is welding school worth it

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hey yall I am new on here, and have a couple of questions. I currently have a job making around $32,000 per year with ok benefits. I am 22 years old. However, I read all the articles on welding and the money to be made. I have a pretty good connection in the field that could get me going somewhat and have had slight experience doing some bootleg welds repairing farm equipment in highschool. My questions are as follows:1. I live near several tech schools, and are those "welding cert programs" really worth it or going to pay off?2. Union or non-union whats the pro's and con's3. If you are willing to travel around and work any environment is that money out there?4. Whats the best way to really get over that hump and start getting your name out there to jobs?Any advise from those veteran welders out there would be much appreciated. Thanks
Reply:Originally Posted by pbc1990 I have a pretty good connection in the field that could get me going somewhat ...
Reply:From what I have seen posted by more than one member here that went to a "School" and for what it cost them?NO.Not at all....zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:There is a lot of people who have learned to weld without any schooling, that's is true!In my opinion (i have tech school certificate) if you just want to walk through some welding shop without schooling, fore sure you'll probably get a job and start as a ''helper'', the big probleme when you have no school and start as a helper like this is to stay a helper without touching any kind of welding, bosses can (if they want) keep you far from all chance to learn how to work, maybe you'll start to cut material, mand stay on this machine over the years!In another hand if you have at least 1 years of welding school that teach you the basic on how to set up some a welding machine, how to run basic welding beads, how to fabricate some project and how to read basic drawings, its easier to be employed and the boss will let you work in ''welding'' or fabrication the 1st day of your employement without having couple years as a helper with the chance to stay a helper! at the end, the biggest risk with no school is being employed as a helper, and stay a helper without any chance of upgrading youself!Calculator > Bevel Square
Reply:Thank you for the responses. Based off some research I think I am going to stick with where I am at right now and take a few night courses on basic welding and blue print reading. Since I work 12 hour shifts right now with rotating days and nights, I only work 14 days a month. I am just gonna try to work in some of the local fab shops that I know the owners of on my days off even if I have to volunteer. That way I can have some documented "experience" and learn if its exactly for me before I make the jump. I appreciate the input.
Reply:I went through this same problem 6 months ago. This is what I have found out:1) Most community colleges offer welding classes. CC's are cheap. For me, I am paying around $600 a semester for my classes. $1200 a year total. I am taking every class they offer so it will come out to around $1800 for all of my schooling. You can make $1800 working at McDonalds. 2) I'm not sure about you, but I don't have the "throw-away" money to just go out and buy myself a welder and teach myself. Plus the costs of gas, rods, raw materials, etc, etc. In class, our instructors teach this: The best way to learn to weld is by burning rods. Not by taking a 15 minute smoke break. Not by showing up 10 minutes late to class. Not by taking an extra 5 minutes at lunch. The more you do it, the better you will get. And at school I have an unlimited supply of "free" rods, gas, plates, grinders, etc. And since I am not worried about "wasting" my own money on materials, I'm not all worried about making mistakes. If I mess up, I learn from it and keep trying until I get it right. 3) I live in a condo. If I did have the up-front cash to buy a welder, I don't have a place to put it. And with my job, the only times I would be able to teach myself and burn rods is at night. Not sure how the neighbors would feel about me hammering metal, grinding metal, etc etc at 10:00 pm on a Sunday night. 4) With a class, your instructors (well most of them) will be able to tell you if you messed up a weld or not. And if you do, they should be able to help you fix your mistakes. Right then and there. If you are trying to learn yourself, you have to resort to posting photo's of your welds on here (not a bad thing as there are some super experienced people on here) or searching the internet to figure it out on your own. So to answer your questions: In my eyes, yes welding school is worth it. At least one at a community college is. Especially if your school allows you to weld a lot! You get a "certification" from it. A cert may not count for much, but you have at least 12 months of "experience". You know how to work the machines. You know how to start an arc. You know what material to use for what. You have basic knowledge of blue print reading. And whenever your boss looks at you one day and says "I need to you weld this for me real quick" you'll be able to do it instead of saying "I haven't been shown how to do that yet".  And to be honest, you spend around $1200 a year on cell phone service.
Reply:Oh and one more thing about Community Colleges. There is a Lincoln School of Technology where I live. They offer a welding class also. It's a 24 month program for a Welding Fabrication "degree". Total costs when all said and done: over $20,000. At the CC I go to, I get the same classes as the LST except we only have 4 per class instead of 20. I get the same classes as the LST except at the CC they fit my schedule. I get the same classes as the LST except I am saving myself over $18,000.
Reply:Thanks rschreck.I had not really thought of it from that angle in terms of the cost of "learning" supplies that does make sense your approach. Have you heard from any of your friends or instructors about the types of jobs that recent graduates have obtained?
Reply:As other's have said on here, it's definitely more of a who you know thing. Our lead instructor has been in the business for 30 years or so. Not sure of his full history, but from what I do know, he's been around. He straight up told us that if we were serious about getting a job, and we proved ourselves, he could help us out. As for the Denver area, there's a lot of construction going on and we have an area full of factory's so I'm sure there are jobs out there. Fortunately for me, I have good friends I met in the Army who are in jobs that pretty much assure me a job once I am certified. And because of that, I take my time at school seriously and pretty much stay in my booth until the instructors practically pull me out of it. I've never been a student as much as I have been during this program. My case isn't the norm when it comes to job opportunities, though but from what other's have said and from what I've heard, knowing people is a huge thing in the welding business.Another thing you mentioned were unions. I'm not going to voice my opinion on unions on this board. It would definitely take this thread completely off topic and could start a heated battle.