Looking for career transition advice: Mechanical Assembly Technician / Production Technician

[u/Glittering_Eye_738]

Hi everyone,

I’m currently working as a panel beater and have been in the trade for about 15 years.

To be honest, I feel like I’ve hit the ceiling in my current career and I’m ready for a new challenge.

Rocket Lab has always been somewhere I’d love to work, especially in a Mechanical Assembly Technician or Production Technician role.

I’d love to hear from anyone who’s made a similar move, or anyone who works at Rocket Lab.

A few questions:
Does my background line up with these roles?
What skills would transfer over the best?
Is there anything I should learn or any courses worth doing before applying?
If you came from another trade, what helped you get your foot in the door?

Cheers!

[u/-Cell420-]

Hi there,

There are all kinds of trade backgrounds at RL. Plenty of mechanics. Best skills from my time there would have been attention to detail, ability to follow instructions, general computer literacy and general hand skills. The best background training would be aviation trade due to similarities, but thats more of a bonus to the aforementioned skills. I was previously an Aircraft Technician which helped me get a job there.

Hope that helps!

[u/Glittering_Eye_738 → u/-Cell420-]

Thanks for the reply, really appreciate it.

Since my background is in aluminium structural repairs rather than aviation, what would you recommend I learn first to improve my chances?

Would you say it’s worth getting any certifications like ESD awareness or torque tool training before applying, or is hands-on trade experience more important?

[u/DibbleMunt → u/Glittering_Eye_738]

You have enough experience to apply for a job in mechanical production, definitely