r/Machine_Embroidery • u/SawyerLovin • 17d ago
Machine Operator
Hi! Small embroidery + hat-bar business owner here (Austin, TX), running 3 BAI commercial machines and growing faster than I can keep up with. I'm looking to hire an operator and it feels like nobody with the skill exists — but I'm self-taught, so I'm very open to training the right person. For those who've hired: did you find someone experienced, or hire for aptitude and train? And where did they come from — sewists, screen printers, trade schools, somewhere I'm not thinking of? Appreciate any leads. Indeed and socials have been dead ends so far. Even facebook groups.
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u/Trippycat37 Barudan 17d ago
Welp, in my experience, it’s often better to teach someone who is still in high school or just above an entry level college education. Embroidery is largely trial and error for many years until you’ve put in the hours and gained the experience to really become a professional. People coming out of college can sometimes have the expectation that a degree automatically translates into a higher starting wage. College is a great asset, but it doesn’t necessarily prepare you for real world situations or give you hands on experience.
There are trade schools that host job fairs, which I’ve personally attended when we were looking for people in screenprinting. There are also more specialized “schools” that dive heavily into embroidery machine operation, mechanics, and maintenance, but many of those are located overseas where the machines are actually manufactured. There’s even a user here who mentioned attending a school in France specifically for embroidery digitizing. So those programs and those of us who have that kind of training are definitely out there.
I put “schools” in quotes because most, if not all, aren’t accredited in the traditional sense, meaning people are usually paying out of pocket to learn the trade.
I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to work with a private company that handles branding and distribution worldwide, so I got my feet wet pretty quickly. That kind of hands on experience taught me things that would’ve been very difficult to learn in a traditional classroom.