Career & earning prospects

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Hey there,I've been playing round with a MIG flux core for about a year in my spare time from my failing acting career I've done a few hobby car projects & thoroughly enjoy the welding.I'm heading back to college in a month to study welding for an Associates Degree.Now...at 42 years young as I am my wife wants a career plan for the future.All my research so far has led to this open ended "welding can be anything/anywhere you want it to be" If I tell my wife that she'll divorce me Topside seems to be around $50,000 per year & under water around $75,000 per year.She want's a 5 year plan after graduating.Can anyone with experience in the industry shine any light on a dollar based 5 year plan?Year 1: You could earn thisYear 2: you could earn this etc.Sorry to be so blunt but unless I can answer these questions I have a major marriage based problem.Thanks for any help.Nathan.
Reply:Pay scale is directly related to geographic location and your motivation. Where are you located? How bad do you want to make decent money in the welding field?IAMAW Local 330Airco 300 AC/DC HeliwelderAirco Dip-Pak 200 with Profax spool gunPowr-Kraft AC225Everlast PowerArc 200stBuffalo Forge No.21 drill pressSpeedglas 9100xxAirco, Oxweld, Purox, Victor torchesLincoln Ranger 8
Reply:What exactly is an associates degree in welding and how long is the course? Is it more for weld engineering/theory or practical hood down welding? Starting a welding career at 42 is a little late for most people. All your research could just be wishful thinking too. Welding is one of those skills where you either have it or you don't. Some people can be taught but the first year or so is mostly going to be doing grunt work and there might not be much actual welding. It depends on the specific job. I'm not trying to burst your bubble but a common trait of people thinking about getting into welding is concentrating the most on how much money they "might" be able to make. If you do have the skill set to excel in welding, you can make really good money but it's still heavy hard work and takes a lot of years to master. I'd forget about the underwater welding. A lot depends on where you live as far the available work and wages. $50,000 is really low salary for a journeyman in Alberta. Average for J welder is over $60,000/yr and some guys make over $100,000. After 5 years a Journeyman should be over $60,000 and a "B-Pressure" should be mid to high 60's. The big question is why is your wife wanting the 5 year plan? What do you do now and how long have you been doing it? If you want to make 50K in a couple years it's going to require a lot of commitment to learn the welding trade.Last edited by Welder Dave; 01-15-2015 at 01:23 AM.
Reply:I know guys making over 100 a year but that's 6 long days a week some days hard some might burn 10 rods I've had a dock business for 10 years and have dock well but as business got slow I took a local job building a bridge I weld along with anything else and average only 50 a year but 5 mins from the house but if I want to drive 1.5 hrs a day 1 way I could make 30 some odd dollars a hr and I'm think about that 3 hr a day ride pretty hard
Reply:Ha!  I want to go the opposite direction.  I'm spending 3 hours a day in a car to get to my desk job (all that sitting is killing me slowly, "sitting" is the new smoking they say).   I keep trying to convince myself to take a 50% cut in pay to go work at a metal fabricator that is a 20 minute bike ride from my house.  And yes that would probably cause a divorce, but I would be much happier.  Ahhhm....didn't mean it like that......or did I?
Reply:I think you can get to 60 or 70,000 per year sooner by spending the same amount of time in school learning the Microsoft Business Intelligence stack. That is, database work, reporting, and analysis, in a nutshell.I have spent about 15 years in each industry, and prefer welding, but I can make more doing database work than welding. ( I am getting old, 64 next month, and my physical abilities are more limited than they used to be.)That said, in my early retirement years, I'd rather spend what hours I work welding.SoIf you insist on getting dirty and sweaty:If the course is a welding/metal fabrication course, you will be ahead of the game as far as having a wider range of opportunities.If you know how to plan a project, know how and why each of the machines in a fab shop are used, read prints, etc.you will be in a better position, after some experience, to either manage their shop or ultimately, your own shop....although it might be better to have your wife be the Chief Executive Officer, and you be the Chief Operations Officer.She sounds like an organizer.We artistic types (welders, singers, and actors) are more daydreamers than planners...and I wouldn't rather be any other wayAt 42, you are getting to the age vision may become an issue.trying to weld while wearing trifocals can really hamper your style, especially if you are working in tight spaces, where you can not control the distance from your hood to your work.Remember what they say, though:Obstacles are really opportunities.Last edited by geezerbill; 01-15-2015 at 09:29 AM.Hobart Beta-Mig 2511972 Miller AEAD-200LEMiller 250 TwinNorthern Ind. Hybrid 200Longevity Stick 140Longevity Migweld 200SThermal Arc Pak 3XR
Reply:Originally Posted by nathankershaw... under water around $75,000 per year.
Reply:Thank you for the replies I really appreciate it. I'm an actor who lives in Hollywood right now, who is a hobbyist car tinkerer & I have come to really like the welding aspect.We are both looking to get out of LA That is what sent me in this direction.Yes. I'm the airy fairy dreamer & my wife is the planner.She earns the lions share of the money in the household & both of us want that dynamic to change.Thank you for being candid about my age as well. I'm healthy but speaking to people like you guys in the industry it definitely illuminates the limitations.
Reply:Money fluctuates a lot - around me $15-$18 per hour is starting wages for welding.  $24/hour is really good money.I'm 44 and due to injuries had to go to college to work indoors about 10 yrs ago - now I only weld for side money and because I like it As noted, vision gets to be an issue in tight spaces if I can't get my head into the right focal range for the glasses or cheater in my hood.When that happens I'm welding by "feel" more than by sight.You're going to be near 50 at the end of the initial 5 year plan - then your body is likely going to start giving you trouble - if I was your wife, I'd be wondering what you're going to do then??Dave J.Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~George Bernard Shaw~ Syncro 350Invertec v250-sThermal Arc 161 and 300MM210DialarcTried being normal once, didn't take....I think it was a Tuesday.
Reply:By the way, I was 50 before I ever looked at a computer, and it took me 6 years to get to 74k/yr, but I had no schooling besides a 6 week self-paced course.I am sure the timeline could be compressed with an assoc. degree.Or you can learn the weld/fab trade, and let your ingenuity and work ethic determine how much you make.Do your market research, determine where the demand is, and go for it.A large demand can support a lot of competition.