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How Did You Get Into CMM Programming?

ALousyUser
Just as the title says - how'd you first make your stake as a CMM programmer?

For me it was when a recruiter on LinkedIn randomly reached out to me asking if I was interested in being a Metrologist for an international company while I was working as a Quality Inspector at a job shop in 2020, just before the pandemic. I knew nothing about Metrology/CMM programming until I blew the technical portion of the interview process and got hired anyway haha! Ended up being mentored by a professional for 2 years before moving onto a specialized CMM programming gig at another company in 2022.

I figured - as it seems like a lot of us got on-the-job training for CMM programming, you guys/gals must have some interesting stories to share about how you got to where you are now, as CMM programmers.
Parents
  • I was 21, living in my hometown in Western MA, and working in fast food. My stepdad was the QC Manager of a machine shop & after begging him for six months, he got the owner to hire me for minimum wage (slightly less than I was making). I had never seen a blueprint in my life. I had no business being there at all. My stepdad taught me everything he knew about plate layout as well as blueprint reading skills.

    They had a CMM that only had three programs in it. 99% of the time it just sat there collecting dust. I asked the owner to send me to CMM training..he laughed at me & said "Danny you have to be really smart to be a programmer."

    Instead of getting mad, I "borrowed" my stepdad's key to the shop. I'd go there after 1st shift had left for the day & would spend hours reading the code we had & then recreating it to the best of my ability. After a few months, I knew ALMOST enough to BS my way through a conversation about CMMs.

    The big interview:
    I was at "Company 1" for 4 years. Then I got an interview at "Company 2". I was honest with them...told them exactly what I knew/didn't know but that I was at the perfect educational place to be/was hungry to be sent out for real training. They hired me and over a few years sent me to PC DMIS Levels 1 thru 3.

    During Covid, Hexagon VERY GENEROUSLY allowed us to take online CMM training for free. I took every single class I could.

    Between in person classes in RI, to online courses, I currently have 28 Hexagon Certificates. No college degree. Just some street smarts mixed with perseverance.

    I am now 32 & at "Company 5" down in FL. We make precision machined plastic parts for space & military applications. I love metrology & and glad I chose this field.
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