How Did You Get Into CMM Programming?

There has to be a shop out there who's willing to pay above 'starting' positions...

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.

thats nice, wish we did this. well we do they just aren't any good at it.

I know what you mean. There is quite a pay range in the trade. I don't know how to convince potential employers that there is a lot of value in paying a premium for someone with a lot of experience. Some of them get it, but I don't know a good way to find them.

A few years ago one of our more senior programmers got let go - caught sleeping on the job too many times. It's not that he was lazy. He just had some medical issues that he wasn't addressing properly. A week after he 'left', he contacted one of our competitors. They weren't looking to hire anyone, but they jumped on the opportunity to hire him. My understanding is that he even got a bump in pay over the whole matter. What luck. I still wonder how he pulled that off.

Heck yeah!

I got out by learning PLC programming. Now, I terribly miss the precision world but, can't seem to figure out how to go back without losing a ton of salary.

Have you ever considered applying to Hexagon for an Applications Engineer position? It sure seems like it would be up your alley.

Have you ever considered applying to Hexagon for an Applications Engineer position? It sure seems like it would be up your alley.

No college, unfortunately. That may also be the reason why it's hard to get top pay... but, if I had a degree then 'they' would probably use 'lack of experience' against me lol

No college, unfortunately. That may also be the reason why it's hard to get top pay... but, if I had a degree then 'they' would probably use 'lack of experience' against me lol

Bummer, I could see how that might hold you back some. Hopefully that right fit/opportunity is right around the corner for you. Some company that realizes what an asset you would be and pays you accordingly. I wish you luck.

Bummer, I could see how that might hold you back some. Hopefully that right fit/opportunity is right around the corner for you. Some company that realizes what an asset you would be and pays you accordingly. I wish you luck.

Appreciate it. I'm not miserable where am at and what I'm doing (just want to be clear just in case). I keep finding myself, still, checking up on the machining industry, and visiting the small machine shop we have at this shop just to say hello as I'm not involved in any way... I might just pick it up as a hobby lol or my heart truly is at a CNC shop in front of a CMM

I was at a foundry as a quality inspector and got let go. Buddy of mine in a machine shop told me he knew of a position opening up I should apply for. That was in Feb of 2022. Have been here since. I do both electrode checking and steel for injection molding. Got a month of on the job training and have been teaching myself between youtube and here ever since. I have found ways prior operators were unaware of to simplify reports and programs to make the workflow in the entire shop a bit better. Hoping they have the funds sometime soon to get into the Hexagon courses in the near future to build on what I know/ self taught myself. I do want to say thank you for everyone who posts here and helps out with problems as these forums have saved me a ton of trouble over the last year and a half.