How do I get the ball rolling.

admin

I just turned 20 recently, work in a bakery packaging bread for 8.00$ an hour. However I have been going to school for welding.I can weld Stick,mig,tig,fluxcore in almost all positions, and I plan on taking an advanced pipe class, and blueprint reading, and layout class next semester. I finish my stick, and mig class in about 3 weeks, then only have work on my schedule until the next school semester.So im asking advice on what steps I should take to get a career going, because i have no experience welding outside of a classroom setting. I hear that welding, and other trades are finding it more difficult to find workers because of the focus on continued education, but I cant really find any direction. Our instructor doesnt really push us toward any path so im a little lost on what would be a good path to follow.I live in Dallas\Fort Worth Texas, and still live with my parents, and im just trying to get my life started. Would unions be a good route, or some type of apprenticeship. Basically what im asking is if you could go back in time, and change your path in a welding career where would you start, and what would you do?tldr: Best advice to get started in a welding career or trade that involved welding.Thanks for reading.
Reply:Go out Apply to a Position. Trade jobs make you start out at the bottom. So when your offered 9 bucks for more labor intensive work say yes and be thankfull. I dont get why people my ago (18-25) 23 think people employers are waiting out side of School offering Jobs.Last edited by KevinL90; 09-19-2013 at 08:34 PM.
Reply:A union will make you do a 5 year apprenticeship before you get full journeyman's wages. But, you would have a great head start on a retirement plan and top notch insurance.Other than that, a good place to start out is a fab shop of some kind, preferably a pipe fab shop, but I don't know how many there in the Dallas area. You might have to start out as a helper, but if you show them you can weld they will give you a test eventually.Another outfit that hires new welders is JV Industrial. They hired some guys straight out of trade school on the job I was on, put them thru the JV welding "university", then put them on a shutdown making $30 an hour. They only got to weld socket welds, and they had to build hootches for the real welders, but they still were making good money.
Reply:Do a little investigation of what jobs are available in your area, and some self discovery about what jobs you think you would like. Then simply go get one of those jobs. Jobs vary from rig welders to production MIG manufacturing. You could likely get a job in mig manufacturing pretty easy, but be prepared to not like it very quickly. Getting on as a welders helper for a Mobil welding company might get you the most varied experience, so you can find out what you like to do. I do residential ironwork. Mostly high end custom houses, and fab and install everything from beam seats and corbel brackets to doors and gates. I specialize in custom entry doors with hand forged ironwork. I just finished a house with 27 iron doors. Then did 400 feet of forged iron pool fence, and am now working on an outdoor partition for an art gallery. Coming up in the next month is some restoration ironwork for an historic building renovation. I am a one guy operation(with a helper), not a huge structural outfit. I though after I left my corporate job at the gas company, that I would be welding all kinds of pipe and fittings, but in the last 10 years, the only pipe I have welded has been on my horse corral. Good luck.
Reply:Originally Posted by KevinL90Go out Apply to a Position. Trade jobs make you start out at the bottom. So when your offered 9 bucks for more labor intensive work say yes and be thankfull. I dont get why people my ago (18-25) 23 think people employers are waiting out side of School offering Jobs.
Reply:go apply as a entry level position in a gas industrial company. Can start off as a welders helper, a pipefitters helper, or a firewatch making around 1600$ a week. Little to no experience required and if you get partnered up with a decent hand that experience itsself will bring you a very long way. I live in ft.worth i can give you some names and numbers to call.~1987 Lincoln Sa-200~~1978 Miller Big 40~ (restored) ~and everything inbetween~
Reply:You live in a welder's heaven. Tons of work in Texas. Even more if you're willing to leave Dallas. Apply to everything you see. Being a helper will also make you a better welder. A lot of those helpers, if they're good and work hard, won't be helpers for long. Network. Go into shops and just ask if they need a hand. Tell them you know how to weld. Ask if they know anyone else who might be in need, or where you might be able to go. If you go in to these places and say, "Well I'm a welder. I went to school and can do (this and that)" that will only get you wave to the exit. "I went to welding school.. I know how to weld but I need some experience. Do you need a helper or anything" whatever, you have a better chance. A fab shop may also get you some machining experience.You have to work to find a job these days.. but the work is there for someone willing to search. Not just sit at home browsing indeed or monster.Make some friends at the welding school. Some of those guys probably have jobs lined up at home, or know a guy, or have a family member in the business. They'll go right to work, and some time down the road they'll hear about how their job needs more guys. You want to be the one they call. A guy actually left my class a week before graduation because a friend of his remembered him and called him up with a great offer. The diploma itself is worthless. It's your work ethic and abilities that will get you somewhere.
Reply:Join the union. I think its in Arlington.  Go union!
Reply:Personally, if I could start all over?I would have joined active duty Air Force. Not gotten married or had kids. And saved every penny I could. If I had done that at 20 years old, I would be 3 years away from a full retirement right now.If you cant fix it with a hammer, it must be an electrical problem."Boy, everyone starts with a full bag of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before the bag of luck is empty."-Grandad circa 1990ish
Reply:Find a '' WEALTHY '' mate and get married !
Reply:Originally Posted by Bostick101go apply as a entry level position in a gas industrial company. Can start off as a welders helper, a pipefitters helper, or a firewatch making around 1600$ a week. Little to no experience required and if you get partnered up with a decent hand that experience itsself will bring you a very long way. I live in ft.worth i can give you some names and numbers to call.
Reply:Originally Posted by akabadnewsYou live in a welder's heaven. Tons of work in Texas. Even more if you're willing to leave Dallas. Apply to everything you see. Being a helper will also make you a better welder. A lot of those helpers, if they're good and work hard, won't be helpers for long. Network. Go into shops and just ask if they need a hand. Tell them you know how to weld. Ask if they know anyone else who might be in need, or where you might be able to go. If you go in to these places and say, "Well I'm a welder. I went to school and can do (this and that)" that will only get you wave to the exit. "I went to welding school.. I know how to weld but I need some experience. Do you need a helper or anything" whatever, you have a better chance. A fab shop may also get you some machining experience.You have to work to find a job these days.. but the work is there for someone willing to search. Not just sit at home browsing indeed or monster.Make some friends at the welding school. Some of those guys probably have jobs lined up at home, or know a guy, or have a family member in the business. They'll go right to work, and some time down the road they'll hear about how their job needs more guys. You want to be the one they call. A guy actually left my class a week before graduation because a friend of his remembered him and called him up with a great offer. The diploma itself is worthless. It's your work ethic and abilities that will get you somewhere.
Reply:Bostick has the right advice and know about your area and who to talk to, also the midland Odessa area always needs welders lots of shop fabrication mig or stick and lots of field work out there, if bostic let you buddy up with him you would get some great contacts and real world experience, that's what I would try for.