Working in a CNC shop was pretty fun. There wasn't a ton of actual coding, but you 'write' a lot of programs. I'm not sure how it goes everywhere, but if you ca

Working in a CNC shop was pretty fun. There wasn't a ton of actual coding, but you 'write' a lot of programs. I'm not sure how it goes everywhere, but if you can find a place willing to train you, it's a fun environment. You get to make things everyday, everything you do is practical and hands on and what I found the most rewarding, there are immediate tangible results to your programs. Your programs literally create real life things. That's a pretty cool feeling. Much of the 'programming' these days is done visually through cam software. The high end ones are fairly intuitive and it feels more like building something than programming. I ended up doing a little bit of everything. I learned to do maintenance and a ton of mechanical stuff. I learned the hand work and learned the basics of a trade. It's one of the few times i've ever got to do both manual work and computer work on the same job. If you have inclinations towards making things and still enjoy working with computers while wanting something different, it's something to think about.