Welding as a career?

Who welds as their main job?
I'll be taking a welding course spring semester and fall semester and should graduate with a welding certificate;

I'm trying to figure out what careers a cert in welding will open up for me, with one more semester (3 semester total, spring semester 2016 would be my final semester) I could get a certificate for pipe welding.

I'm hoping for a career in the offroad community, but I'm not sure if there is a demand.

Thoughts?

The welding course description.

The Welding and Cutting Program is designed to prepare the student for entry-level employment in the field of welding and cutting. Welding is utilized in manufacturing, structural construction, pipeline construction, offshore in-dustry, custom job shops, and is an important part of many businesses.

The curriculum includes Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW), Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW), Flux Cored Arc Welding (FCAW), Pipe Welding, Plasma Arc Cutting (PAC), Car-bon Arc Cutting, Oxyfuel Cutting, and Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW). The student will learn safety in all aspects of welding and cutting.

 

Welders can get paid decent money to good money to great money. If you're limiting yourself to offroad truck fabrication though you'll be limited by regions where that's a demand position, economic issues making either lots of work available for you or very little to none, things like that.

My brother in law has been welding for a job for about a year and for a 21 year old in today's workforce he's doing pretty good, lots of OT and things also helps pad his wallet. Lots of welders on here, too, so prepare yourself for better answers than this one.

 

From the little research I've done the underwater welders make bank, but it's the most dangerous welding job.

I'm not gonna limit myself to the offroad industry, it's just a preference.

I love OT (My previous job had 12-15 hrs of OT a week)

I do have a friend in Az who welds for a living (mostly fences, but last I heard he was waiting on the results of his welding Certs to go structural), he built his own sand rail, and I'd be interested in doing that for myself and other people.

 

Gotta cut your chops somewhere, underwater pipe welding was the "Great money" I mentioned.

I'd cut your teeth on whatever job you can land as a welder and progress, and maybe either slide your way into an opportunity to weld on vehicles and fab work as a 3 year plan or something. The biggest problem with welding go-fast, desert jumping toys for people is that when people can't afford toys anymore then you're out of work. I would definitely make sure you're able to support yourself if that market goes south.

 

There can be a demand for good pipe welders depending on the area. Three brothers that I went to high school with messed around with various jobs until they finally started up their own welding companies. They got some big contracts welding pipe for oil companies in Oklahoma and are now doing pretty well. A local man here in town did more-or-less the same thing, he started welding in a shed and is now one of the largest employers in town, making tanks for the oil and gas industry.

 

I'll be happy with just about any job out of college, with 5 years of experience I should be able to get in most places.

I'm willing to go almost anywhere (NY, Ca, and DC are off-limits), but I'm currently in south Ms and according to one of my buddies there are several companies in the area who are almost always looking for welders.

 

Bump

 

There's always demand for welders in the construction field. Union boiler makers make big bucks. I don't know where your from, so I don't know if you're in a union area or not. But regardless, there is plenty of trades that need welders. I'm a union electrician and we use welders on big industrial jobs to build some of our racks. The company I'm currently working for also has union pipe fitters. They have their own welders for welding pipe together. We're at Land O Lakes and the food processing areas use stainless steel everything. All their pipes are welded.

It's a good trade to get into. Like I said, I don't know what your area has work wise, but you could look into an apprenticeship program and see what the details are.

In the union electrical apprenticeship you go through 5 years of schooling and 8000 hours on the job training regardless of prior schooling before becoming a journeyman. If you have prior work experience you can try to test in at a higher level in the apprenticeship schooling.

 

I think pipe welders and general oilfield land based and offshore welders probably have the steadiest supply of work opportunities. You will need to go to commercial dive school to do underwater welding. There is plenty of work for welders anywhere on the gulf coast or oilfields in general. Im a commercial diver and have been trained in underwater welding although the company I work for rarely does that type of work.

 

One thing that was told to me when I was starting out was, "You will never be rich, but you will make a good living and you will never run out of work." Seems about right 5 years later.

 

I'll have to look into the local unions, thanks

I'm most likely gonna be looking at the oil field jobs first when I graduate.

Hopefully that remains the case.

Kinda funny this thread got bumped today, I got signed up for the class yesterday, found out the first half is worth 15 college credits.

 

Boilermakers are in a huge emerging market right now. That is something you can be secure in for years to come. And a boilermaker's primary craft is welding, if you can become a steady hand as a boilermaker, you wont ever be out of a job. Working as a welder on a pipeline will make bank also, good luck!

 

Get all your certs and stay current on emerging trends in welding.

There is everything from metals to plastics to even glass welding of sorts.
Nowadays a 'welder' may also be a guy who runs remote control and largely automated machinery.

Also consider micro-welding/science and research stuff

My Dad had a buddy worked as a general machinist for some research company. The guy machined/welded all kinds of really intricate, but tabletop sized machines, distillers, instruments.
The guy had serious watchmaker type skills and loved his job.
Got to weld/braise/solder/machine even things like platinum, gold, etc.
Striking an arc cost 50 bucks in precious metal.
He joked what he liked best after starting in out the foundries was now the heaviest thing he lifted on the job was his lunchbox.

He worked well into his 70's before he retired.
Even afterward, he still moonlighted.

 

Im in the ibew apprenticeship as well, and we just added a welding shop beside our school.

 

I would recommend an apprenticeship with a union.

 

A little update, I just started my 2nd semester a few weeks ago, learning 6010 currently and later will be learning 7018.
In december I will be able to take a welding test for a shipyard a little over an hour away, if I pass the test I will be automatically hired after a follicle test, but I'm looking into my local options for jobs also.

 

Also following this.. at a local college and do it in the mornings and afternoons i go to high-school. Hopefully the pipeline comes through Iowa, would love to weld on that...

 

I manage a shop with eight welders. It's a non union shop. We are a job shop, meaning, we fabricate and weld stuff for other folks, we don't have a product line of our own

Day to day duties for our welders can include, but are not limited to:

- saw cutting
- plasma cutting
- brake press work
- forming roll operation

All the guys in our shop can handle pretty much anything that gets thrown at them. All of them can weld with MIG, TIG, FCAW, and stick (but very, very little stick)

Our guys are never bored, that would be impossible.

I guess what I'm saying is, learn as much as you can, and you can work anywhere. You'll always have a good job

 

Been a while since I've checked on this thread.
At the beginning of this month I graduated my welding/cutting class, decided to get my 30 hr certificate, and I also got a job at the (Semi) local shipyard who has multiple contracts with the navy.

I took my basic (Visual) weld exams right before the end of semester and got the job offer, they'll contact me in the first quarter of '16 for my drug testing and continue testing (Xray and visual).

Also starting to look into online accredited colleges to get a bachelors degree in psychology to aid me in my LE career.

 

Welding is fun. I have been welding for 25+ years now. The best thing I did career wise was join the local Ironworkers Union. Wage scales vary greatly by area. http://www.ironworkers.org/become-an-ironworker