An ancient sage once said “make your hobby your job and you will never have to work another day in your life“. You say, that would be nice but some of us have to earn a living to support our families. True, what we like to do and what we can earn a living doing may be conflicting, at least at first. Try taking an interest in the product that you are producing. Learn who your companies competitors are; how does your company stack up against them, who your customers are and how are they using your product, how are others in the industry doing what you are doing. A simple web search will yield you all the information you need. At first this may seem laborious and irrelevant to developing your job satisfaction, but you will grow into it. You may be surprised at what you may find on the way that  piques your interest.

Very early in my career I worked for a company that made sockets and wrenches. I made a casual acquaintance with one of the forge press operators.  He was one of the more senior employees and with his seniority could have had the pick of any job opening in the plant. The press room is hot, noisy, and dirty. Not where I would want to work. I asked him why he stayed at that job.  He told me because it was his passion.

He said that when he first started it was drudgery and he could not wait to find a better job. It was at a county fair that he got his revelation. He was watching a farrier make horseshoes when he came to realize forging was a process as ancient as man. He began reading about the subject. The more he read the more questions he had which led to more reading. He eventually became a self-taught metallurgist. When he sees the red-hot metal give way to the forge dies, he envisions how the molecular structure is changing and why various metals react differently.

That still did not answer my question as to why stayed at his job and not become an engineer. He looked me square in the eye and said ” would you rather design a race car or drive one. I prefer driving myself”

Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer

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