Entry Level, Middle Tennessee

Want to find some way to "break in" to the precision metal work/fab world, working up to programming 5-axis machines or beyond.

All my formal shop training ended in high-school, then i went to college and got a Political Science degree and worked in family small business-retail markets, then tried my own hand at retail. Soured on that after big loss of capital as well as wife (related).

I prefer to work with my hands and have a ton of practical life experience in all things mechanical from high-performance diesel engine systems (non-computized) modifications to wiring my shop (inspected). I've worked with automotive lathes and Blanchard grinders, hobby lathe, made a few things on real commercial lathes, but the shop was sold out just as I was getting more access.

I've begun studying G/M codes and using a simulator for practice here at home.

I'm fluent in fractions, decimals, millimeters, micrometers, and "tenths". I learned these things well for hand-loading, automotive, gunsmithing, and building bicycles (of proper 4130 butted tubing (.024-035")-brazed) maintaining proper alignment.

I currently hone straight razors for shaving where the grit-rating of the stones (after reshaping when repair is necessary) starts at 1,000 and goes to 20,000, with .5 and .25 micron stropping abrasives. It's an 8-step process. It's not as easy as it sounds.

I rather like precision work and the making the highest levels of product as necessary to fill a need.

But i've spend the first half of my life chasing other things, in other directions. I'm trying to get re-started in the right direction.

THE BIG PROBLEM as I see it, is that I need to find an employer who realizes that the right man without experience MAY VERY WELL be better for the company in the longer haul than some fellows with experience may be. I want to be the right man. I get small business from the inside and how my work MUST be profitable for the company or that I'm NOT an asset.

My goal is to get into work that I prefer, and to make the boss glad that he took a chance in hiring me. Companies exist for profit, that is the goal of the team. I want on the team.

I feel like a natural when it comes to welding and brazing, but don't have the resume to back it up. Learned at stick and gas on steel at age 14. Later taught myself to braze steel and stainless as well as MIG aluminum. Never struck a Tungsten arc, but drool at the thought of it. I shall have my own TIG machine before this life is over.

My perception is that there are more machining jobs doing precision work than precision welding jobs, so that's why I pursue it from that angle, but would JUMP in a nano-second on a welding opportunity with potential to move up to top-grade welding/machining applications.

Can't afford school right now. I'm self-teaching via websites, forums, you-tube instructional videos, whatever i can get my hands on. For the right company, I'm ready to work in shipping, maintenance, office, whatever in order to get connected.

Woodbury, McMinnville, Manchester, Morrison, Murfreesboro, and Smithville are the towns I'd be able to commute to. I'm not quite ready to relocate as I have a house, property, and dogs in Cannon County.

Would love to take any sort of test. Calculus was my last math class, HS and College.

I'm easy to train, get along with, safety conscious (have all of my fingers still), and could really put some heart into a good metal shaping job.

Anybody in those areas like to talk more, give a shout.

try craigslist
nashville manufacturing jobs classifieds - craigslist
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if you go to night school for machinist training most schools have a bulletin board or web site where students can connect with small shops looking for people just out of school. some students start a entry level job after less than 4 months of night school.
if you have little experience you might start at $10/hr but most places would raise your pay $1/hr per year.
........ as you do have some experience i would list it in your resume. if the shop you used to work in, ask if anybody would be willing to be a job reference. many employer want somebody to call to ask how good a worker you are. if you do not have a machinist diploma you would have a harder time getting anything more than a entry level job.
........ there are also employment agencies that will find you work. in general they will find you lower paying temporary jobs but it will give you experience

DMF_TomB said:

try craigslist
nashville manufacturing jobs classifieds - craigslist
.
if you go to night school for machinist training most schools have a bulletin board or web site where students can connect with small shops looking for people just out of school. some students start a entry level job after less than 4 months of night school.
if you have little experience you might start at $10/hr but most places would raise your pay $1/hr per year.
........ as you do have some experience i would list it in your resume. if the shop you used to work in, ask if anybody would be willing to be a job reference. many employer want somebody to call to ask how good a worker you are. if you do not have a machinist diploma you would have a harder time getting anything more than a entry level job.
........ there are also employment agencies that will find you work. in general they will find you lower paying temporary jobs but it will give you experience

Click to expand...

Thanks but,

I have to get a job before i can think about trade school of any sort. I'm eating bark off trees right now.

I've been pounding C/L forever.

Entry-Level is fine by me. I came here to find the guys that aren't posting to C/L, or might know somebody/be somebody. And to learn more about the trade.

I live near a shop I'd love to work at, but figgered that out about 10 years too late. He doesn't train anymore. Gerald Lester runs it. He sent me to see Don Webster, McMinnville Workholding, who gave me a great interview and I thought i was really nearly hired.

But then he hired somebody else. Applying at a tire mold company this coming week.

Interviewed for automotive service writer Friday, should find out this week about that job...which i'm fully over-qualified for but it pays money and I could go to school...eventually.

Now i'm going to catch fish for something to eat with the bark.

-----

the thing is, i ruined my early life by chasing the idea of a job with big $$$

I'm OVER that.

I love metal and making highest quality items with efficiency and beauty.

I can LEARN ANYTHING quickly and already know a whole lot of stuff (47 years old).
I can DO the work.
I can Love the work.

I can try my damnedest to get along with all those in my working environment, and help the company make a better profit.

Win win win.

Just need a foot in.

in some states you can collect unemployment while going to school for training as long as you get passing grades. you would have to look the up on your own states unemployment site. it is true that many places only want young people and do not want to bother training older people. welcome to the world of age discrimination.
.
on my resume i leave stuff off that might make me over qualified. some places will not give you a job if they think you will be unhappy or leave in a few months. i edit my resume for each place i apply for a job at. often places interview 3 to 30 people for a job. when you do not get a job it merely means you were not the 1st pick. i have often got a call 3-6 months later asking if still interested in a job.
.
around new york it really helps to have a machinist diploma. nobody wants to go to school, pay for school, take the time for school. none the less if you go to school you can not only get training but make contacts on many possible places looking for people to hire. if nothing else getting passing grades means you
1) have good attendance
2) willing to learn a approved training course
3) able to stick with the training to get passing grades
...... when you learn on your own from a book or other courses it does not mean as much to a potential employer as somebody taking approved training courses. it helps to be honest with a employer. tell them you will work for minimum wage because you want to learn a trade and work as a machinist or even a machine operator to get the experience. sometimes they hesitate to try older people figuring they do not want to learn and do not want to work hard at a job.

""I have to get a job before i can think about trade school of any sort. I'm eating bark off trees right now"". Well, surely sounds like you are a "Survivor" and NOT a Dependent Democrat... Just keep plugging and you will make it as the rest of us self-employed have... Build America, Son!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And forget that "Political Science" degree

Iron Man Retired said:

""I have to get a job before i can think about trade school of any sort. I'm eating bark off trees right now"". Well, surely sounds like you are a "Survivor" and NOT a Dependent Democrat... Just keep plugging and you will make it as the rest of us self-employed have... Build America, Son!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And forget that "Political Science" degree

Click to expand...

caught some fish yesterday to go with the bark. have another degree too...way forgotten.

Sassafras upper bark/twigs tastes like Teaberry gum, root bark of course, makes the tea. Today I'm getting more firewood for the unseasonable freeze tomorrow night and the 40 degrees tonight. Want to get a job so i can afford electric or gas heat, when that is more convenient (like not at home).

Sold scrap metal to get me through the weekend. HATE SELLING GOOD METAL for junk, but have to do what a fellow has to do.

I just went through about 12 current job listings in the Nashville area. Every single one of them calls for "experience", not one single job mentions schooling, degree, or certifications as substitute for on-the-job experience.

Knock together some bird houses I reckon. Wonder what's "hot" this season?

Maybe I should have started with this bit: I'm 47 years old. I am willing to learn anything that takes me further into the machining/metalfab world of employment. EXCELLENT PROBLEM SOLVER, and lots of LIFE experience.

I'm going to show up ON TIME and SOBER and READY TO WORK and LEARN. There's no family beyond my dogs to cause drama and affect my work.

The only reason to have a job is to make money, the only reason to have a company is to make a profit. Jobs only exist where profitability exists. The moment any employee becomes a bigger cost than benefit, then he/she needs to start packing. Give me a challenge, there is a solution.

My first fillet brazing project:



Still riding it (including a few races) 3 years later.

Going to interview for Diesel Mechanic/Fabricator position tomorrow. Wish me luck!

I'm starting Monday. Mill, Lathe, TIG, Plasma, and a bunch of 6.0's and some conversions...woo hoo, woo hoo hoo!

Wade Patton said:

I'm starting Monday. Mill, Lathe, TIG, Plasma, and a bunch of 6.0's and some conversions...woo hoo, woo hoo hoo!

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Well that didn't work out. Not real clear what happened, but got canned on Thursday first week. Then I got a call from an old radio pal who co-runs his dad's screw machine shop.

Been operating screw machines for 5 weeks now. Got a raise and everything. Better hours, less pay, much easier to get hands/fingernails clean! But there's no TIG, no plasma, just a crackerbox and a fluxcore machine. Do have a good lathe and mill, but they rarely see service and I don't know when I can get access to them. We start early and fly out the door at closing time. I've only seen the mill fired up once and that was for a radio bracket modification...

I am stocking up on cutoffs and scrap for making stuff at home. Saving up for TIG too. My crackerbox is dying, so I've given up welding with it.

It's a 4 day work week so there's plenty of time to do other jobs, am building more longrifles now. bikes later.

Cheers

Glad you got another job, what kind of screw machines? Cam driven manuals or CNC?