Time To Retrain

[Lawson]

Hi Guys,

 

Just introducing myself and giving you guys some background on how I came to this forum.

 

I've been in the IT Industry since 1992. Unfortunately, IT positions are rapidly being outsourced to places like India and Malaysia, and this will only increase exponentially in the next few years. 

 

My last position was made redundant after being employed by them for many years.  Even though I received high merits on my monthly reports; there simply was no positions being retained ... it all went overseas to Malaysia.  Because of my skills, I was one of the last people to be made redundant, and having to train foreign workers to replace my friends at work, and eventually myself, not only left a bad taste in my mouth, but was also a huge wake-up call that IT Tech Support is finished in my country.
 
So, I am dedicating myself to learn about watch repair in the hope of being indentured as a apprentice: and retrain into a new career path with a future.
 

I know it is a hard occupation to get into (especially at my age), but I'm a hard worker and determined to succeed.  I want to learn as much as possible to have an edge over other being interviewed for the few positions being offered.  I would appreciate information on study material that you guys recommend ... books and apprentice training course material that I can purchase to further my own personal advancement,  until I get that job offer.

[WillFly]

A warm welcome to you - and respect to you for taking such a brave step! :bow:

[Blacklab]

Welcome & good luck in your new career. Its good to change tack, 6 years ago I owned a rapidly declining print business in London, luckily I managed to sell it off and since then have worked as a self employed handyman. I now look forward to getting up on Mondays, work is varied, the order book is full.

[Geo]

Welcome aboard Lawson, I sincerely wish you well with your foray into the world of horology!

[autowind]

Welcome to the forums Lawson,  it's difficult to think of a safe job these days,  undertaker, springs to mind, Dr's, dentists or best of the lot a Banker.

 

The best advice I know is to download and read this book  http://dump.petervanwezel.nl/Practical_Watch_Repairing.pdf  if you read all of it you will have a very good understanding of mechanical watches.  Next step would be to get hold of some scrap movements that you can practice on, there is usually something on Ebay or try friends.  When you can take them apart and put them back together you will have reached a milestone.  Also watch Marks videos on YouTube to see an expert at work. Hope this helps.

[atimegoneby]

Welcome Lawson & good luck with your new venture !     :)

[Lawson]

Thanks for the warm welcome :)

 

Autowind: Thanks for the book advise mate.  I did a bit of a search on this forum last night and spotted that book being recommend (I think the first book Mark ever purchased on watch repair) ... so I ordered an old hardcover copy of fleabay.  I'll be reading that cover to cover to be sure.

 

As for old movements, do you have any recommendation on which is the best cal. and/or brand of movement to start practicing on?  I don't wanna try running before I've even crawl outta the crib :P  Cause from what I've researched so far, there are brands\cal, of movements that are a real bugger to work with (poor design and build, and other far better and much more forgiving to a novice like me.

[southwesttimers]

Hi Guys,

 

Just introducing myself and giving you guys some background on how I came to this forum.

 

I've been in the IT Industry since 1992. Unfortunately, IT positions are rapidly being outsourced to places like India and Malaysia, and this will only increase exponentially in the next few years. 

 

My last position was made redundant after being employed by them for many years.  Even though I received high merits on my monthly reports; there simply was no positions being retained ... it all went overseas to Malaysia.  Because of my skills, I was one of the last people to be made redundant, and having to train foreign workers to replace my friends at work, and eventually myself, not only left a bad taste in my mouth, but was also a huge wake-up call that IT Tech Support is finished in my country.

 

So, I am dedicating myself to learn about watch repair in the hope of being indentured as a apprentice: and retrain into a new career path with a future.

 

I know it is a hard occupation to get into (especially at my age), but I'm a hard worker and determined to succeed.  I want to learn as much as possible to have an edge over other being interviewed for the few positions being offered.  I would appreciate information on study material that you guys recommend ... books and apprentice training course material that I can purchase to further my own personal advancement,  until I get that job offer.

If you are located in the US there are a few excellent two year watch schools here. Seattle Washington, Norman, Ok, and Lancaster, Pa have schools. You may check in to schools.

[Vich]

Hello Lawson and welcome. I was part of an in-house team for IT and Telecoms for 25 years but the job went bad when outsourcing started and the big names were tendering and eventually taking over all the mainframe administration. Then on site repairs ceased in favour of complete machine swap out. I decided to retire and have not looked back since. There is a lot of friendly help available here and heaven knows I have needed it. For me it is a hobby and I have restricted myself to two makes of watch but I would guess that you will not have that luxury. Good luck in your endeavours.

Vic

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Tigertim]

Hi Lawson Ilike you am a beginner at this, to start off i just bought some cheap movemets from ebay just to get used to where everything comes from and goes back to.It takes a long time to get it right but hopefully with practice I and you will conquer it. I have also bought 2 books Repairing old Clocks & Watches by Anthony J Whiten and the other one recommended by the guys on this site is Practical Watch Repairing by Donald de Carle. Good luck

[Lee]

Welcome & good luck! many try (myself included) few succeed (probably me too, lol)

 

Lee