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shop owners of wiconsin: please read

newbreed

Plastic
Joined
Jun 10, 2019
Location
Wisconsin, USA
Hello.
Looking for a little advice. Ive been in manufacturing my whole life. I have 2 letters of recommendation from previous supervisors, and have never been fired.5 months ago I graduated from college with an associates in machine tool technics.(2 year)At the time I felt like it was the best decision ive ever made. Ive never picked up on something so quickly and been so engaged. To say I rediscovered my passion for new information is an understatement. BUT now onto the problem. I found work on first shift at a steel iron and aluminum foundary the week after graduating. The owner told me all about the ground breaking work that was happening here and about how they do the parts no one else can figure out how to do.(I am learning every Freakin shop says this excact phrase)and holy crap did I bite on his story. im talking hook line and sinker. the only problem is he described the current state of the business, but in reality he was describing the business in the early 90s. I am currently the only person on the floor machining. I do all set ups(decently complicated fixturing), ive gotten to modify a few fixtureswith ideas ive had for them, I do a lot of manual program rewriting/editing, I do occasional programming using surfcam(much prefer mastercam)I do all cmm inspecting. im essentially a one man band. some days I do not even see him. now sure I struggle with things being inexperienced but I do not give up and don't stop until I am at solution. I feel like for only being out of school 5 months im absolutely crushing it. 2 weeks ago we went from 5 employees to 2. the work is drying up and the companies days are numbered. I have about 2 months worth of casting on the floor and after that I forsee him closing the doors. I have been getting my resume out there and looking for work pretty aggressively. what I am finding out is that what we were fed at the tech school seems to be a load of bull sh*t. the jobs are not there. no one is head hunting me. the interviews ive been to so far have been good interviews. but ive gotten the impression that either they do not believe I am taking on the work load I claim to be 5 months out of school, or I do not have enough experience to warrant being out on 1st shift. the issue is I have a 6 year old daughter and a wife. the last thing I want to do is work an off shift and onlysee them on the weekends. its simply not acceptable to me. my family means too much to me. are there any suggestions of how to obtain 1st shift work in the eau Claire and surrounding area area, or am I gonna have to bite the bullet and move to mn or work an off shift for god knows how long until I can get myself onto 1st shift? any suggestions would be great. I am getting very frustrated. machining, particularly programming both g code and cam, is the greatest passion ive ever found, but with how bleak things look around here as far as any 1st shift work goes im considering just going back to school.
 
How about some punctuation so it doesn't kill the eyes to read your post? No one "crushes it" 5 months into the job unless you are performing skills a trained monkey can do. In all manufacturing environments that run 2-3 shifts they want the best people on days and you have to prove yourself to get there. That is a fact of life.
 
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Spelling, sentence structure, paragraphs....all are needed.

And composing a proper title (read the rules about making your title descriptive please)
 
Best employee at the shop that is failing, may just not come across as great as it seems from the point of of the interviewer. I would probably rather hire mid talent employees from the booming succesful shop down the street, than the best from the place about to go under. Not a perfectly true statement, but you haven't been at it long enough for it to be proven to anyone that you are that good. (Maybe you are. Still takes time)

I mean no offense to anyone with this, so I hope it is not taken that way. I find that I can not hire fabricators that have come from the trade programs local to me. These programs need to have people leave with a sense that they are now ready for an apprenticeship level position in a shop. Most of the guys I have interviewed have this feeling as though: they took a trade course, so no need for an apprenticeship, plus it counts as 15yrs on the job too right, I am pretty much a journeyman welder now amd I can probably teach you a few things if you hire me (for top dollar too). It does nobody a service employers or themselves.
 
Hello.
Looking for a little advice. Ive been in manufacturing my whole life. I have 2 letters of recommendation from previous supervisors, and have never been fired.5 months ago I graduated from college with an associates in machine tool technics.(2 year)At the time I felt like it was the best decision ive ever made. Ive never picked up on something so quickly and been so engaged. To say I rediscovered my passion for new information is an understatement. BUT now onto the problem. I found work on first shift at a steel iron and aluminum foundary the week after graduating. The owner told me all about the ground breaking work that was happening here and about how they do the parts no one else can figure out how to do.(I am learning every Freakin shop says this excact phrase)and holy crap did I bite on his story. im talking hook line and sinker. the only problem is he described the current state of the business, but in reality he was describing the business in the early 90s. I am currently the only person on the floor machining. I do all set ups(decently complicated fixturing), ive gotten to modify a few fixtureswith ideas ive had for them, I do a lot of manual program rewriting/editing, I do occasional programming using surfcam(much prefer mastercam)I do all cmm inspecting. im essentially a one man band. some days I do not even see him. now sure I struggle with things being inexperienced but I do not give up and don't stop until I am at solution. I feel like for only being out of school 5 months im absolutely crushing it. 2 weeks ago we went from 5 employees to 2. the work is drying up and the companies days are numbered. I have about 2 months worth of casting on the floor and after that I forsee him closing the doors. I have been getting my resume out there and looking for work pretty aggressively. what I am finding out is that what we were fed at the tech school seems to be a load of bull sh*t. the jobs are not there. no one is head hunting me. the interviews ive been to so far have been good interviews. but ive gotten the impression that either they do not believe I am taking on the work load I claim to be 5 months out of school, or I do not have enough experience to warrant being out on 1st shift. the issue is I have a 6 year old daughter and a wife. the last thing I want to do is work an off shift and onlysee them on the weekends. its simply not acceptable to me. my family means too much to me. are there any suggestions of how to obtain 1st shift work in the eau Claire and surrounding area area, or am I gonna have to bite the bullet and move to mn or work an off shift for god knows how long until I can get myself onto 1st shift? any suggestions would be great. I am getting very frustrated. machining, particularly programming both g code and cam, is the greatest passion ive ever found, but with how bleak things look around here as far as any 1st shift work goes im considering just going back to school.

I could not get through your rant. Sentences, paragraphs, spelling. How did you get through college with the writing skills of a 4th grader?
 
How about some punctuation so it doesn't kill the eyes to read your post? No one "crushes it" 5 months into the job unless you are performing skills a trained monkey can do. In all manufacturing environments that run 2-3 shifts they want the best people on days and you have to prove yourself to get there. That is a fact of life.

Show some respect for this youngster kitty
 
Sorry. I did write that rather hastily. I also expected a lot of jack wagon replies about how i know nothing because i haven't been at it long enough. No where in that post did i claim to be an expert. I am not naive what so ever to the fact that i have only scratched the surface. I would LOVE nothing more than to even find somewhere offering an apprenticeship program. Does not exist in my neck of the woods.

The biggest problem i see in this industry is exactly what happened here. Every skilled machinist i've come across loves to talk about how they are one of the good old boys and how us new guys could never compare. BUT are never willing to invest time and effort to actually teach us new guys. Crushing it? Yes i am. I have handled everything thrown my way with little to no "real life" experience. And completed it on time to boot. Just because i cant compete with an old timer who could blow me out of the water does NOT mean i have zero skills. I have been pulling my weight there from week 2, got almost no training, had to bust out manuals to figure anything out, learn conversational in a matter of 2 hours to get a rush order out, and i literally waste no opportunity to learn. I have zero control over how irresponsibly the business is being ran.

No i cannot compete with any of you guys. go ahead and take a minute to pat your back. But while your doing so realize why guys like me with a decent aptitude and drive to learn are starting to shy away from this industry. No one likes to be sh*t on. and that's all i've gotten from anyone with any level of experience in this industry thus far. I know I'm probably being a bit defensive right now, but it gets old. I wasn't taken seriously enough where I've been in the past. So i went back to school. Now that I'm out i am being treated worse and spoken down to more often than before i went back to school. I was looking for a little constructive criticism sure.(go take x y or z class, buff up and focus on these skills, try looking for an apprenticeship in this area through this place etc...) Not literally just criticism.
 
Hey, are you guys hiring writers or machinists? He might well have natural ability and be pretty good as a machinist, not a writer. IMO, it's like real estate- location, location, location. Some areas are just dead and there's nothing to be done about it. Do some research and try a different area. If success can be had there, move family.
 
Thank you for that. It was kind of what my gut was telling me. I may not be in the right area to accomplish what i want to accomplish. I was kind of hoping i was wrong though..
 
To those of you who stood up for me, i really do appreciate it. Being involved in manufacturing this long i've developed a skin about as thick as some of these guys' egos. So my feelings aren't hurt. Just a little disappointed. I was looking forward to having a trade and possibly a little "brotherhood" within that trade. I'm coming to realize that was a pipe dream its everyone for themselves, much like all other areas of life. Next time you come across one of those "new guys" who irritates you because he is proud of what he has done so far and how dare they ask a question instead of just praising you....remember you are what is creating this so called "skills gap".

I would die before taking an office job...But on the other hand offices have set guide lines on the way an employee is to be treated....To those of you who handled this situation with dignity, i thank you. So does the rest of the world. You are a rare breed indeed. I've gotten more than i needed as far as insight into this industry goes from this. Have a good night, and good luck to everyone.(even the condescending assholes.)
 
If you are all that, then take the off shift job, within a month or two you can pick your shift. Here second shift is the trophy, yet we expect way more than good enough. I am the college drop out with 3 yrs in mathematics and physics, my coworker has masters in metal from SIU; and we both had months on daywalker shift before getting second. Your trade degree gets you a starter job that lets you show you are better than the average bear. 2 left standing outta 5, showing potential.
 
My first point was merely to show an example why you might be having a hard time with the interviewers you are dealing with, *even if you are really good enough for those positions. (And as Isaid you well might be)

The second point was more of an attack on the trade program, and how that should be a positive to see on a resume but has turned negative for me due to my experiences with applicants.

If you are keeping your head down and working hard like it sounds you are, then don't get discouraged and keep at it. Like someone else said moving is always an option, but understandavly not always the easiest for many reasons.

Curious what all your other manufacturing experience was that proved to be different from now? It has been my personal experience in the trades that you always have to overpay your dues to get anywhere.
 
I call working in a failing machine shop an opportunity.....but in an interview,never offer an opinion on your current employer,doesnt go down well.....Its funny how so many older business owners get to the stage of being completely intractable,and angered by any suggestion of improvement,or alteration to "their" business.One guy I knew called it "argufying",and it was out the door soon as he got a reason to sack you .
 
To those of you who stood up for me, i really do appreciate it. Being involved in manufacturing this long i've developed a skin about as thick as some of these guys' egos. So my feelings aren't hurt. Just a little disappointed. I was looking forward to having a trade and possibly a little "brotherhood" within that trade. I'm coming to realize that was a pipe dream its everyone for themselves, much like all other areas of life. Next time you come across one of those "new guys" who irritates you because he is proud of what he has done so far and how dare they ask a question instead of just praising you....remember you are what is creating this so called "skills gap".

I would die before taking an office job...But on the other hand offices have set guide lines on the way an employee is to be treated....To those of you who handled this situation with dignity, i thank you. So does the rest of the world. You are a rare breed indeed. I've gotten more than i needed as far as insight into this industry goes from this. Have a good night, and good luck to everyone.(even the condescending assholes.)

I sent you a pm about a shop in your area.....and if you ever think of moving to southeastern Minnesota, there are several shops within 20 miles of me that are hiring.
 
Some guys on here are assholes. Knowledgeable assholes, but still assholes. I don't know your particular area or how manufacturing is going there. If you have been talking to large corporations all you are going to get offered is 2nd or 3rd shift and may take years to get to 1st. My advice to you would be to seek out smaller job shops. 10 or less people. Only 1 shift. The pay and benefits will not be as good, but the work atmosphere will be a lot better. I hate to say this but after 40 years in machining, I would no longer recommend getting into this field.

Manufacturing in the USA is heading downhill in a hurry and I don't ever see it recovering fully. We have become a nation of buyers, not makers.
I am not trying to rain on your dreams, but should maybe you consider another vocation. What is the 2nd most thing you are passionate about?
 
I would like to offer a different solution that has worked for me in the past in a different field. If you like where you work (location, shift etc.) but the company is going down hill and there are no similar options, why not try and turn the company around? Why not try and make a deal with the owner for a small percentage of everything that you bring in and then go out and drum up business for the shop. This way your are doubly incentivized to bring in the work. You could also do the same without the percentage but it depends on how motivated you are.
Even if it does not work it will give you experience in something that you will have to do when you start your own shop (I assume that is where you are headed).
 








 
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