getting into engineering/metalwork field?

[xa-mont]

Hey guys,

Just after a bit of advice really...

I am 23, nearly 24, working as an IT manager for a graphic design company... and, well... the work is boring as fuck. I never really liked IT THAT much, it is just a good easy job with pretty good pay.

What I really want to do is get into mech. engineering or some form of metal work (fitter & turner, boilermaker ect)... The main problem i have with this is that i have a car that i am paying off and i also have to pay bills and whatnot... so i doubt i would be able to support myself on an apprentice wage. As i guide i think i would need 40k/year to just scrape by (my car is $850 a month).

Anyone got any idea's of what i could do to get this career change happening?

[Gix11]

To state the obvious: sell the car! Get the luxuries once you get the income again. Simple really. Life's too short to miss out on opportunities / life changes because of a car loan!

[Shadowzone]

Sell your car and buy a decent cheapie because you dont need a flash car if you're an apprentice, get rid of your credit cards and by get rid of them I mean cut the fuckers up pay them out and dont get new ones, and once your bills are down to a respectable level go get your ass an adult apprenticeship which will pay you 3rd yr wages for the first 3yrs.

If you're serious about it of course that would be the way I'd go. Oh and get a second job as well - something like night fill for 20 or so hours a week which will give you a couple hundred bucks a week extra to cover the bike bits you want to buy.

[Shadowzone]

3 seconds Si....

[latheboy]

mech. engineering or some form of metal work (fitter & turner, boilermaker ect)...

You better do your research into what you want to do,
if you started an app. and 2 years later you wished you did something else, you have to start agian.
Some things will carry over but not that much.

Go do a night course, that way you will know if you like it and they count for part of your time if you do the right ones.
Go talk to the local tafe.

[latheboy]

And .......

Harden up, my first pay check as an app. fitter turner was $146...
Today its heaps better...

[xa-mont]

selling the car at this stage is kind of not worth it though...

I got it on a novated lease 2 years ago when i was in the defence force, traveling from Canberra to Vic all the time and at the stage it was a good idea blah blah blah blah.

NOW... i owe about $36k on a car that i could realistically get about $27000 for. at this stage i have about $2k saved towards paying it out.

I do also have 10k in a term deposit until mid next year. I have no debts apart from the Ute.

SO... if i were to get rid of my Ute right now, I would be left with about $7k of debt and nothing to show for it in the meantime...

[xa-mont]

quote:Originally posted by latheboy

And .......

Harden up, my first pay check as an app. fitter turner was $146...
Today its heaps better...


LOL... it isn't so much about hardening up... if i was 18 living at home without debt i would have happily gone for whatever wage to get into it (if i felt the same as i do now) but back then i had already been accepted into the air force to a job that paid quite well and it all seemed like it was going to be swell.. but the RAAF was shit and boring and not doing IT in the real world is boring.

[Shadowzone]

The other option is go and rejoin the defence forces - this time as an apprentice.

[xa-mont]

NO.... CHANCE!!!

[Elapid]

quote:Originally posted by Shadowzone



The other option is go and rejoin the defence forces - this time as an apprentice.




Or as Blowies personal "plaything"[xx(]

[JackTar]

You can be my bitch if you want xa but I do guns and ropes not metal.

[xa-mont]

there is no way i would join back up... ESPECIALLY in the Navy with JackTar...

[Shadowzone]

Well mate it sounds like you have all the reasons in the world to not do what is needed and not so many to do what is needed.

You need to make the decision either way. If it's something you really want to do sell the Car cop the hit and pull the term deposit early to cover the shortfall and use the remaining 4 of $5k to go and purchase a second hand vehicle to get you through the next four or so yrs as an apprentice.

If you're not prepared to make the sacrifice(s) you need to in order to achieve your goal then it isn't something you really want to do. I'm about to commence 7yrs of study to become a doctor. That means no money, piss poor birthdays & christmas's for me the mrs and the kids, and probably very little on the way of motorbike modding (well some of the baby bonus will go towards it if we can spare it), but it's what I really want to do and as such sacrifices have to be made. So we've cleared our debt and are preparing to live frugally sans most of lifes luxuries which we won't be able to justify or afford on the pitance that is Centrelink Payments and Whatever part time work I can fit in or get to earn some extra coin on the side.

Just my way of thinking anyway.

[xa-mont]

i am seriously considering pulling the term deposit and doing just that... i think i'll have a chat to my folks/missus tonight and weigh up some options and whatnot, because it is something that i REALLY want to do, as there is no point sticking around in a line of work that i am not really that interested in for the sake of some extra money now.

Good luck with your plans to become a doctor.

[Lewis Moto]

Good with IT? Want to get into engineering? KA-Fucking-Ching!
Meld the 2 together get a bit of hands on experience but engineering is all about computing power and prowess these days.
I was a toolmaker for GMH and I foolishly left it after my apprenticeship because I wanted to do it all by hand the old fashioned way instead of all this newfangled CNC / CADCAM crap.....Oh how wrong I was.
It used to be all G codes and I think some of that still applies but manufacturers such as Fanuc and Mazak have adapted that to their own machine code. If you learn CAD and how to convert it to machine code then the it's all up from there. There is only a small market for hands on machinists and to secure a position as one then you really need to be the cream of the crop as well as CNC experience. Machinists / fitter and turners are now just "operators" as can be seen by the intake of apprentices by major companies these days.

Do your research before you dive in and by all means go and talk to your nearest university / TAFE for guidance in regard to utilising the skills you already have.

[Redmohawk]

Being a bit of an all trades sort of bloke , I have found most jobs are more what you make of them. I to started in IT at a young age being head hunted right out of school and into IT at 17 . Thought it was the ants pants back in the olden days of 286 powerhouses lol.
A bent boss and a few hickups with being a rebel with no cause saw me unemployed 12 months later mostly by choice and at uni to study more IT but working in a direct care job looking after people with disabilitys to pay my way through school. 10 years later I changed to more direct care but in mental health, the IT qualls never used. Along the way I picked up qualls in everything from abbitiour worker to electronics technician. Nothing yet has managed to keep me in one spot and job longer than 4 years.

I see it like this , If your board but making good money use the money and your time better and learn something else till your at a better or same income then move. Most important part of this is dump debt! Fuck off the car , buy a good cheap one fix her up a bit.

[Mishdog20]

quote:Originally posted by Redmohawk

Being a bit of an all trades sort of bloke , I have found most jobs are more what you make of them. I to started in IT at a young age being head hunted right out of school and into IT at 17 . Thought it was the ants pants back in the olden days of 286 powerhouses lol.
A bent boss and a few hickups with being a rebel with no cause saw me unemployed 12 months later mostly by choice and at uni to study more IT but working in a direct care job looking after people with disabilitys to pay my way through school. 10 years later I changed to more direct care but in mental health, the IT qualls never used. Along the way I picked up qualls in everything from abbitiour worker to electronics technician. Nothing yet has managed to keep me in one spot and job longer than 4 years.

I see it like this , If your board but making good money use the money and your time better and learn something else till your at a better or same income then move. Most important part of this is dump debt! Fuck off the car , buy a good cheap one fix her up a bit.


and paint it BLACK and name it somethin startin with B...:D

[Redmohawk]

thats it mate , think I've worn out B might move onto C for the next few.

[xa-mont]

already got an old car to do up... i just want to spend too much money on it (XA fairmont coupe... hence my name on here and every other forum)

[ralph]

my first car cost me $850

[xa-mont]

Well... I am fully committed to this whole plan now. I will go and talk to someone at TAFE tomorrow. Need to get the car looking all pretty and as soon as it is good to go i will put it up for sale for $30k.

I am pretty keen on the whole engineering idea too, but don't you generally have to go to school for a few years to become an engineer?

I did figure that the IT experience could help out a fair bit with nearly everything being CNC type stuff now days.

If anyone on here is either:
- mech. engineer
- Fitter/Turner
- Boiler maker

I would love to hear what you get up to on a day to day basis and how you enjoy it.

[rod185651]

Fuck owning a car, I buy one for winter and sell it in Spring. Just sold my latest commodore last week. Lucky for me I'm happy being a Pole Dancer though. As Blowie said; Guns and Ropes is definitely the way to go.

[wackyrider]

Hey Travis. It all depends on what you wanna do. If u want to get in at a trade level you'll need an apprenticeship, if not you can always do an Advanced Diploma in Engineering at night and maybe 1 day class a week. It will take a bit longer but you keep a decent income. If u want to go to Uni there is the same option as well.

Give me a call if u wanna have a talk about it and get an idea what it is about

[Shadowzone]

quote:Originally posted by xa-mont

Well... I am fully committed to this whole plan now. I will go and talk to someone at TAFE tomorrow. Need to get the car looking all pretty and as soon as it is good to go i will put it up for sale for $30k.

I am pretty keen on the whole engineering idea too, but don't you generally have to go to school for a few years to become an engineer?

I did figure that the IT experience could help out a fair bit with nearly everything being CNC type stuff now days.

If anyone on here is either:
- mech. engineer
- Fitter/Turner
- Boiler maker

I would love to hear what you get up to on a day to day basis and how you enjoy it.



Latheboy (Ivan) is a Fitter and Turner and I think both Gitzy and Fimp are boilermakers.

PM them or call them or both and talk to them about it. Ultimately money is nothing if you're unhappy.

[latheboy]

I'm a Tool(maker), basically a fitter and turner...

I love my job. I'm the machinist and the R&D designer, so ill draw stuff then go make it.
If you get into a good company they'll let you do your own stuff after hours.
My bike is parked next to my work bench (in bits) so i play with it at lunch and after work.

If you want to be a Mech eng please go do a machining course. It's shits me to tears when they design an unpossible object, or they cant look at something and see how it work/what it does.

[xa-mont]

so in being a toolmaker there is design work as well? so is the engineering side more the theory/design part of it and then the practical design/actual making it part is the job of a fitter and turner (or toolmaker or whatever specialisation)?

Probably a stupid question... but, as a 'toolmaker' do you actually make tools or is it just a old title that stuck for the line of work? what kind of things is it that you design and make day to day?

[latheboy]

quote:Originally posted by xa-mont

so is the engineering side more the theory/design part of it and then the practical design/actual making it part is the job of a fitter and turner (or toolmaker or whatever specialisation)?


Yep thats about right, but not for all cases.

As a toolmaker i worked on Alumimiun die cast tools and Plastic injection molding.
The company I did my app. at did all the tools for the AU falcon engine, I made the tools for the aircon/alt. mount and power steering mount.
Now days a Toolmaker is a glorified assembler and it's dieing in Australia.

All the design stuff i do is because i did courses and bullshitted my way into the possition.
With any of the trades there will be a design element, you need to be able to measure something and copy it or make it more suited to the job.

[xa-mont]

I have just emailed boeing about a "Fabrication Apprenticeship - Aeroskills" to get a bit more of an idea about what that entails.

[Shadowzone]

quote:Originally posted by xa-mont

I have just emailed boeing about a "Fabrication Apprenticeship - Aeroskills" to get a bit more of an idea about what that entails.


Hope your a smaller bloke and not prone to claustrophobia because some of those guys get to climb inside the wing cavities of planes to repair and replace parts.

Sounds like a good job though and Boeing pay well. I have a mate there who's on a world tour working for them following his RAAF Career, and loving both the dollars and the different countries he gets to work in and visit as part of his job.

[Tony OW31]

Ok, I'll chime in here.
Think long and hard about what you are doing, you will never earn good money in this trade unless you a, get on to the mines as a maintenance fitter, or b, are exceptional at what you do, and by exceptional I mean just that, very good will not do.
You may think you enjoy messing around making stuff, but once it becomes your job, a lot of the joy is removed. I would imagine you work in a nice clean air conditioned environment right now, if you become a tradesman, you will most likely be working in a dirty stinking hot workshop during summer, and a dirty freezing cold workshop in the winter.
You complain about being bored in your current job, but large parts of this job are equally boring, whether it is working on the tools or in the design office, as they say, 90% perspiration, 10% inspiration.
I'm a time served toolmaker, and went on to do mechanical engineering qualifications, luckily I have spent a lot of time doing some really cool stuff, but that is mostly because I have had my own businesses.
If I had my time over again, I would definitely do something else.
But don't let me put you off[:p]

[xa-mont]

quote:Originally posted by Shadowzone



Hope your a smaller bloke and not prone to claustrophobia because some of those guys get to climb inside the wing cavities of planes to repair and replace parts.

Sounds like a good job though and Boeing pay well. I have a mate there who's on a world tour working for them following his RAAF Career, and loving both the dollars and the different countries he gets to work in and visit as part of his job.




I'm definitely not small (not huge but 6' and a bit) but i dont really care about confined spaces. and i figure boeing would be a very interesting place to work.

[Bikes-or-fishin]

my two cents, my mate works for boeing at ipswich QLD and they have been giving redundancies every 6 months give or take.

[Matt]

Before you commit to anything try and get some volunteer workshop experience, the field is huge and varied, you don't want to choose the wrong path and be having this conversation in another 2 years time.