Printing Press Machine Operators, or Pressmen, prepare, operate, and maintain the printing presses in a print shop.

What they do.
Duties of printing machine operators vary according to the type of press they operate. Offset printing, or offset lithography, which transfers an inked impression from a printing plate to a rubber covered cylinder then to the paper or other material being imprinted, is the dominant type of printing. Offset is popular because of its consistent high-quality impressions, and it is usable on a wide range of printing surfaces including wood, cloth, leather, rough paper, cardboard, and plastics. And because the plates are quick and easy to produce and have a longer life than direct lithography presses. Other kinds of printing are: Flexography, Screen Printing, Relief Print, and Rotogravure. In addition to the major printing processes, plateless or non-impact processes are coming into general use. Plateless processes- including Digital, Electrostatic, and Ink Jet printing- are used for copying, duplicating, and document/specialty printing, usually by quick in-house print shops, and increasingly by commercial printers for short-run jobs and variable data printing. To prepare presses for printing, machine operators install and adjust the printing plate, adjust pressures, ink the presses, load paper, and adjust the press to the paper size. Press operators ensure that the paper meets the customers specifications, and adjust margins and the flow of ink according to the job. They then feed paper through the press cylinders and adjust feed and tension controls. However new technology becoming available skips all these steps and sends file directly to the press. While printing presses are running, press operators monitor their operation and keep the feeders well stocked. They make adjustments to correct uneven ink across the sheet, the speed of the paper feed, the flow of water, etc. If paper jams or tears and the press stops, operators work quickly to correct the problem to eliminate down time. Similarly, operators working with other high-speed presses constantly look for problems, making quick adjustments to avoid expensive losses of paper and ink. Throughout the run, operators must regularly pull sheets to check for any printing imperfections, though much of this quality checking is now being done by computers. In most print shops, press operators also perform preventative maintenance, by cleaning and oiling the presses, and making small repairs.

Education.
Most printing machine operators are trained on-the-job while they work as assistants or helpers to experienced operators. Beginning press operators load, unload, and clean presses. With time and training, they may move up to become fully qualified press operators on the type of equipment on which they trained. Apprenticeships, when they are offered by the employer, usually include on-the-job instruction and some related classroom training or correspondence school courses, and completion is based on the ability to demonstrate competency in operating equipment. Because of technical developments in the printing industry, courses are in chemistry, electronics, color theory, and physics are helpful. Printing machine operators may advance in pay and responsibility by working on a more complex printing press through experience and demonstrated ability, for example, a one-color sheet fed press operator may become a four-color sheet fed press operator. Press operators can also draw on their knowledge of press operations to become cost estimators, providing estimates of printing job costs to potential customers.

How much they make.
Median hourly earnings of print machine operators were $14.39 in May 2004. The middle 50 percent earned between $10.73 and $18.83 an hour. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $8.54, and the highest 10 percent earned over $23.06 an hour. Median hourly earnings in the industries employing the highest numbers of printing machine operators in May 2004 were:
Newspaper, periodical, book, and directory publishers: $16.46
Converted paper product manufacturing: $15.72
Printing and related support activities: $15.16
Plastics product manufacturing: $13.76
Advertising and related services:$12.68.

The basic wage rate for a printing machine operator usually depends on the complexity of the graphics and the number of colors he is expected to print as well as the complexity of the press and it’s size. Workers covered by union contracts in the newspaper industry generally have higher rates of pay than those who aren’t.

In 2006 there was approximately 30,700 printing companies in the United States, accounting for $112 billion, according to the 2006 US Industry & Market Outlook by Barnes Reports. Print jobs that move through the internet made up 12.5% of the total US Printing market in 2006, according to the research firm Info Trend/CAP Ventures.

Pros and cons.
Pros include: room for advancement, college isn’t required (but always helpful), jobs are plentiful (Printing machine operators held 191,000 jobs in 2004. Nearly half of all the operator jobs were in the printing industry.) pay isn’t bad. Cons include: overtime is very common, many press operators who work for newspapers work weekends, nights, and holidays to meet deadlines. Some of the chemicals used in the printing industries can cause skin burns and other health problems, heavy machinery is very dangerous and accidents are fairly common although safety measures are becoming better, employment of printing machine operators is expected to grow more slowly than average through 2014.

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Electricians, what they do, what training they must have, and how much they make. Also you will read about the different levels of Electricians, including Apprentice, Journeyman, and Master.

1. Introduction

2. What they do

3. How much the get paid

4. Education/How to get the job

5. Pros and cons

6. Bibliography

1. Electricity is needed for light, power, air-conditioning, and refrigeration. And with almost everything in this century requiring power, the Electrician is in higher and higher demand. Electricians generally specialize in construction and maintenance work, although a growing number do both construction (wiring new homes and businesses), and rewire or upgrade older building’s electrical systems. Generally when Electricians work they use blueprints that indicate the locations of outlets, circuits, load-centers, panel boards, switch boxes, etc, . . . This short essay will give you some basic information on the job of an Electrician.

2.Electricians must follow the National Electrical Codes to ensure that the systems they install are safe and up to date. The systems must match or exceed the specified acceptable loads set by the code, or the system won’t pass the required electrical inspection.

Apprentice Electricians are usually given simple tasks like: drilling holes, setting anchors, attaching conduit, and installing, connecting and testing outlets, and cleaning up.

Journeyman Electricians use their experience to complete more advanced tasks like: installing circuit breakers, transformers, switch boxes, and other components, rewiring older buildings, wiring new buildings, etc.

Master Electricians are usually the foreman of electrical installations and are assigned tasks like: setting up and drawing electrical diagrams for entire electrical systems, estimating costs and amounts of wire, fuses, outlets, etc, . . ., supervising installation and testing of systems, and inspecting the electrical systems in old and new buildings.

3. Because of the working conditions and nature of their work, Electricians generally receive good pay. In May 2004 median hourly earnings of Electricians was $22.90. The lower 50% earned between $15.43 and $26.90. The lower 10% earned less than $12.18, and the highest 10% earned more than $30.63. Median hourly earnings in the industries employing the largest amount of Electricians in May 2004 were as follows:

Motor vehicle part manufacturing $30.04

Local government $22.24

Nonresidential Building construction $19.99

Building equipment contractors $19.76

Employment services $15.62

4. The job of an Electrician does not require a college degree, although some community colleges offer courses in Electrical engineering, and other similar courses. To become an Apprentice Electrician one must first buy an Apprenticeship License (Approx. $20.00-$50.00 depending on the state), then one could get classroom training. Although it isn’t required, it is helpful. Sometimes the only training Apprentice Electricians receive is on-the-job training from experienced Journeyman Electricians. Apprentice Electricians should have good math and English skills, and be 18 or older, and have a high school diploma or G.E.D. Apprenticeship programs usually last 4 years and each year include at least 144 hours of classroom instruction, and 2000 hours of on-the-job training. Once this training is complete the Apprentice can take a test and become a Journeyman Electrician. Skills needed to become an Electrician include manual dexterity, eye-hand coordination, physical fitness, and a good sense of balance. The ability to solve mathematical calculations quickly and accurately is also required, as well as having good color vision as most things in the electrical field are color-coded.

For a Journeyman Electrician to become Master Electrician he or she must have been a Journeyman Electrician for at least two years, and must be further trained in estimation, layout, and design of complete electrical systems. After this training is passed one can get an Administrative license and start their own electrical business 5. Some pros and cons for this job are as follows: Injuries are more common than other similar jobs like construction, possible injuries include electrocution, falling from scaffolding, high buildings or ladders, etc… Sometimes Electricians (especially specialist Electricians) have to travel long distances to get to job sites, and may have to live away from home for months at a time to complete jobs across the country or in foreign countries. The job of an Electrician is time consuming and more like a career than a job. It takes a while to get in, and time to gain rank and experience. Most Electrical companies require you to join a union like the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers or the National Electrical Contractors Association. Also, most Electrical companies do contract work only, so Electricians may have to be without work for a few weeks at a time until the company they work for can sign onto another contract. The pros include: Good pay, doesn’t require college, offers a door into similar work like construction, employment for Electricians is expected to increase as fast as all occupations through the year 2014. New technologies also are expected to continue to stimulate the demand for these workers.

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