Career Aspiration - From inspector to programmer

That is so true. I liken it to the PC vs Mac discussions.

sealevel is the thorn on my hip person that I've been training for the past few months....stop talking about Calypso sealevel!

JK buddy oh and it's advice I'm not accusing the person of doing anything yet just sharing how he might sound like after a while...

Oh brother! or like IPhone and Android battle!

FYI: 11 years ago, I interviewed at my current employer for another position. They asked me if I knew what a CMM was, and I said, "No, but I am willing to learn." So, based on my extensive experience in everything NOT CMM, they hired me. ZERO experience. ZERO training. I stumbled a few times, but picked it up. After I was here, they sent me to a few Hexagon/PC-DMIS training classes. In those 11 years, whenever we have been trying to hire another CMM person, we have NEVER been able to hire someone with experience, and have hired people that are smart, motivated to do this stuff, and appear to be dependable. After that, we teach them. So.... there are employers out there that hire untrained CMM people - it sounds like you already have a leg up on those people. Beware, there are companies that have programmers and then operators - two different job descriptions - and often the programmers are more like engineers, or IT people, than on-the-floor workers, and the operators are button-pushers. So... you SHOULD be able to find a job with your current experience, and then use your employer's wallet to get further training. Make sure you are interviewing for a position that can at least morph into a programming position! Good luck! What you are trying to achieve is very reasonable.

Thank you very much for sharing that. It certainly gives me confidence to hear that there are companies out there who are willing to train the right person.

Thank You!!!!!

I moved from minnesota to michigan, here almost all companies have cmm programmers rather than inspectors that program. In addition, the transistion takes like a year to a year and a half but every programmer should start off as an inspector really. Maybe you should move here, michigan jobs pay way better too, and has less taxes.

There are shops out there willing to teach you.

I had a job working in a small shop. Right around $10/hr. There was a CMM (decent size MISTRAL with PC DMIS) in the QC Dept but it was covered in dust & they didn't have a programmer. I stayed late messing with it, watching youtube videos, and crashing it as safely as I could without their knowledge until I knew JUST enough to sound like I knew what I was talking about. That took me about a year.

I then applied for other jobs. Through out that process, I was completely honest about my skill set (pretty much nothing) but made it very clear that I was hungry for more knowledge and I was at the perfect point in my career to have an investment (training) made in me. They hired me, sent me out to Hex's 101-103 training, and then paired me up with some experienced guys who became mentors to me. Its about 8 years later & I'm very happy with where my life is.

You've already got a HUGE leg up. You have quality experience, already know one software, and aren't some scruffy 20 year old kid like I was. Places are out there that will invest in the right people. Go for it!

I agree you should go for it, sounds like you know what you want, and with you already programming you have a understanding of alignments, GD&T, and inspection which translates to a lot of programming jobs.
Just make sure you are being honest with the employers that want to interview you about your experience. There are alot of them out there that will train the right person.

I just got a CMM Programming job six months ago, after working for the last 20 + years as a Inspector,Quality Tech, and Lead Quality Tech.but I never gave up on CMM programming because I enjoy it so much!!

So don't give up!!!

Yes! We interviewed this kid that had put he was trained on PC-DMIS, and had a year of programming experience on his resume. When we asked him about his training and experience, he explained that he basically lied on this resume. He was an operator, a run-button presser for a year, with NO PC-DMIS training other than how to open and click execute. Even if he was a great fit for other skills, lying on the resume/interview is a massive red flag. Embellishing might get you the job, if you aren't called out on it during the interview, but it will always catch up with you in the long run. Be honest, show the eagerness and energy to learn, and express you are spatially inclined and quick to learn.