Education
A four-year apprenticeship program or more than four years of work experience
in the field is usually required for trade certification as a machinist. College
or similar courses in machining are usually required, and are never a bad
idea.
Many vocational schools, colleges and universities offer courses or programs
for aspiring machinists. A good way to go about getting your foot in the door
in this field is by taking an intern position with a local company.
Before going to school, it's important to research the institution, says
James Grosmann. Grosmann is director of sales and marketing at the National
Tooling and Machining Association.
"I would recommend somebody thinking about a career in manufacturing investigate
local training programs to see if there are good ones in the area, and ask
a lot of questions about if the facility is tied to the local industry and
if they provide leads to jobs after graduating," he says.
"Ask past graduates about their experience. There are a lot of programs
that have started that help keep people employed training people, but without
the contacts in the area and without the support of the local industry, they
might not be getting training they can use."
Elaina Roberts is a mechanical engineer in training and a machinist. She
says there are several ways people can break into this field. Some high schools
have machine shop classes, for example.
Others enter through family connections. "A lot of the time someone in
the family will be or know someone that is a machinist," says Roberts. "Getting
to know and learning from this person can be a great start."
Another way to get started is to apply to machine shops. "A lot of the
time, if you are interested in being a machinist, a shop will hire you on,"
she says. "You generally start by cleaning the shop -- sweeping and cleaning
machines. Once you become familiar with the operation of the shop, you will
most likely be hired as an apprentice machinist."
Roberts got her start by taking college-level courses in machining. She
adds that people interested in a machinist career can also register with an
apprenticeship board for their basic training. "This will give you enough
experience to start looking for work," she says.