Newbie Machinist Seeking Advice

[Tiborschwarz]

I have completed a 2 year apprenticeship (on the job training and school), worked as a lathe machinist for about 6 months, and currently finishing up a 1 year advanced machining program. But it seems like the decision makers at the shops I applied to don’t put much value on the training I’ve completed.

I have done set ups on 5-axis mills, 3 axis lathes, model the part, and do the cam in Fusion and Mastercam (in school only), dozens of times. The last interview I went on, the interviewer told me that my experience at school doesn’t count because it wasn’t at a real shop.

I know that there’s a lot that I don’t know, but my commitment to learn the trade shows that I have a genuine interest in machining and I’m able and willing to learn.

I have applied at more than 50 shops since last year and almost each and every one rejected me. Any advice on what I can do to increase my chances of getting a job as a machinist?

 

[13engines]

Over 50 shops and not even an offer? Maybe a class on interviewing skills and resume' writing would help. (Not joking)

What city are you near? Add it to your User display.

 

[Joe Henderson]

Tell the SOB you'll work for free for two weeks. If he likes your work he can pay you. If he doesn't you'll go on your way.

 

[Tiborschwarz]

Over 50 shops and not even an offer? Maybe a class on interviewing skills and resume' writing would help. (Not joking)

What city are you near? Add it to your User display.

I’m in Hollywood, FL. I’ve just added it to my user display.

Most of the companies rejected me after I submitted my application (no interview). And I’ve gone on about 4 interviews so far and received one offer but I refused it. The employer offered me a salary that was below what was listed on the job posting. For example, the salary on the job listing was $22 - $26, the employer offered me the job at $18.

I thought maybe the problem was my resume, so I paid two professionals to revise my resume. And I also paid for an interview prep session.

 

[eKretz]

I’m in Hollywood, FL. I’ve just added it to my user display.

Most of the companies rejected me after I submitted my application (no interview). And I’ve gone on about 4 interviews so far and received one offer but I refused it. The employer offered me a salary that was below what was listed on the job posting. For example, the salary on the job listing was $22 - $26, the employer offered me the job at $18.

I thought maybe the problem was my resume, so I paid two professionals to revise my resume. And I also paid for an interview prep session.

You should've taken it. It doesn't sound like you have a lot of practical experience. You can't expect someone looking at hiring you to pay you like someone that does just at your word. If I were you I'd talk to the guy further and ask if he might make that $18/hour for a trial slash probation period then ask him to reevaluate you afterward.

You have a little bit of experience, but your foot has only just been put in the door. You have a lot to learn yet. 2 years is not long enough for an apprenticeship. That might get you to machine operator status if you were a conscientious learner.

 

[Neil101]

You should've taken it. It doesn't sound like you have a lot of practical experience. You can't expect someone looking at hiring you to pay you like someone that does just in your word. If I were you I'd talk to the guy further and ask if he might make that $18/hour for a trial slash probation period then ask him to reevaluate you afterward.

You have a little bit of experience, but your foot has only just been put in the door. You have a lot to learn yet. 2 years is not long enough for an apprenticeship. That might get you to machine operator status if you were a conscientious learner.

I agree you should reach out to guy and see if the position is still available.

That being said, I think that experience is overrated. It shouldn’t matter if the you have 2 or 4 years of experience. What really matters is whether or not you can do the job and do it well.

 

[eKretz]

Okay. I agree you should reach out to guy and see if the position is still available.

I think that experience is overrated. It shouldn’t matter if the person has 2 or 4 years of experience. What really matters is whether or not person can do the job and do it well.

That's true, but it isn't generally the way things work when you're asking someone to try you out and he has no idea if you actually know what you're doing. An intro like the one I gave as an example will get him to sit up and take notice of your initiative also.

And experience isn't really overrated if the person in question has actually got 20 years of experience, for instance. There's an old saw that goes, "You can have 20 years of experience, or you can have 2 years of experience 10 times." Strive to be the former rather than the latter and you'll be well paid if you use that collected knowledge. At your stage of the game you don't realize how much you have yet to learn. Been there, done that.

 

[eKretz]

Also, why do you have two separate usernames?

 

[memphisjed]

The employer offered me a salary that was below what was listed on the job posting. For example, the salary on the job listing was $22 - $26, the employer offered me the job at $18.

Welcome to reality. 18 is actually high starting wage for shop work. Yeh, wages are up, Amazon and walmart gave us a raise when they went to 15 an hour.

 

[michiganbuck]

Sounds like your personality may be holding you back. Likely some quirks that you keep repeating.
Don't tell them that you love bar fights.
The average high pay can be more important that the starting pay.

 

[F35Machinist]

In most jobs the cost of mistakes scales with the skill and pay of the employee. This is not the case for machining. For example, if you hire a construction laborer to dig a ditch and he screws up and digs it a foot to the left he just has to fill it in and dig it over again. In machining, the cost of mistakes that even the lowest rate worker can make can be huge, sometimes several times their yearly salary. The cost of training a new employee can be counted in crashed machines and scrapped parts. A lot of smaller shops can't afford to train new people for this reason.

If I were in your shoes, I would look for big companies like defense contractors and apply to those. If you still have no luck after a few months, you could either widen your search to a larger area and move or change jobs. If you are computer savvy, IT is an easy way to make big money fast. All you need to do is get CCNA certification and there are lots of 100k+/yr jobs waiting for you.

If you are philosophically committed to machining as many here are, no matter the money or working conditions and if you can't move and nobody will hire you then you can start your own shop as many here have. The bare minimum would be 5k for a used cnc mill or lathe with used tooling from an auction set up in your grandma's garage with a phase converter doing low bid widgets for the cheapest customers in your area as a start. You could go to every shop and tell them you'll do one off parts that they would otherwise no-bid. Just know that this is more work and more stress and less money than literally any other trade you could start a business in at this point.

 

[dalmatiangirl61]

Tell the SOB you'll work for free for two weeks. If he likes your work he can pay you. If he doesn't you'll go on your way.

That is what it took to get my foot in the door.

 

[basalt]

Being trainable is just as important as experience. $18/hour is your chance to prove your worth/integrity. I once got hired at below the advertised wage 'cause I smashed up the machine in the interview. By the first paycheck I was up to the advertised wage.
I usually went directly to the foreman to apply vs. the secretary/internet.

 

[plastikdreams]

I started my first job at 17/hr I knew manual machining but that was it. Just because you have schooling and whatnot doesn't mean I know what you can do.

If you were in an apprenticeship program why didn't the company you apprenticed for hire you? That's the whole idea of it.

 

[JROC]

In the southeast $18 is not a bad starting wage for a young padawan newb. These aren't typically union jobs down here. We're not going to make the same salary as someone in the New England states. I apprenticed part time while in school for $8 a hour, and when I got put on full time I was bumped to $10.30 and made that for probably 3-4 years. I was 32-33 before I broke the $18 mark. That was 2015. Yes the trade pays more than it did a few years back, but I was 30 in 2013 making $14.36 building new die, after new die, after new die. I said F this chit, and went and got a better paying job making $17.50 working as a tool maker for the engineering department for a large global corporation. Then I went to another job paying me mid $19, then to yet another job that started me at $25, and bumped me up to $29 in about 3 years. Now I got asked to go back to were I started in and spend the first 9 years in the trade making well over twice what I was making 10 years ago to do the same job. I'm good at what I do, but I was good at what I do when I was 30 back in 2013 as well. If a company does not want to pay you what you feel you're worth then you've got to be willing to move elsewhere to get more $. Often time companies that you previously worked for will try and call you back when times get hard for them if you were a good/skilled worker for them. 2 times that's happened for me.

One problem for you is companies are likely hesitant to pay young tool makers because these newbs suck arse. Maybe not you personally, but the majority of these young machinists I've seen since around 2017 or so just don't care to get better, or take pride in the work they put out, but they don't get penalized for not caring either. It's weird to me seeing how lackadaisy these shops treat machinists scraping out expensive parts over really boneheaded mistakes that first year apprentices should know better than to do. When I was apprenticing I would have a bunch of seasoned tool makers jumping down my throat over the smallest mistakes. Then after a couple of years when I started to get decent at the trade they eased up and I eventually became another tool maker who wasn't green anymore. People don't teach like that in todays society. It sucked going through it, but most people who stuck it out, and went through, let's call it a hazing process, turned out to be really good. A lot of those old tool makers were mean as hell, but smart as hell too, and if you listened to them they had a lot of knowledge pertaining to the trade, but they weren't big on teaching you the same thing 10-15 times. Retaining knowledge is important in this trade.

You could ask the employer to start you at $18, and if you prove yourself to be a valuable asset to the company after your 3 month probationary period, to bump you up to the pay that they've been advertising. That, or go work in something else if you can't find a machinist job to pay you what you're willing to take. Just remember your trying to get them to pay you as much as you can, while they're trying to buy your time, and labor for as little as they can get you for. Being young, and green you need to prove that you're worth paying what they're willing to pay a seasoned tool maker.

 

[CarbideBob]

Contrast this with the posting that I can not find employees.

 

[MrWhoopee]

I’m in Hollywood, FL. I’ve just added it to my user display.

Most of the companies rejected me after I submitted my application (no interview). And I’ve gone on about 4 interviews so far and received one offer but I refused it. The employer offered me a salary that was below what was listed on the job posting. For example, the salary on the job listing was $22 - $26, the employer offered me the job at $18.

I thought maybe the problem was my resume, so I paid two professionals to revise my resume. And I also paid for an interview prep session.

Agree with @eKretz, you should have taken it, then prove your worth. You may also learn that you still have a lot to learn.

 

[dalmatiangirl61]

Contrast this with the posting that I can not find employees.

But they only want experienced employees, yeah they've got to start somewhere....

 

[plastikdreams]

But they only want experienced employees, yeah they've got to start somewhere....

That's the problem with the job market in this trade...there are few entry level positions, everyone wants experience...experienced people are getting thin, and the inexperienced don't want to start at the bottom because the pay is not so good.

 

[eKretz]

Yes the lack of apprenticeships is not good.