employment opportunities in the knife industry

sven

sven

Joined
Dec 9, 2002
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107
posted this over in the spyderco forum but have yet to recieve any kind of reply so i'll post it here and see how it fares. i was just wondering what kind of positions spyderco (or any knife company for that matter) has. the more i think about it, the more intrigued i am by the knife field. i'm fascinated by the different aspects of it. i can't get enough of it. i guess it's just a dream of mine to be able to work for a knife company or something like that. anyone know what areas of study(college wise) would be good if one wanted to pursue a career in the knife industry? i'm only 19 and just finished my first year of college. any ideas? any information is greatly appreciated.


grace and peace
sven
 
Look into some Industrial Design and Engineering classes. That's what they usually call the category of engineering that goes into "products" or objects. As opposed to Buildings or Bridges. Look into learning about Computer Controlled milling machines and such. Manufacturing Management. Computer Aided Drafting.......

Also look around for knife making classes. Get in touch with the Knifemakers Guild.

That's what I come up with off the top of my head. With stuff like that under your belt, any knife company would love to have you.
 
Hi Sven. The knife industry has much in common with many other industries as. All businesses have an accounting depts, shipping/receiving, etc. Many areas of study can be used in the knife industry.

Lunumbra offered some excellent suggestions for your own training and understanding about this particular industry.

I think that first you might ponder what in the knife indusrty appeals to you. Making knives is much different than selling knives. R&D is different still.

Psychology is always good as it helps you to understand people. Anything that you do, you will probably being doing it with people and understanding them helps.

Keep in mind that all of the paths of your life will be based on the decisions that you make....so make them carefully.

sal
 
lunumbra: thanks for the info. i will look into that more. i'm taking a CADD class next semester actually.

Sal, thank you for taking the time to reply. your question as to what area i'm interested in is mainly the reason for posting this thread. i was just looking for informaiton as to what it was that you people do. just from what you listed, (correct me if i'm wrong) R&D-finding out what the customer needs and then designing a product that meets those needs, manufacturing is making the design a reality, and sales is pairing the customer with the product that fits what they need. i enjoy all of those to be quite honest. this will require more though and some soul searching on my part. as to what you said about the paths in life, i agree completely, that's why i asked. thanks again for the reply.


Grace and peace
sven
 
Good luck Sven. You could check the sites of the other main knifemakers, they usually have employment opportunities so you could make an idea. There's always a shortage of skilled CNC workers, if you're into machining.
Sal, thanks for the answer ;)
 
Sal,

How about a recent graduate with a BA in Criminal Justice?

I am willing to relocate anywhere.
 
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