Recap
So, for a recap for people who don’t know my current situation. I’ve been working at a die shop for 6 months, and the position is in maintenance. I was told that after an amount of time, a machinist job would open, and I could continue to learn so much about the amazing trade that is machining. However, it has been 6 grueling months. I have worked part-time 3 days a week as the employer would not hire me full time. Although I did enjoy the free time, I would like to be able to afford things. Plus the working conditions have been sketchy at best, So after I left some slight insight into my work on this community, it was evident that I’m not just being a complainer and my job actually sucks. My duties at this job have been, in order, from what needs to be done first to last. Assembling push pins (for a process on a die) Brazing solider pins, cleaning up mill and lathe, facing cutting and polishing dies on lathe, punching out reclaim dies.
These are all the thing I do in my day-to-day job and I somewhat enjoy facing and polishing dies, however It’s pretty far down on the list, and I’ve had 4 eye infections because of grinding dust ending up in my eyes (yes I wore safetys). So thats what I do, I love the people at my current job. They are all supper friendly and I know a lot of them thought family and friends before I started working there. So with great help from the community I’ve been looking else where, I looked at one shop that was hiring for a manual machinist (I’ve never programmed a CNC, I’m a button pusher). So I thought “sweet a new job, and it’s machining and the starting pay is $17 an hour” So I looked them up drove there got an application, and got an interview. Talked to some old timers and a self-taught machinist, They were both pretty cool guys. So they sat me down in the break room and asked the generic questions, do you have a valid driver’s license, why are you leaving your other job, have you committed any crimes? the answers were pretty easy (I never did anything stupid) then they gave me the shop tour…
Bunch of South Bend lathes, 1 Atlas 12in (I thought that was pretty funny to see) Mill ports, bridge ports, boring mill, BIG ASS Cincinnati lathe. And they did have a CNC, it’s from 1995 And it runs Mylar ticker tape. Ok, maybe not the most up-to-date shop, but I’m not picky. So I talk to the Old timer for 30 minutes, He tells me that they have had tons of people that come in and say they’re machinists, and they don’t know shit. He told me a story where a guy came in, First day on the job puts a block of steel in a vice then starts to load an end mill into the collet. Old timer goes, “you’re going to want to use the Edge finder” and hands it to him. The guy puts the collet down and puts in a Jacobs chuck and doesn’t turn the spindle on and just pushes it up against the block and says “ok got it set” Guy was fired by lunch… Anyway I talked to the Old Timer for a bit, and he told me starting pay would be $15 an hour (so they lied on indeed), and we went to the office, the HR lady asked “is he a keeper” and the old timer shrugged. The HR lady gave me a folder full of insurance paperwork and company polices. I said I would have to think about taking the job. Yeah, I didn’t, So I was on the job hunt again and heard of this company a little ways out of town. 2 weeks ago sent them my resume and Nims Certifications attached with the Application, get a call last week to set up an interview, went to the interview. They were impressed, they asked generic questions like what tools I’ve used mic’s calipers, that kind of stuff. I tell them I took a machine class, the guy asked what metals we used. I named all of them 1014L 3003 Aluminum, and some other random stuff (donated steel). The guy seemed surprised, we finished up the interview, and they took me on a shop tour. My god, it was eye-opening the floors and the wall were not covered in black dust (probably carbide) and you could eat off the floors. It was that clean, my job starting out would be deburring and adding a chamfer to a part on a Bridgeport mill. They said, “your hands are probably going to be covered in oil so it’s going to be a little dirty job, are you still interested?” for context, my hands are black at the end of the day at my current job from polishing. plus, starting pay is $15 minimum, and they are willing to pay you more based on your experience level. They said it would be about 30 hours of deburring every week and 10 hours of helping out other departments, and they are going to cross train me in other departments. Tomorrow I have a 2nd interview lined up with them, and I am super excited and can see the light at the end of the tunnel!
Thanks for the support, Guys!
—update
Went to the 2nd interview, they thought I would be a better fit for running an injection molding machine. Because I’m mechanically inclined, and evidently impressed them. I told them I have never ran an injection molding machine before. And they said that’s perfectly fine and are willing to teach me, they made sure to infasize that if you don’t know how to do something make sure to ask. (because mold are super expensive) Which I really appreciate, you can tell at my current job I irritate people by asking lots of questions. And the new company was very upfront about everything and asked multiple times if I was still interested in the job throughout the interview, as it would be lots of learning. They wanted to hire me because their current guy that is running the injection molding machine, will soon have to run other machines and tasks. Currently the machines are fed by medium-sized bags that are manually fed every 2 hours to the hopper. The company is working on buying large pallet boxes and vacuum system to make it easier on the workers. My duties of the job will be inspecting the parts, making adjustments if needed. Starting and stopping the machine at the end of the day, and changing molds every week. As well as, they plan to teach me to use a forklift for moving pellet containers. And during the job if I am not doing anything I am to help in other departments as it is a small company.
I am a little nervous but excited for all the new learning opportunity and plan to give my current boss my 2 weeks notice.
Nice job holding out for something a little better, or at least a different set of issues and some room to grow. Fingers crossed :)
Good for you finding a more reputable shop, I hope you’ll remember that your health comes before corporate profit. Production environments are very tough, but you’ve got laws on your side. Trickier is balancing getting things done as fast as needed while getting the respect/care we as human beings deserve.
Should you go the “argue for my rights” route, expect to be bullied or outright fired multiple times in your life. But keep your eyes on the ball, make a meaningful, positive impact on this world, and communicate clearly with everyone else. Can’t really go wrong.
You are vastly too under-experienced to be this jaded*. As I understand the post, I couldn’t hand you a print with both lathe and mill work that you could handle. If you’re in this industry for money you are damn fool. We don’t do this for money. Sorry to be a prick, but after twenty years I promise you the things you hate at one shop will* be opposite at the next, and inversely as well.
I’ve worked in industrial electrical manufacturing for about 10 years and I can’t help but agree.
OP, your old job may have sucked but 6 months is nothing in terms of a job / experience. I worked in the same shop for 7 years and have been at the new one for 6 months and I still consider myself “new” there even if I’m not green. I’m not sure if I’d even put 6 months on a resume because it just sends a signal you’re not gonna stick around.
I’m glad you found something with a bit better prospects. But don’t be surprised if you get stuck doing absolute mind-numbing grunt work in any new position for potentially years. Everyone who works a trade has done it, and the new guys will always have to do it. But it is how you learn and get better and more acquainted with everything. They don’t call it an apprenticeship for no reason.
I will say though, everyone works a job for money. I adore my field and have a passion for it and love the shop environment, but I do still leave my house at 530 AM for a paycheck. I wouldn’t be there if I wasn’t getting paid, just like anyone else in the world.
I do wish you the best though. I’d just say stick it out and take it as a chance to learn and grow. Best advice I can give is just don’t get too ahead of yourself. Know-it-alls become unpopular, fast.
I appreciate your input, however I can take a print and make a part, I have made many parts. My teacher for the machinist class set it up as 2 weeks of book work, and formulas (speeds and feeds) and after about the 5th week. You would be given a print with videos and make the part, we started with easy stuff like basic turning and mill work. then are first project A c-clamp which we case-hardened And by the 3rd part there were no videos. I made a super cool single piston engine for my final project and I know machinist are not mostly in it for the money, I love machining for the satisfaction of turning a block of steel into something useful, and it’s actually serving a purpose. I do truly appreciate your honesty, and input.
Thanks and no hard feelings.
The cleanliness of a work area often speaks volumes about the quality of the work. Happy employees take the extra five minutes to pick up after themselves; disgruntled ones yeet their oily tools into a dented box and are hoofing it out the door at 4:55 on the dot. It also depends heavily on the resources the company provides to actually keep that area clean; if management cares, they’ll provide the dust collection and cleaning supplies necessary. The “good ol’ boy” shops almost never do any of this.
The new company emphasizing that they are willing to teach you is a good sign too. So many companies these days are completely unwilling to teach and simply want experienced employees to roll in the door.
I think the big key to learn from this offer is not to box yourself in. 6mo experience is better than zero but not worth too much in this kind of trade; I’ve been doing machining for 5-6 years (with only 2 of those being professionally) and even I don’t know jack shit outside of my little specific building product millwork-adjacent work experience. So what if being a mold machine operator isn’t what you’re “used” to doing. Running a mold machine for a while and seeing what comes out is the first step to understanding plastic flow and conditions, which helps you diagnose failed parts and make process corrections, which can get you moved up in pay and responsibilities, which gives you more opportunity to learn, which which which… it’s a rolling snowball.
Go for it. Worst case scenario you get paid the same hourly to do a cleaner job and get real full time work. Them being a smaller company sounds like there is a very good path to growth opportunities too, which is a nice place to be.
