Managing Your Career As A CNC Machinist

Are you looking to maximize your career as a CNC Machinist? Let’s take a look at a number of ways you can become a CNC machinist star.

Choosing Your Career Path

As you may know, the career of a CNC machinist isn’t uniform. Instead, you choose where you want your skills to take you based on your interests, ambition, available opportunities, pay levels and other factors. Some paths available to CNC machinists include:

• Long-term operator – Most entry-level CNC machinists start as machine operators, gaining skills and experience as they progress. If you’re satisfied with staying at this level, there is no shame in it. After all, not everyone wants to progress to ever-more-complicated techniques and procedures, but remember there will be a ceiling on your pay in the low to mid $20s per hour based on your years of experience. Note that this somewhat less-ambitious path will only fit with certain employers, so ask upfront before you join (if you can) about what the typical career path is within the company.
• Set-up machinist – From a machine operator, many machinists transition into being put in charge of setting-up CNC machines for others to use. This work includes understanding GD&T (geometric dimensioning and tolerancing) and making edits at the CNC machine’s controller. The pay is another level higher than an operator (typically in the mid $20s per hour) and can similarly act as a stopping point for machinists that are perfectly happy with this level of pay and technical challenge. Being a set-up machinist is a very well-respected position within a machining department.  
• CNC programmer – Many machinists view CNC programming as the “holy grail” of CNC machining. As a CNC programmer, your job is to create the code that dictates exactly how the CNC lathe, mill or other system will fashion the part or component. The work includes CadCam programming, designing parts with SolidWorks and optimizing the performance of machines while reducing waste (remember wasted metal stock costs money!). In some cases, you will be responsible for the first article inspection of your parts, so being proficient with most manual measuring devices or knowing how to operate a CMM machine is helpful. CNC programmer pay levels are some of the highest in the industry and range from approximately the mid $20s to mid $30s per hour. The role involves more responsibility and a significant amount of high-skill and high-value technical knowledge. Given their importance to the trade and the organization, it’s not uncommon for CNC programmers to have something of a “rockstar” reputation in the company. Many CNC programmers are incredibly happy to remain at their level and enjoy the attractive pay levels available to themover the course of their career.  
• Manager – As you progress, you can eventually earn the opportunity to lead and manage other employees (if you have and have demonstrated valuable leadership qualities). Managers make big-picture decisions that workers are responsible for carrying out. They should be capable of addressing every aspect of the manufacturing process, including operation planning, fixture design and work holding, CNC program creation, post processor development, and so forth.
• Shop owner – As it sometimes goes with managers and some programmers, you may find that the best way to maximize your earnings and have the desired control over output is to become a shop owner. Managers and programmers that have learned the ins and outs of shop management can take the leap of investing in their own equipment, meeting with bankers to finance or expand their business, and handlingthe day-to-day aspects until the shop is up and running.

Tip For Success #1: Think Of Every Day As A Learning Opportunity

CNC machinists shouldn’t rest on their laurels when they’re looking to get the most out of their career. We recommend that you think of every day as an opportunity to learn new skills and stay current. This concept should lead you towards supplementing your training with classes at a local trades school or it might motivate you to learn new skills at your current employer.

To ensure that you are actively learning instead of just phoning it in, consider documenting your learning, either by journaling or a method that keeps you accountable. You can see your progression (or lack thereof) and question your assumptions that you’ve had. For instance, are there ways to make your work more efficient? You may notice trends that you have missed, mistakes that you continually repeat, or techniques that can be applied elsewhere. If allowed, take photos of your finished product to go along with your notes on how you made the process more efficient.

If you don’t have the opportunity to learn new skills first-hand and can’t attend school to learn more skills, subscribe to YouTube channels that cater to CNC machining techniques. This can put you ahead of those that are merely just relying on their old knowledge and limited swath of experience. By showing initiative, your employer will take note of your ambitions—especially as you can help them make become more profitable. You may become management material (see previous section) as you see the big picture, rather than just cashing a check by doing the minimum level of work.

Tip For Success #2: Volunteer For Cool Opportunities

As a CNC Machinist, your versatility is your selling point. And there’s no substitute for first-hand knowledge. If your company has cool opportunities to learn, new machines that they need to train someone on, materials other than metal to machine or projects that may stretch your skillset, speak to the manager and volunteer for them. This also gives you a measure of job security: you can make yourself more valuable to your current and future employers. If you’re laid off at any point or looking to move to a new company, having these skills can make it easier to find a new job at a higher pay rate or salary instead of starting at the bottom of the totem pole.

Tip For Success #3: Be Safe

This almost seems like a no-brainer, but by practicing safety measures, you can ensure that you and others aren’t harmed while doing your job. Make a habit out of being thoughtful and conscientious with safety, equipment and materials – safety is important. Equipment and materials are expensive, so think before you act. A sloppy job performance shows in your output, so paying attention to what you’re doing at all times is a secret of success as a CNC machinist. And, as always, make sure you’re wearing proper safety equipment. All these efforts will be noticed by your manager and employer and you will avoid any situations that could seriously derail your career.

Tip For Success #4: Be Strategic and Make Good Job Decisions

Your career success will result from hard work and good strategy. Remember that your skills are in-demand—according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, CNC machinists are some of the most sought-after professionals, especially as the world modernizes towards automation. If you feel the learning curve starting to taper off at your current company, look around and start paying attention to opportunities that may exist both inside and outside of it.

As a best practice, we recommend that you stay where you are when possible. “Job hopping” between companies is looked down upon, so be sure to very thoughtful before making a leap. Why? Word can get around and you may find yourself having a harder time securing employment when compared to candidates with longer tenures. If you have been at a company for two years or more, that is enough time to seriously consider opportunity outside of your current company. If you have worked at a company for less time, but feel like you NEED to make a change, be sure that you have an excuse that makes legitimate sense to any recruiter or hiring manager.

At this point, take a look at various online job sites to see what opportunities and in what industries are available and at what pay levels. Again, think about what career track you are pursuing and how these opportunities fit into that plan. Have you decided that there is one industry that you want to specialize in or how tight of tolerances you want to machine in? Additionally, identifying the best employers in a sea of companies is tough work, so consider reaching out to a specialty recruiting company, like Xemplar Workforce Solutions, that has long-standing relationships with both trades professionals and employers and can match you with the company that fits your skills, goals and personality.

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If you really want to kick your career as a CNC machinist into overdrive, consider working with Xemplar Workforce Solutions as your connection to high-demand CNC positions. As a specialty recruiting company, we match high-skilled CNC machinists with outstanding employers looking for long-term trades professionals. Contact Xemplar Workforce Solutions today and start on your way to CNC machining success!