Congrats!
I'm always interesting in hearing how and why folks reinvent themselves. So, what's your story? What did you do before? How old are you? What are your prospects? What do you have against Molson?
Well I originally choose mechanical engineering when I was leaving high school, I attended college and had a few jobs in the engineering field in a few different industries. I found myself working as an injection mould designer at a small tool and die shop and I loved it. I loved the work and the shop.
Anyway in April 2011, I was 29 and my wife and I had just purchased our first home and on our closing day I went to work excited to be a first time home owner, and while sitting at my desk working on a design, a car pulled up and 3 guys in suits walked into the building and my boss started running back and forth from his office to the meeting room. He kept shutting his office door, which he never did. Anyway the same day I became a home owner, I found myself going home at lunch time, unemployed, as my boss had been put into receivership.
I was on employment insurance for a few months, I was going door to door and making phone calls all day, I had something like 80 resumes out there, and had absolutely no call backs. Being 2011 it was thick in the middle of the recession, so there were no jobs to be found.
Eventually a few of the employees of the shop I worked at, bought the assets and re opened under a new name. They lost a lot of business and didn't need a full time designer, so I approached the new boss and suggested he bring me on as an apprentice, so I could stay employed and be available for him as a designer.
Shortly after that my wife and I found out we were expecting twins. The new owner said they were very happy with me but business wasn't picking up as fast as they had hoped and he couldn't promise me 40 hours a week, and suggested I look elsewhere seeing as I had 2 kids on the way.
Anyway I bounced around a few different tool and die shops through my apprenticeship, which was kind of cool, as I got to learn from a lot of different toolmakers and machinists and learn different methods and processes. Coming from the design world I gravitated to CNC right away and loved it.
I'm now 34, supervisor at a small custom machining and jobbing shop. I'm hoping to invest in a large capacity wire edm machine and start my own little operation.
As for Molson, during my college years I drank mainly Molson and Labatt since it was the cheap option at the bar. Drank way too much of it and the taste just doesn't sit well anymore, and I've discovered much better options as I've grown up.
