Lost in life... have some questions about welding. Need advice.

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Hi, I'll tell you a little bit about myself.  I'm in my late 20s and I have a bachelors degree in Marketing.  However, I haven't been able to find a job with my degree because I don't meet any of the employers qualifications (Have the education but not the experience).  So even after I graduated, I still have my job in retail and I'm making $11 an hour.  I'm frustrated and I want to earn more money and get some satisfaction from my work.  The whole, having no experience thing got my thinking about going to a trade school.  I figured that I would then have knowledge and a skill that could be in demand (As a marketing graduate, I just feel like a guy who has forgotten a lot of what I learned and I have no actual skills to show to an employer).My city has a trade school that offers "Applied Welding Technologies."  The program is made up of the following courses:Welder Helper - Course PMT0011 (250 Hours) – Content includes oxyfuel gas cutting, basic shop skills, and basic shielded metal arc. Students are taught cutting, bending, drilling, punching and finishing skills as it relates to working with metals.Welder, Shielded Metal Arc - Course PMT0012 (250 Hours) – Students are taught how to interpret basic elements of a drawing or sketch, fabricate parts from a drawing, identify metals, and arc weld and cut.Welder, Gas - Metal Arc - Course PMT0013 (125 Hours) – Instruction concentrates on set up and operation of gas metal arc welding. Students will be taught how to make groove and fillet welds in overhead, vertical, and horizontal positions.Welder, Flux Cored Arc - Course PMT0014 (100 Hours) – Content focuses on set up and operation of flux cored arc welding. Students are taught how to make groove welds, in all positions, on plain carbon steel.Welders, Gas Tungsten Arc - Course PMT0015 (GTAW) (175 Hours) – Students are taught how to perform external inspections and make minor repairs to GTAW equipment and accessories. Techniques for groove and fillet welds on aluminum and stainless steel, and carbon steel are also taught.Welder, Pipe - Course PMT0016 (270 Hours) – The content of this course includes fabricating and welding pipe joints. Students are taught how to tack and weld carbon steel pipe; repair products of ferrous and non-ferrous metals; and fabricate products from drawings and/or blueprints. After completing all competencies, students are required to take the AWS certification test. Upon passing, the student earns a certification card from AWS.Industry Certification(s):  Certified WelderAfter taking these courses, do you believe that I'll be able to easily find another job and make more than $11 an hour? Is welding an in demand field? What do you like and dislike about your job? Do you have any advice for someone considering the profession? Thank you for your time.
Reply:after taking all these classes count on making cr@p money till you get some real world welding experience.i.u.o.e. # 15queens, ny and sunny fla
Reply:You would be in the same boat you are in now so to speak. You might be better off just knocking on doors. Every door you can see. A lot of people are hired with no real experience in what they were hired for. Yes, that was a genius statement! I got no pride so I will leave it stand.
Reply:Like the others said you need experience. Get a job as a helper or entry level. The wages may not be great but you are still making money while you learn, not paying to learn.
Reply:If you want to work with your hands and make good money, I would recommend you get a job working for a drilling company on a drilling rig. Floor hands on a drilling rig for Patterson Drilling start our making $65,000 per year and you don't need to know anything just be able to work, willing to learn and drug free. They work two weeks of 12 hour days and then get two weeks off. They live in man camps near the rig so it don't matter where your from or where you live. It is a job where there is plenty of room to work your way up. Most drilling consultants started out at the bottom, working on a rig, and they make $300,000 per year or more. Drilling is currently going on in WV,PA,OH,NY,ND,OK,TX, and other states.Just my two cents, I think there are too many people wasting too much time and money going to school to learn stuff that they are not really gonna use once they are employed anyway. Just get a job that pays good money and that will guide you on what to do from there, you may stay at it or it may lead you into starting a business of your own or some service company. You may have to make sacrifices, you may have to travel, the work may be tuff. No matter what welding class you take most welding companies are looking for experienced welders too so welding classes are no guarantee of employment either. Good luck.The worst thing I can think of happening is if everything I ever welded instantly became UNWELDED
Reply:and be careful of your wishes. i think welding all day would suck.
Reply:I would not take those courses with hopes of getting a job as a helper or anything else. You will be significantly disappointed and light in the pocket book. Try to find someone willing to take you on as a helper if you can run a grinder, drag leads and have some common sense. Work at it hard for 6 months before you give up or jump in. You may get it out of your system real quick.
Reply:Originally Posted by PipelinerI would not take those courses with hopes of getting a job as a helper or anything else. You will be significantly disappointed and light in the pocket book. Try to find someone willing to take you on as a helper if you can run a grinder, drag leads and have some common sense. Work at it hard for 6 months before you give up or jump in. You may get it out of your system real quick.
Reply:Make friends with someone that has a trade.I have my current job because of a guy I met on a forum for Jeeps. Knew him for over 3 years before I was in a situation where I needed a job, and I get paid nearly twice what I was, and love what I do.Find a forum that relates to your hobbies/passions and hang out there and meet people. I fix doors and crap. Not anything like rock crawling, but that's what got the job for me.
Reply:All the schooling in the world and it doesn't guarantee anything, all these schools do is get you all hyped up and once you're done they could careless. Schools are just another business, I am not saying all professions are the same but most are. Around here we got dummies that never went to college but work for Los Alamos National Labs  (Nuclear Weapons development ) its not what they know but its who they know ( Moochers ). I wish schools would teach kids about real life instead of promising chit or high schools bringing  motivational speakers that tell you "you can be anything", If that were true I would be an astronaut or Pope Ray Diablo the 1st . GET REAL ! Lots of jobs could be fun and productive if everyone did their jobs, instead 80% of the job market is filled with lazy crybabies who think they're entitled to everything and awesome pay. Ever wonder why lots of business give all the youngsters all the jobs ? Do you like slavery ? Its a sad cruel world and full of injustice but you have to make it the best way you can.No offense but that degree in marketing ain't doing a damn thing for you, You can't even market yourself into a marketing job !  How about doing some marketing of your own online ? I have so many ideas how you could make cash marketing online but you're the one with the degree not I..... Forget welding if you think you're going to get a high paying job, even when the jobs are high paying they usually don't last long. Businesses exist to make money, not to give you money Welcome to WeldingWeb btw On another note, If prostitution was made legal I am sure schools would offer classes and certifications for that, I suspect brothels would prefer experience instead of some whiny ho who wants 1 million dollars for her cooter services.
Reply:Couldn't make it thru the resume butThink about thisSome Xecutive is making much moreBut they replace with you, some new young blod that's ready to tak e his job for half his payIt's much more to you but could you do it and be ready for your replacement?
Reply:Originally Posted by mikecwikand be careful of your wishes. i think welding all day would suck.
Reply:Originally Posted by shovelonYes this, and do school at night or buy some use equipment and hone your skills. And stay on WeldingWeb. 90% of what you learn about welding will not be at school. Welding is a lifestyle, and either you got it or you don't.I just hired a laid off machine shop foreman as an entry level welder at $12/hr. He is eager to learn but can tell you after a couple of times yelling at him he almost quit. 18 years machining, some mig and tig and he thinks he can tell me what is acceptable. Hopefully he sticks with it and absorbs what I need to make a profit at welding. He is one of those rare birds that barely graduated high school, and has no clue how to use a cell phone google dumb questions. Just blundering through life if you know what I mean.
Reply:use your marketing experience (which you invested a ton of time and money/debt) to develop and market a widget of your own creation. the masses trade the potential for a really satisfying life for a check doled out once a week by lifes lunch lady. F that. Do what you gotta do for now but get "job" and $/hr out of your brain. Start TODAY for free by getting your brain working on something that YOU can create.
Reply:I've been welding for three years professionally and still love doing it all day, and i also weld at home for fun
Reply:Originally Posted by docweldersaid no true welder ever
Reply:Originally Posted by mikecwikand be careful of your wishes. i think welding all day would suck.