Honest answers only

1) What do you like and dislike the most about working in this field?
2) Would you HONESTLY advise someone to start a career as a CMM Operator/Programmer?

Smasherofprobes over 1 year ago in reply to Cris_C

"What I like least is that I have little influence to fix/improve the problems that come up in my job. It can be easy to get bitter about that, but I suspect that is pretty common in many roles within any organization. So, it is what it is." Completely agree. You make a good point about CMM programmer being able to grow into QE,QS or QM especially in a small shop. I'm just happy to be on a machine again and I guess working in a climate controlled environment isn't so bad
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Smasherofprobes over 1 year ago in reply to Schlag

As someone who is taking over for someone who didn't know how to program I feel you on this one. My boss said " Trust nothing " Great way to start. Its tedious work but for some reason I enjoy it. It's like solving a puzzle when you complete a program.
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Smasherofprobes over 1 year ago in reply to dwade

Yes I feel like people love to tell you how to run your machine, even though they don't even know how to move it. Patience is key in this field I agree.
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Smasherofprobes over 1 year ago in reply to sealevel

Sounds like you've had in interesting career to say the least, never really thought about cmm applications outside of the automotive industry. It only takes 6 people to sharpen a pencil here.
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BigMac over 1 year ago

I love the freedom I'm given where I currently work. No one really questions anything of my methods, results etc. Asides from when an interpretation of data is needed, I'm free to work at my own pace most days. My previous programming job was a constant exercise in defending results and explanations of basic GD&T to management who was essentially clueless for the most part. The feeling of being a dog on a 2-foot leash with a choke chain would be a good description of how my previous job made me feel.

I would recommend a programming job to anyone who enjoys a challenge and has a willingness to learn new things. even after over a decade working with CMM's I still learn new things quite often and enjoy learning new ways to improve efficiency and accuracy.
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Kp61dude! over 1 year ago

1) What do you like and dislike the most about working in this field?
2) Would you HONESTLY advise someone to start a career as a CMM Operator/Programmer?

1. a) I dislike the fact that CMM programming isn't respected as much as other engineering fields. b) I love that it's more bulletproof than tech jobs (I was layed off Friday from a woowoo tech startup)

2. Yes I would HONESTLY to start a career in CMM Programming. Be the absolute best you can and recognize who your customers are instead of fighting with them (don't get caught up in the 200yr old battle between machinist vs mechanical Inspection).
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Smasherofprobes over 1 year ago in reply to Kp61dude!

Come back to the CMM world KP Sorry you were laid off, i recently suffered the same fate so I know how you feel.
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Kp61dude! over 1 year ago in reply to Kp61dude!

you're very kind Smasherofprobes I'm working on it ;-)
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sealevel over 1 year ago in reply to sealevel

Smasher, you see? Your private sector automotive industry shows Uncle Sam that via continuous improvement, and a fishbone diagram or two.... pencil-sharpening can become an efficient process!
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