lot of variety. You might find you like this type of work (you'll certainly get to play with a lot of high-end equipment) and East TN has quite a few plants of this type.

[jhwatts]

championp

I am a long way from Utah. I did come close to working in Idaho National Engineering and Enviromental Laboratory recently. I couldnt quite make the jump. Thats a long way from home. I have an excelent background in the nuclear industry. If you have some work you want to farm out let me know or if you want to work together on a project let me know.

stupidog

Pay would a big issue now. That company I currently work for is trying to lock me in. I have got three 3.5% raises and a 15% pay increase promotion in a little over a year. I could pursue manufacturing engineering or even machining but it would be hard press to make the money I do now.