Laser Operator

Lasers make great death rays, as any science fiction fan will tell you. But they also make excellent tools. Laser can be used to cut through glass, metal, wood, plastic, and more. As a Laser Operator, you wield laser—just like a sci-fi character—to make these cuts.

On a typical workday as a Laser Operator, you’re given a set of drawings telling you exactly what must be cut and where those cuts should be made. You may have paper drawings to look at, or you may be given drawings on the computer. Your laser is likely housed inside a sophisticated machine, and you use your drawings to program that machine when you’re a Laser Operator.

You load the materials onto the machine, and supervise it as it makes the laser cuts. Afterwards, you inspect the finished pieces and make adjustments to the programming if the products don’t quite match the drawings. Imperfect pieces are considered waste, so you do everything possible to avoid making multiple mistakes and adjustments.

Once the pieces are done, you stack them up and bundle them together. If there’s another team assigned to complete work on the pieces you’ve cut, you deliver the products to that team. Otherwise, you prepare the products for shipping, and take them to the shipping area.

You also clean the machine periodically, removing debris to ensure that it doesn’t smear and ruin the products you’re making. If the machine breaks down, you may need to call in a manufacturer’s representative to make repairs. You’ll plead with them to come quickly so you won’t fall too far behind schedule.