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    Default Want to change careers, how would I start?

    Not sure where to post this but I'm looking to change careers and was wondering if I could get some direction. I've been going through ads off and on for a while now but they all seem to require a minimum of a couple years experience. I was wondering if I should look into going back to school or are there companies that would hire some one with no experience? If I learned some software would that maybe help get me in? Any insight is appreciated.

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    Community Moderator Jim Dawson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Want to change careers, how would I start?

    What would you really like to do? What job would make it fun going to work everyday?

    If you do what you love, then you will never work another day in your life. If you want it bad enough then you can do it, but you may not get there overnight.



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    Default Re: Want to change careers, how would I start?

    If you are saying you want to change to machining, I recommend school. I am going back for some classes next month. In the course of my investigating programs in the area, I can tell you that in some locations they are hiring right out of class. Literally. The recruiters come to the school. An example: Everett Community College in Everett Washington has a machinists program which might as well be a recruiting center for Boeing. Also, certifications (classes and tests) are often required for insurance, union, etc reasons. Programs are of reasonable length and most community colleges seem to have them. I am re-training for CNC. I want to be a machine technician not a machinist so the tracks are a bit different but I spent some time talking to students and instructors in the machinist track. There certainly seems to be a growing shortage of trained machinists. It looks like a good time to consider the field, at least in my area. This is just what I picked up looking into it myself.



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    Default Re: Want to change careers, how would I start?

    Well I'm tired of the automotive industry and there are not any employers I'm interested in where I live. There are a couple of tool and die shops close by. I was going to try them but I didn't know if it would be worth my while to learn some g code and start on a simulator so I can get somewhat familiar with this stuff.



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    Member awerby's Avatar
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    Default Re: Want to change careers, how would I start?

    I'd say it would be a better use of your time to learn to use a CAD program for designing parts. While knowing how to write G-code by hand is still a useful skill that can come in handy at times, it's not really necessary in this era of CAM programs, which can automatically generate the G-code from CAD drawings or models. There are starting to be a fair number of free or inexpensive CAD programs out there, which you can practice with, although they aren't used much in industry as yet.

    [FONT=Verdana]Andrew Werby[/FONT]
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    Community Moderator Jim Dawson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Want to change careers, how would I start?

    It's pretty hard to offer any realistic advice without knowing something about your situation. Skills, age, general background? Nothing wrong with learning something about CNC programming, any knowledge helps. I couldn't even spell CNC until I was in my 60's. Today I design & build CNC systems. If you're interested in tool & die, and have some general machining background, then go talk to the local tool & die shops, can't hurt.

    You might take a look at this post as well as read through the entire thread.
    http://www.cnczone.com/forums/genera...ml#post1978782



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    Default Re: Want to change careers, how would I start?

    .



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    Default Re: Want to change careers, how would I start?

    Quote Originally Posted by awerby View Post
    I'd say it would be a better use of your time to learn to use a CAD program for designing parts. While knowing how to write G-code by hand is still a useful skill that can come in handy at times, it's not really necessary in this era of CAM programs, which can automatically generate the G-code from CAD drawings or models. There are starting to be a fair number of free or inexpensive CAD programs out there, which you can practice with, although they aren't used much in industry as yet.
    I'll check those out, thanks. Edit: there seems to be a fair amount of software out there, anything I should try first? I've heard Solidworks on some of the youtube videos I've watched but would prefer a free version to get started.

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Dawson View Post
    It's pretty hard to offer any realistic advice without knowing something about your situation. Skills, age, general background? Nothing wrong with learning something about CNC programming, any knowledge helps. I couldn't even spell CNC until I was in my 60's. Today I design & build CNC systems. If you're interested in tool & die, and have some general machining background, then go talk to the local tool & die shops, can't hurt.

    You might take a look at this post as well as read through the entire thread.
    http://www.cnczone.com/forums/genera...ml#post1978782
    I'll be 37 in a couple months and have 18 years in the automotive field here in July. Just tired of the flat rate pay and I don't enjoy doing this anymore.

    Last edited by romanlynch; 03-13-2017 at 10:44 AM.


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    Community Moderator Jim Dawson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Want to change careers, how would I start?

    You might try Fusion 360 by AutoDesk. It's free to students and hobbyists Full featured CAD/CAM. A bit of a learning curve, but plenty of online tutorial videos.
    Online CAD/CAM Design Software | Free Trial & Download | Fusion 360

    After 18 years in the automotive trades you have lots of mechanical ability, an eye for detail, a good understanding of electrical and electronics and most importantly troubleshooting ability. That opens the door to a lot of opportunities. There are a lot of machinists out there, but only a small percentage of them have the ability to actually repair the machines. Industrial maintenance is not a bad gig, especially if you can get into the electronics/electrical end of things. Something to concider.



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Want to change careers, how would I start?

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