Who wants a job?

andychain said:

.........

There is a place for cad and degrees but there is still nothing better than
40 years in a profession.......

Andy

Click to expand...

Well those of us with 40 years i a profession are sort of bound to see it that way.....

Here working in Italy there is a little more respect for knowledge and experience.....

In the UK and other cultures what people worry about is the rapid change in the technology and the ability of staff to keep up.....

Ironically this is where apprenticeships can be a great idea....

Education generally develops and demonstrates an ability to learn, most people don't then use their specialist subject matter in subsequent employment.

An apprenticeship develops a skill in learning from the environment of work and the other people in it.....those who do an apprenticeship do tend to continue in teh industry they did the apprenticeship, even if they move to another employer.

As for AN, it is pleasing to see that they are looking for an enthusiast to continue developing their product range. Pretty sure that all the drawings would now be entered into CAD of some sort. But the skillset they need is pretty industry specific, I wish them luck and if they find someone that person a rewarding period of work.

Me.....I am too specialist...which is why I work in Italy today since the opportunities in the UK dried up.....looks like I now need something to do that accesses my passions more than my 40 years in flight simulation and pilot training.....(not that I am not passionate about that....but like I said...opportunity limited)

SteveA said:

In the UK and other cultures what people worry about is the rapid change in the technology and the ability of staff to keep up.....

Click to expand...

In the computer business, we used to joke that we needed to be retrained every monday morning, things waz moving so fast.
What was scary was how often that was more than half true...

Can recall going to a computer show, and the guest speaker stated that the new generation of computers was at least a year away.
The very next speaker pulled the wraps off that new generation of computers.
We knew, but couldn't warn him....

Back to moidabikes.

No salary quoted for that AN job.
By negotiation ? Or in line with 'industry expectations'.
BTW, is this Nick Hopkirks/Hopkins old job (if thats his name, spelling ?).

Rohan said:

SteveA said:

In the UK and other cultures what people worry about is the rapid change in the technology and the ability of staff to keep up.....

Click to expand...

In the computer business, we used to joke that we needed to be retrained every monday morning, things waz moving so fast.
What was scary was how often that was more than half true...

Can recall going to a computer show, and the guest speaker stated that the new generation of computers was at least a year away.
The very next speaker pulled the wraps off that new generation of computers.
We knew, but couldn't warn him....

Back to moidabikes.

No salary quoted for that AN job.
By negotiation ? Or in line with 'industry expectations'.
BTW, is this Nick Hopkirks/Hopkins old job (if thats his name, spelling ?).

Click to expand...

I don't think it's going to be at Mr. Hopkins' level of seniority.

Looking at the job spec, its a Senior Systems Engineering type role - the customer/supplier-facing component puts it ahead of a Design Engineer job, and it also appears to have a commercial aptitude requirement which is generally out of scope for a typical Engineering role.
Similar jobs command £35-£45K for a 'hit-the-ground-running' type candidate in the UK - manufacturing at least.

I wonder how that compares with the rest of the English speaking World?

Personally, I wish I hadn't moved from the West Country for my last 'career move' - I could have commuted... but I'll get over it :roll:

If I was a bit younger and still in the UK, I'd apply for it. After all, I rode the prototype Commandos for 20,000 miles or more back in 1967 and was involved in a lot of the engineering development work.

Too bad I'm 73 and 5000 miles away. Don't think I could handle the transition back into the UK way of life after 47 years in the US.

Frank, that means you haven't ridden a production Commando.
Thats going to look a bit thin on the application ?!
Cheers.

Rohan said:

Do you know your Commando models, uber well ??

Someone here recently sold a pair of McIntosh valve amps, in delapidated condition.
Reached an amazing price, for something that will need a small fortune to restore them to pristine.
The (rust spotted) chromed chassis looked like a challenge in itself....

Click to expand...

I'm sure there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people who know Commandos and Atlases and Manxes better than I do. I've only been rebuilding classic bikes for a decade, so in that I'm certainly on the short end of the stick and would have a LOT of listening to do. That being said, I am not solely experienced in Nortons or Brit bikes in general- I have a decent amount of other Euro and American marques under my belt at this point, and perhaps can help with the observed mechanical and metallurgical properties of some materials used elsewhere that may help our bikes from a re-pop manufacturing viewpoint.

To the other subject of this reply: when I was 19 I found a matched set of a McIntosh preamp and amplifier with the beautiful green glass shattered. I was remodeling an abandoned house in he countryside of Arkansas that had sat for twenty five years prior. The foreman told me to get rid of the junk, and I did to my house. Unfortunately I was out of my depth at the time when the amplifier choke winding tested open and traded the set for something inane (a Suzuki GN400, I think). A great regret of my life.

Kt-88 said:

I'm sure there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people who know Commandos and Atlases and Manxes better than I do. I've only been rebuilding classic bikes for a decade,.

Click to expand...

We are not so sure that there are too many folks that could get parts organised into PRODUCTION though,
with a level of quality to them, so anyone with that skillset is likely a good candidate for this job.

Pair of macs sold recently also had a sad tale to tell.
A young child played swap the valves, didn't they, and the owner didn't realise until it was too late.
Probably now only good for spares. Sounded lovely when they worked...

frankdamp said:

................. I'm 73 and 5000 miles away. Don't think I could handle the transition back into the UK way of life after 47 years in the US.

Click to expand...

You are probably right, but why would you even want to? :shock:

I would not even consider that kind of position, the engineering firm that makes some parts for me with a state of the art C.N.C lathe that are next to useless ! and when they make a error they don't own up.. When found out it's excuse after excuse... "O the collets where loose", or any old crap.
They scrapped 150 spacers , not to mention many other parts... they had a very good machine setter,but he spent [in their view] to much time ..so he went.
So a job ensuring the parts etc are right would end up with very expensive parts , unless i let my standards [ or more precise the drawings] to fall to the suppliers level . Back to my suppler ..i suggested the best tools produce the best results ie solid carbide drill's, the setter replied " they the management" will not invest.£2 drills, not £20 carbide ,making do is their policy . which is stupid . Yet the boss runs about in a new car.he won't make do... Rant over.

Rohan said:

Kt-88 said:

I'm sure there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people who know Commandos and Atlases and Manxes better than I do. I've only been rebuilding classic bikes for a decade,.

Click to expand...

We are not so sure that there are too many folks that could get parts organised into PRODUCTION though,
with a level of quality to them, so anyone with that skillset is likely a good candidate for this job.

Pair of macs sold recently also had a sad tale to tell.
A young child played swap the valves, didn't they, and the owner didn't realise until it was too late.
Probably now only good for spares. Sounded lovely when they worked...

Click to expand...

john robert bould said:

I would not even consider that kind of position, the engineering firm that makes some parts for me with a state of the art C.N.C lathe that are next to useless ! and when they make a error they don't own up.. When found out it's excuse after excuse... "O the collets where loose", or any old crap.
They scrapped 150 spacers , not to mention many other parts... they had a very good machine setter,but he spent [in their view] to much time ..so he went.
So a job ensuring the parts etc are right would end up with very expensive parts , unless i let my standards [ or more precise the drawings] to fall to the suppliers level . Back to my suppler ..i suggested the best tools produce the best results ie solid carbide drill's, the setter replied " they the management" will not invest.£2 drills, not £20 carbide ,making do is their policy . which is stupid . Yet the boss runs about in a new car.he won't make do... Rant over.

Click to expand...

John,

You need to find a better supplier...with that said, having much experience in this area, before we had numerical controls we had to learn how to do things manually. This is the missing link today in my opinion. Trade schools teach how to program, and not enough methods, so most tech's in the industry don't really understand depth of cut, feed rate or tool aspect ratios and most of the other critical factors to machining...they learn eventually I suppose, but maybe not. Earlier discussion on apprenticeship, sort of touched on it, but most of us here "remember" how it was and not how it is. Equipment today can do amazing things, but also very bad things when not properly set up and run. Garbage in garbage out.