Anything welding

Well said with your back ground thank You Sir for posting!

 

I thought structural welders needed certification too? (At least, I would hope they do!) But, either way, this:

I thought OP was saying they wanted to get some additional credentials to up their employability.

 

@soundman98 I don`t think he had quite made up his mind just what direction he was going.

As he had never had classes he really was not sure quite how to find a third party test site.

If He lived in my area I could have given him a few contacts.

Yes Structural welders also have codes.

 

thanks. definitely not the path i'm looking to go down. all the positions i've been looking up are more what i guess you'd call 'supplemental welding' meaning that welding experience is required, but is not the primary, or even secondary focus of the job.

2 jobs were semi truck trailer repair with a heavy focus on trailer braking systems and lighting, with welding required for trailer repair. another few were industrial maintenance positions that were requiring welding experience, but focused on pneumatic, hydraulic, and electrical system repair and maintenance first.

all of these positions specifically called out 2-3 years required experience welding, but didn't mention any certifications that would lead or support that experience. that is more where my line of thinking was coming from. i'm not opposed to taking a class or two specifically for welding, but all of the local classes i've looked up so far are 9mo-4yr full-time programs with stupid stuff like english prerequisites...

 

Have you checked into Adult Education night classes??

How is your Stick welding lots of Maintenance Shops can still be old fashion .

Then others can be state of the art it all depends on what type of manufacturing.

Over the years I have given many in the door type welding test the majority were 7018 vertical up on 4"x4" 1/4" or3/8" plate Tee joints.

Do you know your way around Air Brakes and trailer lights ??

Hydraulics or industrial Electrical really strong back ground in any maintenance skills

Things are really different since Before Covid .

A shame your not closer to me .

Happy Hunting .

 

i've looked a little into night classes, biggest thing is they need to start around 8pm or later. too many other obligations in my life, which is half the problem right now. slowly working to taper some of those things off, but it all takes time.

good point, last time i stick welded was for 10 minutes in high school, 20 years ago.. so non-existent.. all i've really done so far is flux-core, up to 1/8" plate. just last year i changed to a flux/mig welder, but haven't had much practice with it yet, or have taken the time to get gas and set it up as a mig machine.

i've been an electrician for the last 12 years (mostly light commercial/residential), and have somewhere near 20-25 years of low voltage electrical experience on top of that. previously i built my own tail lights, and do all my sound system installs. the electrical side of things is well-covered from just about every aspect. the problem i'm really facing is that i know all the local electrical contractors. i'm at the best-paying place currently, but also mostly topped out with this companies available work experience.

this company simply doesn't get anything that is more of a challenge, or will offer me much more. so the only way to get any further experience is to go somewhere other than where i'm at, as well as to step outside the local contractors that i already know, as they all do similar work. i'm not entirely sure i want to stay as an electrician--i enjoy hands-on fabrication/mechanical stuff just as much as the electrical side of things, but trying to figure out where that past experience can be used is a complex web as well...

i understand the fundamentals of air systems and drum/disc systems, but don't have any formal training on any of it.

thanks, definitely different since covid, but things seem to be quickly changing back to what they were before, for better or worse!

 

Electrician to welder?

I'd stick to being an electrician and just do welding as a hobby.

 

If the jobs you are considering only have welding as a small part of the job requirement, you very likely don't need to waste time getting certified. A lot of those jobs (and most jobs anyway) will pay for your certification costs. What you need is the training and understanding to be able to pass the tests consistently.

Check your local community colleges and trade schools. Many offer non-degree and non-certificate welding courses along side their regular degree offerings. These may be titled something like Special Topics in welding or Independent Study. I know schedule is a problem, but some offer weekend classes. It will be hard to find classes past 8pm though (our classes end at 945, and setup and cleanup eat into that time, so our last start is 7pm so we are being efficient with the student's time), but with special topics or independent study classes, they should have some more flexibility in scheduling how many credits, how many nights per week, how many hours per night.

I start 4 DOT mechanics tomorrow in special topics sections (2 nights per week for 10 week) They are all self taught with lots of bad habits to break (because Billy-Bobs uncle's third cousin's pet monkeys previous owner told him to tell them to tell me that 6010 runs better when its wet!!) But need some training and a basic SMAW cert. After the initial class design and discussion, and because of the amount of bad habits we need to break, the SMAW cert is not a guarantee. The class will specifically break bad habits and train appropriate ones with cert testing available if they progress far enough.

If you want welding to be any part of your career, go get formal training. How much of your career you want it to be will dictate how much training is worth your time. Formal training is going to get you more knowledge and ability than learning on your own and paying for Certs you dont need.

Certs in my area from a reasonably priced company will run $200(plate) to $400+ (pipe and specialty) each per try (whether you pass or not). A 5 week class will run you $500 (all fees and unlimited material included), and on average the class will containing training for 3 cert tests and you can do them as many times as you need. Be efficient with your time and money.

Yes, you can struggle and do it the hard way and learn on your own with internet advice and internet videos and take months and tons of money (unless your steel, gas, wire and electricity in your garage are magically free) to learn the very surface of skills. Or you can be efficient with your time and money and learn the same information for cheaper, faster, and get feedback immediately from a qualified and trained instructor.

Welding, Fabrication (employee previously, 10 year business owner), inspection (AWS CWI) and Welding Education (professor... thats more than 10 years as a full-time educator) has been my entire career .... and there is a reason you dont see a lot of posts from me troubleshooting welds and giving advice on the internet: it simply is not an effective or efficient way to learn or teach.

Myself, and nearly ever company I am in contact with will all agree, since the 80s, formal education is the way to go. We will always prioritize applicants with formal training over those without, unless there is a LARGE discrepancy in experience or ability Those with formal education have a proven ability to do one thing: LEARN ... and that is extremely valuable in an employee.

Applicants with No formal training and a "figure it out the hard way" mentality have a proven ability to do it their way, the hard way, which is often (not always) ineffective and inefficient. That is not very valuable from any perspective unless you are in the alaskan wilderness a days plane ride away from the next shop .... are you in the alaskan wilderness?

I am not trying to be harsh, but this profession (especially education surrounding this profession) is my passion. I hope that does give you some direction and some points of thought. In this moment, I do, however, remember a saying about a horse and some water (however muddy it may be).

Truly, I wish you the Best of luck in your search. If I can help you in any way, DM me. I am happy to help search for training facilities in your area.

 

I enrolled at my local community college for welding. All stick. It was at night after my day job. 30 minutes in the classroom and then 2.5 hours under the hood for a semester. It was a great experience and taught me the fundamentals that easily translated to the world of mig welding. As a hobbyist fabricator, it was the best thing I've done for myself.

 

Most major trades (electricians, pipefitters, welders, HVAC etc) pay decent with sufficient time. The one difference that I'd note is prevalence. The electrical trade seems to be a bit more prevalent, giving you much more flexibility in location, work, hours etc. I'm biased as a commercial/industrial electrician myself, but I know a handful of guys that pull over $200k/year, but they work 6 or 7 days a week. I also know travelers that only work 4, 10's and pull in around $100k.

 

I posted that mainly out of the 10+ years experience he already has in his current trade; you can't just toss that aside.

Unless income was no issue, and welding was maybe something he wanted to switch to "just because" then yeah it's never too late. I'm proof of that at 37 years old just having switched careers 2 years ago.

But for most, getting certs and passing weld tests tells me this would be more career-oriented.

Even then, formal training is beneficial all around whether you stick to welding as a hobby or not.

 

Again very well said Thank you for the post.

Having all my schooling long before the internet ! I would also jump on any employer offered training.

Thinking back most of my schooling was paid for by my employers .

 

I would agree with the encouragement and direction, but it is also our responsibility to be honest and manage expectations. Nothing in my post was dishonest.

Code welders do not live on the road, and they do not end up in energy, pipeline, or shipfitting exclusively. My entire career has been code work, and less than 6 months of it spent on the road. Heavy equipment repair, manufacturing, and upfitting, commercial structural, millwright and ironwork, a small stint in pipeline, manufacturing and manufacturing support, in shop and on-site, energy work, etc. All of those were code jobs, some of them for the renowned facility that built the bombs the ended WW2 (research and cleanup work now) and the only overnight work I did was some pipe and millwright. Everything from handrails to radioactive material disposal systems ... and all of it was code work the required a cert (or 40).

Currently I am training and teaching fabricators and welders for a newer elecetric vehicle conversion business. Mostly laster cut small parts, cnc formed, and robotic welded parts .... all requiring code. 1 of their 20 employees in my program have formal training and only 1 has a clue about reading prints or making code welds. The business hired a bunch of "figured it out" folks and is now, a year later, spending big bucks on training to solve issues (which is good! They should solve the issues, and the business should pay for it!).

Yes, my post was pointed, appropriately so. It should have been, to manage expectations and give an honest outlook into what the outcomes of various choices would be.

Welding the the best career choice in the world (my opinion is admittedly biased). I want everyone with an interest in welding to pursue that interest to the level they desire, be it professionally or as a hobbyist, but I want to be very clear about the differences in dedication levels and work required for all of those different pathways.

My jobs have paid anywhere from $15 to $75 (when factoring per diem into hourly) per hour and I want people to know what is expected at those numbers and everywhere in between. I want people to know exactly what it takes for those jobs, and what to expect for a job with any given level of training or ability.

 

There is no replacement for the benefit of structured training. And there is no replacement for the benefit of experience! They go hand in hand and, when combined, are exponentially more valuable than the sum of each individual part.

 

Truth

 

Electricians are hot right now. We just met with a company offering $75k for local work, 4/10s, for low volt vehicle electricians wiring custom vehicles (adventure vehicles, mobile x-ray, mobile clinics, etc) inside a super clean facility.

 

Agreed. Most day 1 apprentices in my area are pulling $25/hour. At 40 hours/week, that's over $50k/year base. Most are working OT and pulling $60k-$80k per year. After 4 years, a starting JW is in the realm of $40-$50 per hour ($80k-$100k per year not including OT). With the union being the way it is, a JW can do an 8 and skate for 40hrs/wk in a clean, heated building etc.

Not trying to sway things one way or the other, but after seeing how easy some of these guys have it, I've debated putting the bags back on a few times. If I were interested in welding specifically, I'd pick a specialized field (i.e. pipefitting). The pipefitters that I work with have it pretty easy too...

 

Weren't you looking for a sticker design a couple weeks ago? I think you found it