wages for plasma cnc programmers

threedee

I'm looking at change in career, been doing all sorts of CAD and small scale cnc before, need to move on to bigger things - plasma cnc programmer, pretty much the same as i have experience with but on a bigger machine.

What i'm interested in is what sort of qualifications are valued in this field (besides CAD experience) and what sort of fair pay can i expect in Northern Ireland for this position.

I'm digging through recruitment agencies, which show pay in the region of 22k to 35k, but thats mainland, how about N.I. ?

Cheers...

alenax

If you look at recruitment agencies' job specifications, they will be able to tell you what qualifications you need in order to be eligible to apply.

threedee

I'm not talking about what HR drones want (they usually dont know squat about real work that needs to be done). What i want to know is what is PRACTICALLY needed in CNC plasma cutter operation.

Usually employers want a rocket scientist in as a meat boning line worker, hence my question...

And what sort of pay i may get having relevant KNOWLEDGE (not some papers showing that long time ago i was in one school or another, papers are overrated)...

alenax

I'm just saying, usually the job specification says, "Must have a certificate in so-and-so" etc, which might be helpful. Unfortunately the HR drones decide whether to pass your details on to the manager or head of department/etc, so you might have to pay some attention to it.

I don't know about pay so I can't help you there, but papers DO mean something. Anyone can say they know something about plasma cutting but having a piece of paper saying you completed a course that the employer acknowledges is relevant.

HTH.

threedee

Fair enough, but i'm speaking from my experience. Somehow i managed to get jobs going over the top of HR all my life. Lucky, or well persuasive i don't know, but my exp tells me that i should stick to the relevant only.

Next monday i'm going to try my method of getting to talk to someone who actually cares about hiring (also known as "going over HR's heads"), but i need to know what pay can i negotiate and what qualifications are really worth mentioning/having.

Isn't there some sort of database on wages by occupation/region ?

alenax

Fair enough, can't help you with the database but good luck and hope you get it!

mikey72

Do you really think the HR "drones" actually write the job description? They publish whatever the manager writes, so to be honest, whatever qualification is in the advert, is only going to be whatever the person who cares about hiring has said.

threedee

And in turn managers probably know more about selling stuff and ordering materials than about the process of manufacturing. I'm trying to talk to people who are actually in manufacturing - a line super or a shift super. Those are people that know who needs to be hired. In turn they tell managers, who then tell HR - result is requirement to be a rocket scientist on a meat boning line...