Comments on: Advice on How To Get a Welding Job

By: Carmen

Carmen — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:01:01 +0000

Your best bet is going to be the American Welding Society– they have a school locator.
http://www.aws.org/w/sense/
Good luck!

By: steve

steve — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:45:15 +0000

my 20 year old son took a welding course at night at the local voc school in fall river mass. he wants to take more courses and get certified i have been looking all over in this area on the web and can’t find a course for him to take full time any ideas ?

By: Carmen

Carmen — Tue, 26 May 2009 17:38:36 +0000

Kevin! it’s never too late to switch careers… and to pursue your dreams. Keep us posted

By: kevin

kevin — Tue, 26 May 2009 03:16:00 +0000

ive been driving trucks long distance and hauling oversized loads for about 14 years and i thought its time for a career change i love to weld but only know the basics so im returning to school at the age of 34 to learn tig,pressure,and maybe underwater welding either way i can fulfill my new dream and hopefully make a new career for myself thanks for listening and have a great day kevin

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 17:17:34 +0000

I’m a student currently attending and just about at the end of my welding course. I have passed most of the program, but there are theory modules which I have failed due to my lack of sleep from working full time in addition to the 30 hr/wk course. As it is, I won’t be passing the course, though we receive credits for each plate test and project passed. I plan on finishing the course in due time, but my savings are running low. Will it be possible to find a welding job with the year and a half experience I received at the school?

By: dexter

dexter — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 23:47:03 +0000

My grandpa got me my first pipeline job as a welder helper. Traditionally, unless you’ve got family that are in the business, one will work as a helper for around 5 years before “breaking out” on the pipeline as a welder. There’s a lot of knowledge to be taken in concerning the work at hand and as well as the downhill welding procedure used on most lines. I worked my ass off kept my ears open and pestered anyone that would stand still long enough with various questions and bought myself a ’77 Lincoln SA 200 welding machine and began to practice. On my third job I was set up to help a certain welder who had been given the helpers he had before a lot of trouble. He had “run off” or fired two helpers previously so they decided to put me with him. He had nothing but praise for my help and my work and he was grateful enough and impressed with my knowledge of the work and welding he asked the welder foreman to let me test on the next job which he did. So by working long enough around a certain group of people in the field and building a small network of coworkers and proving myself to my superiors I was given a chance to make the kind of money after only one year that some people strive a decade or more for. I’ve only got a ged to show for education and had no previous knowledge of welding whatsoever before i started, but working the ground and keeping interest in what was going on and staying focused got the job done! Know the work that you’re doing before you go and try to lay some heat out there. An incompetent helper can be trained but an incompetent welder usually gets to look for another job.

By: Carmen

Carmen — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 20:40:19 +0000

Great adviceWeldrwomn…. lots of folks seem to think they can walk out a training program or a university and demand top dollar for their field…. but you gotta start somewhere!!

By: WELDRWOMN

WELDRWOMN — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:17:57 +0000

I first took a night course at the local community college that covered the basics of Oxy, Stick, and Mig welding. That course planted a little seed that, several years later, inspired me to pursue welding as a career (that, and my Dad told me that being a tour guide wasn’t a proper career). I asked my Uncle (who works for a welding supply company) and I was told that, for a good career in welding, I should go to either Hobart or Lincoln to learn all that I could. I looked at the websites of both the schools and decided on Hobart. When I was about ready to finish at Hobart, I got a job in the area running a Mig welding robot. I have since moved on to a better welding job, but one of the things that I would tell a newbie, is that you should expect to start small. Nobody is an expert right out of school and if you are going to get the really big jobs, you have to work your way up learning all that you can.