I might be getting a job doing factory work. I hear its boring as shit, but it pays well. Anyone here done factory work and want to share their experiences? (I’m 17, at uni and dead poor. I need money. Someone wanna send me some money? if so email me. TA!)
Factory work is pretty much all I’ve done . Food manufacturer , CD packing , operating a heat-seal ( l.c.d. to p.c.b. ) and operating a lead inspection device for micro-chips to name just a few of the boring things I’ve done to pay the rent and eat .
Some people ( myself included ) don’t mind the monotony , they just turn off and work from the neck down . Usually there’s a steep learning curve to begin with but once you’ve got it down it’s easy and can be very boring .
My main advise would be ( if your looking to go anywhere ) to try and find a “start-up” company , the chances for advancement are good and there might even be a training trip involved. That’s what I did and I got 2 months in the states and 1 month in Canada and now I tell the person who tells the person to press the buttons 
Best of luck with the job , and study hard in uni so you don’t have to stay there .
Thanks yojimbo.
The only reason I have chosen factory work is because I hear it pays a lot better then normal casual/part time jobs. For example, would a 17 year old earn more money stacking shelves at K-Mart or would I earn more doing factory work?
I never understood why people chose to do factory work. Sometimes it pays better than a 7-11 job. But there are plent of jobs that pay just as well.
My fiance’s father is 60 years old and has worked as a cardboard maker for 30+ years. He looks MUCH MUC older than 60!!! It is all the hard work. My fiance’s siter does the same thing. She does stock at Eckard srug factorys. Why work SOOOOO hard unless you aren’t qualified to do anything else.
Do you have a work ethic so determined that you must break your back everyday to earn a living? Does that give you satisfaction?
I just don’t get it…
hmmm…
I wasn’t meant to work. I should be handed a limitless credit card and a car and told to do anything I want. I should be a princess…
Manta – I work in personnel at a factory. I’ve done a few jobs on the line, for a few hours at a time, just to see what it was like. (Had to get special permission from the union, but they thought it was a good idea for the office folks to have a taste of the “real world.”)
“Factory work” is too broad a term and there are too many variables for someone to be able to give you a yes or no answer.
If money is the only issue, yes, you’ll probably make more in a factory than clerking at a retail store. (Unless it’s Nordstrom, and you get to be a personal buyer for a movie star, but I digress.)
Our plant has 2000 employees. Many of them have been here for 20 years and more. When they retire, they talk about how glad they are “to be out of here”, but they also say they’re glad they were able to work there, and earn enough money to buy a home (or homes), help put the kids through school, stuff like that.
We’ve hired a lot of people right out of high school, and we hire college students as temporary help in the summer. Many of them come back all through college.
Some people hate it and leave after a day or two.
Some people have stayed in the same department for many years; others bounce all over, learning new jobs. It’s as boring as you make it. Once you learn your job, you can learn new ways to do it, or you can enjoy the company of the people around you.
And there’s always the chance for promotion. Most of our “facilitators” (foremen) were production workers at one time, and they go on from there to be managers with input into business decisions. One went so far as to manage the entire plant, and then higher up in the corporate structure.
I’d say try it. You’ll use muscles you never knew you had. Don’t give up after just a few days though – give it a real chance.