Need Help!- how to get into teching machine trades

[smallss]

Hey everyone,
I am a student at Vincennes University majoring in Injection Molding and CNC Programming, and when I get out of school I want to teach. The reason I want to teach is because I would get to work with kids, help problem solve, and I think I could help them get into something they will enjoy like I did. If any teachers out there have and advice on what I would need to do to get involved in teaching please post your advice. Also if you want to post your story on how you ended up teaching I would like to hear it.

[mc-motorsports]

Originally Posted by smallss Hey everyone, I am a student at Vincennes University majoring in Injection Molding and CNC Programming, and when I get out of school I want to teach. The reason I want to teach is because I would get to work with kids, help problem solve, and I think I could help them get into something they will enjoy like I did. If any teachers out there have and advice on what I would need to do to get involved in teaching please post your advice. Also if you want to post your story on how you ended up teaching I would like to hear it.

My teacher back in tech school was a M.E. and served as a tool engineer at Kennametal for 15 years before he had is paycheck cut into 1/3 and took the job as the CNC instructor of our local technical collage. Good luck,
MC

[NC Cams]

Teachers initillay starve with low pay and less respect.

NOw with budgets being cut evrywhere, you can plan on anthing but reding, writing and aritmetic being cut form the teaching dias.

Youre goals are admirable. Even the industrial side is gonna be tight with regard to traiing budgets.

I"d try to get on with a CNC outfit ad they do offer training as part of their sales packages. You might get lucky and not have to travel all over heck to do your thing.

whent hings shape back up, make friends with a principal or superintendant of schooks. THey can get you in a bit easier and quicker and they'll aslo watch out for a buddy who'd teaching in their system. Politics werks everywhere.

The joy on a kied or adults face when they "Get" something for the fist time is a feeling htat never gets old.

YOur goals are TOTALLY admirable but dn't let naivety get in your way or cloud your thinking.

[smallss]

I think getting on at a cnc distrubitor and doing training would be fun to do starting out. Vincennes has a good connection with HAAS and I have been thinking about there program which is 18 months of training on haas machines that goes over everything about HAAS, and then becomming a tech for them. The only problem with that is moving to cali, and always going one place to another. The biggest reason I want to teach is it is a steady job, good benifits, summers off, and I would get to work with kids that have a common interest. I know its a job I wouldnt get tired of because I get the summer off every year, and every year its a new group of students.

[mc-motorsports]

YES!! Haas factory training is probably the best thing you can do to further your carrer. You'll never regret it, poor you, you have to move to cali for 18 months... I live in wonderful Ohio, let me tell you how much I love the weather here...

[smallss]

haha im not to far from ya. I am from Indiana lol. I still have a year left in college berfore I end up doing anything other than summer help/intern. If I get a chance to do it, I probally will do it because I hear a lot of good about it, plus with that kind of training I could end up teaching at a university.

[mc-motorsports]

The other thing is some schools require the teachers to work year round! Your probably looking to get into a highschool. Trade schools, technical collages and such work year round, adult classes in the summer. Unless you get into a highschool, if you don't work year round, you'll be working under poverty wages. God bless you should you choose to.
I was in charge of training for the last 5 years of my previous day job before self employment. I probably learned more by teaching than I ever did by doing.

In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few. -- Shunryu Suzuki

[smallss]

well with those 3 months off I could always work somewhere else, and I could boost my income doing some stuff for local places machining, programming, or even something totaly else. I like money dont get me wrong, but if I was teaching and making a living, it really wouldn't matter to me how much I make

[NC Cams]

My ex was a teacher. She did real well in school after many years. SHe retired and then Enron hit. A lot of her teachers retirement funds were invested by their system in Enron. THey get their check now but spousal coverage is GONE. They can't double dip unless special strigs are pulled. SHe can't ever work outside of teaching.

Point is, things are changing REALLY fast and hard. Looks like you have to plan on stepping stone jobs now. Can't go someplace for life. Probably the case that nobody wants lifer's anymore.

I did this involuntarily as in having an aggressive nature nurtured and cultured until it wasn't needed anymore. Fortunately, learned a TON via the job jumps. Unfortunately, I didn't build a retirement fund. I did come up with enough thru some shrewd buys, lots of luck and aggressive actions with regard to doing business. Got sick, now medically retired and life is rolling.on

YOure at the start of what could be an interesting career. The dream is to teach. You can do this thru youth programs, scouts, evening teaching at trade schools. Use the day job to build your nest egg, learn the ways of business and get BENEFITS, UNTAXED benefits.

Get a book if you can find it called "tax accounting for engineers". It explains taxes for creative engineering types. Tax planning is the "third career" you need to become involved it/with.

You have a vision. You have a "trade", you have youth. Don't let youth be wasted on the yougn. Prepare for some rocky times. Doing that helped me get camco, my term for NC cams, thru some rocky times that would have shattered the dreams of a more naive dreamer. Do so wisely, and you'll be able to do it all. I pretty much did.

ONe more thing, find a good woman to go thru and share the dream with you. I was too busy living the dream and lost the one who would've when she got tired of playing second fiddle to the dream quest.

LIve the deram, ah, the unique American opportunity.....

Besides, even though Im medially retired, the memories of life in the fast lane will easily last thur whats lef of my life.

I widh I had what you have access to - health, knowledge and opportunitys. Go foth and prosper.....

[charger19690]

I mean no disrespect at all here.....

I would say if anyone wants to teach machining, please think about working in the field for a bit.

In my opinion, machining isn't something that is just a technical theory that can be learned by reading a book.

There are so many variables that you learn through experience and time.

When I was getting my Bachelor's in Mangement an instructor told me once that a good Manager is 50% education and 50% experience. There are just things you cannot teach.

I believe this to be very true for machining.

I worked with a guy that taught CNC Programming for 10 years. When he came into a Job Shop environment he struggled for about 2 years to get up to pace with the shop.

He knew programming like the back of his hand, but had problems with application.

Mike in MN
http://www.cncbasics.com
http://www.cncbasicsforum.com

[William Draper]

Suggest you get a job in the traing department of a large corporation. Sometimes your duties are to "train the teacher" in other words, dealers and distributors of many companies have their own training departments. Your job would be to train their instructors.

It may require more education on your part, some companies will require you to take additional college courses but ofter at their expense. My company pays for college courses, the only catch is you have to reimberse the company if you quit less than two years after completion of the course.

The important thing today is to get your foot in the door of a good company.

[underthetire]

I used to teach at a couple local mt distributors back in the day. Not so prevalent these days, most shops already have lots of experience in programming now, or even more use cam to do all the programming. The distributors still have application engineers, but they generally spend one day showing a customer the ins and outs of the new machine itself, not so much programming. The rest of there time involves sales calls, time studies, or part run offs for demos. Now teaching cam might be the way to go.