What is your name and job title?

Joey Authement
Current : CNC programmer
Past: Machinist

Describe job requirements and tools you are required to have:

To be a CNC programmer requires years of machinist experience. You have to know the fundamentals of metal removal.
Tools? CAM software, carbide inserts, boring bars, precision measuring tools and a very expensive machine.

What kind of experience do you have (training, on the job, military)? How much would recommend others have?

13 years working in a machine shop.
I worked in different departments until I found what I like to do.
No prior experience is needed but if you have some it won’t hurt.

What made you decide to enter your particular field of work?

I wanted to make money and get out of on my own.

What kind of education is required or would you suggest?

Math and a lot of it.

How long did your trade Education takes to accomplish? Is continuing education required?

You are always in training. New technology or tools.
Someone with good mechanical skills can know the essentials in about a year.

Are there special skills one needs to enter your field of work?

You have to be a perfectionist. Close enough won’t get it when you’re dealing with close tolerances.

Do you remember your first day on the job? Describe it for us.

Yes
That episode of Dirty jobs when Mike went visit a drilling rig. Remember how they had to put the pipe dope on the threads before screwing them together.
I was doping couplings to go out to the rig.(In a shop)

Briefly describe your typical day – hours worked, challenges, etc.

I check with the shop to see what the will be running that day. I make the programs needed and spend some time on the shop floor watching my creation work. (To see how I can improve) Hours: Slow week 45. Busy week 50 or more.

What was the best advice you received about your job and trade?

When I first started training as a machinist my supervisor told me “just worry about your job I will take care of the rest” and “Learn this and you could get a job anywhere”

What advice would you give to someone interested in entering your trade?

Go take a class at vo-tech to get the fundamentals and use that to your advantage when you go job shopping.

What is the best thing about your job or what do you like the most?

I like being able to get out in the shop and not confined to a cubicle. It’s the best of both worlds a few hours at my desk a few hours in the shop right in the middle.