HELP! Many questions!!! HOW TO MAKE A GOOD WELDING SALARY!!!!

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Ok so I am a senior in high school right now. i plan on going to trade school next year to become a welder. I have been surfing the web and looking at welder salaries and they are really just not that great($11 and $12 an hour). On forums some people talk about how they make over 100k a year welding, and they talk about how they are in a union, can somone PLEASE school me on what it is, is it easy to be in one etc etc. And my welding teacher was saying how some pipeline weldders are making at least 50 an hour. can someone tell me how to become one etc. Any additonal information would be greatly appreciated!thanks,Nick
Reply:I don't make union scale, so I can't comment on that.But what I would suggest is concentrate on ARC,SMAW, whatever you want to call it. And do try to get into a union. They have locked up the pipeline jobs, and besides it is something(heaven forbid) that is immigrant/asian proof.I have to compete on the world market with my labor(job shop metal fab). And yes starting wages are low.Personally when I did trade school and college, I hated arc. I had lots of tig/mig job offers in aerospace and hi-tech. Those jobs are all gone now. If I did it again I would have positioned myself into an entitlement job. Possibly civil service or military. Would be retired now and gouging the taxpayers.Weld like a "WELDOR", not a wel-"DERR" MillerDynasty700DX,Dynasty350DX4ea,Dynasty200DX,Li  ncolnSW200-2ea.,MillerMatic350P,MillerMatic200w/spoolgun,MKCobraMig260,Lincoln SP-170T,PlasmaCam/Hypertherm1250,HFProTig2ea,MigMax1ea.
Reply:So what exactly is a union? Is it hard to get in one?
Reply:Oh yeah and after working as a welder for five years or so what would you say the average hourly pay is?
Reply:A union is just that, people that are united together.  Without a union all you have is individuals standing alone against all the odds, where in a union you have many people standing together with one idea in mind against whatever comes along.  In a group of people standing together there is strength and power, where a single individuals strength and power is very limited at best. All unions have rules and regulations that the members must follow.  The members take an oath (with their hands on their heart  ) on initiation where they swear and promise to follow the rules of the local and of the unions contracts.The following and honoring of the rules and regulations of the union is what keeps all the members united and the union strong.  If there is no respect for the rules and regulations by its members then the members will be divided and the union looses its strength.  The strength of the local comes from the unity of it's members.The wages aren't bad when you compare them to most other jobs, but the wages have not kept up with the cost of living IMO.How to make lots of money welding hasn't changed over the years.  You haft to be willing to travel.  Usually you can't set at home and make good money welding.  It always seems that the good paying jobs are somewhere else and you must be willing to travel to get it.Good luckLast edited by slowhand; 09-04-2011 at 05:44 AM.
Reply:it basically comes down to how you want to take welding. For alot of us its a passion more than work, its an incredible skill that NOT many people have. Everyone is a "welder" if you have a 200$ mig machine in your garage right? wrong. It takes alot of years of heavy dedication and schooling to acquire skills nessecary to work in the higher end fields of welding such as high pressure, aerospace etc. Youll start off by becoming an apprentice and making your way through the 3-4 years of schooling required to attain journeymen red seal status then that opens the door for you to start testing for high pressure tickets depending on your job. Right out of highschool i worked at a huge structural members shop running .062 mig all day every day, it was great experience BUT once you learn everything you come to a stand still or plateau and you almost get dumb working at a place like that, you essentially just hang up your brain for 9 hrs and pull a trigger. Then i moved onto a hydro utility and never looked back i got apprenticed by some of the finest, attended world skills competitions for my welding skills and now i hold 5 different high pressure tickets and am in charge of all welding aspects in my own power plant weather it be fabrication, high pressure piping of various alloys, training apprentices etc. I went from making 40,000$cdn a year out of highschool to making 130+cdn. It takes alot of time and diligence on your part to become good and wanted. Ill promise you 6 figures dosent drop into your lap over night, work your way up, make a name for yourself, and gain the respect of individuals.
Reply:slowhand gave a good description of a basic union and how it works.  Each union has their own rules and way of doing things.  I have worked union and non-union during my welding career and belonged to three different unions.  Trade unions are different than shop unions, they have a much heavier emphasis on training, offer apprenticeships and also do the dispatching for jobs.  If this was a perfect world there would be no need for unions but it's not and there is.I've been a member of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers since 1990.  I have no regrets and a lot of good training and experiences.  Check them out here:  http://www.boilermakers.org/?Section=Home  Info on the apprenticeship is here:  http://www.bnap.com/career.htmYou can check out the Pipefitters, Ironworkers and Millwrights to name a few more.  With the economy the way it has been since 2007 it is harder to get into an apprenticeship but not impossible because of job demand.  Don't give up or get discouraged.  Be patient and determined.  Working in the trades is a great way to make a living if you can handle the demands of the job and lifestyle.  Talk to union trade workers to find out what it's all about.  Or start a thread here.  You'll get plenty of replies.  Good luck, Bob."The man of great wealth owes a peculiar obligation to the State, because he derives special advantages from the mere existence of government."  Teddy RooseveltAmerican by birth, Union by choice!  Boilermakers # 60America is a Union.
Reply:I hate to say this, but you sound like every damn kid right out of welding school that stops by my shop asking for a job.  They all come in the door thinking I am going to hire them at $25-30 an hour because their teacher has brain washed them into thinking they can make that.  Yes you can make that, and yes I do start guys around that price.  But they better have 10 years of welding, fabrication and erection experience with 5 of it in bridge building.  Along with several welding certs in hand.  But the kid right out of school with a standard d1.1 G3 cert gets started at $10 an hour and usually as a welders helper at first.  A new guy has to pay his dues.  You will get all the crappy jobs, get paid basically nothing because you are green to the business.  The most dangerous thing in a welding shop is a new kid out of school.  He knows just enough from school to be dangerous to everyone else.  (NOT KIDDING ABOUT THIS).  After you get 5 to 10 years of experience of real fabrication and erection (10 years of welding the same thing every day isn't the same) you probably can start making $20-25 an hour.   $25-30 an hour if you learned pipe welding and fitting.   BTW Scale jobs can make pay between $27 to $62 an hour for a welder.  But they are few and far between.  Not trying to be mean or anything, just stating the true.  Yes the true hurts a lot.Lincoln 300 Vantage 2008300 Commander 1999SA250 1999SA200 1968Miller Syncrowave 200XMT350MPA/S-52E/xr-15Xtreme 12vs Millermatic 251 w/30A  Millermatic 251 Dialarc 250 Hypertherm 1250 GEKA & Bantom Ironwokers
Reply:Originally Posted by Xtreme FabricationI hate to say this, but you sound like every damn kid right out of welding school that stops by my shop asking for a job.  They all come in the door thinking I am going to hire them at $25-30 an hour because their teacher has brain washed them into thinking they can make that.  Yes you can make that, and yes I do start guys around that price.  But they better have 10 years of welding, fabrication and erection experience with 5 of it in bridge building.  Along with several welding certs in hand.  But the kid right out of school with a standard d1.1 G3 cert gets started at $10 an hour and usually as a welders helper at first.  A new guy has to pay his dues.  You will get all the crappy jobs, get paid basically nothing because you are green to the business.  The most dangerous thing in a welding shop is a new kid out of school.  He knows just enough from school to be dangerous to everyone else.  (NOT KIDDING ABOUT THIS).  After you get 5 to 10 years of experience of real fabrication and erection (10 years of welding the same thing every day isn't the same) you probably can start making $20-25 an hour.   $25-30 an hour if you learned pipe welding and fitting.   BTW Scale jobs can make pay between $27 to $62 an hour for a welder.  But they are few and far between.  Not trying to be mean or anything, just stating the true.  Yes the true hurts a lot.
Reply:Originally Posted by shovelonWell said.
Reply:iam not sure weather things are different in the states or not? i went through welding courses in highschool for 4 years covering all major process's from beginner to advanced. Basically our final test in grade 12 was identical to that of the final test of a final level journeymen. We had quite a renowed highschool welding program. In that time i traveled with my teacher from grade 10 to 12 attending world skills compeitions, that was definatly alot of fun especially when you win haha. Anyways right out of highschool, and im talking like 2 weeks before graduation i got hired on at our cities largest strucutral welding facility and right off the hop i was making 22$ an hr, roughly 45,000$ a year take home. I worked there for a year and then got on with manitoba hydro and was shipped up to northern manitoba and learned from some amazing high pressure welders and sure i had to sometimes run to the shop to grab this and that but almost 100% of the time they had me doing the welding and them doing the running for various tools or whatever. They started me out on working on pipe work with them my second year allowing me to weld flanges, fill/cap, of course under heavy supervision. That was quite a few years ago now and thats exactly how i train my apprentices. I agree in a sense that some of these kids coming out of highschool expect to start as "senior welder" and dont want to do the work to climb the ladder. But you can easily pick those ones out. When one is willing to learn and shows inherit desire to better themselves every day the most welding i do is if were working on a project together that requires two welders or if they ask me for a quick demonstration. I still personally take care of critical high pressure systems such as hastalloy, inconel, chromoly, stainless, just because their a fairly involved repair/replacement but my apprentices watch right by my side and ask questions then i take them to the shop and let them do exactly what i did on a set of coupons. Sorry but their not going to learn by running to get me coffee, or sweeping the shop. I clean the shop while their working, in my opinion i should be more concerned about keeping our rods/material stock up so they can keep burning rod! Maybe thats the difference? in 4 years our welders at various generating stations train our apprentices to become fully qualified red seal journeymen and high pressure welders, our apprentices know these plants like the back of their hand after 4 years and can run one hell of a pipe. I guess its all in your training methods.Last edited by Pressure_Welder; 09-05-2011 at 10:07 AM.
Reply:Easy. do like I did and start your own business. hahahahaha. All kidding aside, I start my guys fresh out of welding school at $12- $14 an hour. The pay isnt that great, but they do get to sleep in their own beds every night. The pay scale will always go up, not only with years of experience, but also as your skill level improves. If you really want to make some money, go to college and get a degree. If you want to weld, then go weldGo Cards!!!!!
Reply:You will never make what you are actually worth..Once you know WTF you are doing..Take it from there....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:Originally Posted by Cliff LodesIf you really want to make some money, go to college and get a degree.
Reply:Originally Posted by papaharley03Sadly, a degree doesn't buy you as much as it used to in the job market.Papa
Reply:Stick with it.  Don't give up and prove them all wrong.  Everyone is different.  Some make and some don't.   I know plenty of welders with 5plus yrs experience, but they SUCK!  Welding school, if a good one teaches very much.  Your weld is either sound or not.  It does not just become a good weld because you hit the magic 5 year mark.  Carry on with what you are doing and don't give up!Oh yeah... how to make a good salary???  DON'T BE SCARED TO CHARGE!  That is the hardest part.
Reply:Originally Posted by Cliff LodesEasy. do like I did and start your own business. hahahahaha. All kidding aside, I start my guys fresh out of welding school at $12- $14 an hour. The pay isnt that great, but they do get to sleep in their own beds every night. The pay scale will always go up, not only with years of experience, but also as your skill level improves. If you really want to make some money, go to college and get a degree. If you want to weld, then go weld
Reply:I second the recommendation to get a degree. Focus on something that others cannot do or do not like, ie accounting or engineering. Weld for hobby.
Reply:Now I see why you guys are so thorough with training the MB Hydro apprentices:http://www.apprenticemanitoba.ca/jadehttp://weldingdesign.com/processes/n...-welding-0209/I would too!Arclight Originally Posted by Pressure_Welderiam not sure weather things are different in the states or not? i went through welding courses in highschool for 4 years covering all major process's from beginner to advanced. Basically our final test in grade 12 was identical to that of the final test of a final level journeymen. We had quite a renowed highschool welding program. In that time i traveled with my teacher from grade 10 to 12 attending world skills compeitions, that was definatly alot of fun especially when you win haha. Anyways right out of highschool, and im talking like 2 weeks before graduation i got hired on at our cities largest strucutral welding facility and right off the hop i was making 22$ an hr, roughly 45,000$ a year take home. I worked there for a year and then got on with manitoba hydro and was shipped up to northern manitoba and learned from some amazing high pressure welders and sure i had to sometimes run to the shop to grab this and that but almost 100% of the time they had me doing the welding and them doing the running for various tools or whatever. They started me out on working on pipe work with them my second year allowing me to weld flanges, fill/cap, of course under heavy supervision. That was quite a few years ago now and thats exactly how i train my apprentices. I agree in a sense that some of these kids coming out of highschool expect to start as "senior welder" and dont want to do the work to climb the ladder. But you can easily pick those ones out. When one is willing to learn and shows inherit desire to better themselves every day the most welding i do is if were working on a project together that requires two welders or if they ask me for a quick demonstration. I still personally take care of critical high pressure systems such as hastalloy, inconel, chromoly, stainless, just because their a fairly involved repair/replacement but my apprentices watch right by my side and ask questions then i take them to the shop and let them do exactly what i did on a set of coupons. Sorry but their not going to learn by running to get me coffee, or sweeping the shop. I clean the shop while their working, in my opinion i should be more concerned about keeping our rods/material stock up so they can keep burning rod! Maybe thats the difference? in 4 years our welders at various generating stations train our apprentices to become fully qualified red seal journeymen and high pressure welders, our apprentices know these plants like the back of their hand after 4 years and can run one hell of a pipe. I guess its all in your training methods.
Reply:Originally Posted by Pressure_Welderagreed, i had friends take 5-8 year courses in university, graduated, and are now working at walmart or mcdonalds. Whereas myself and a few other friends who have went trades have made literally over a million dollars each in the years theyve been in school.
Reply:Originally Posted by Pressure_Welderagreed, i had friends take 5-8 year courses in university, graduated, and are now working at walmart or mcdonalds. Whereas myself and a few other friends who have went trades have made literally over a million dollars each in the years theyve been in school.
Reply:Must of invented the pet rock or chia obama in the mean time.
Reply:Well being in a union will not guarantee you a good paying job nor will it guarantee that your job will be safe. What it can do for you is offer arbitration between you and the company should there be an issue that can't be resolved without mediation.  It will also offer some benefits such as discounts through local and national merchants and legal representation.  Unions will also be a part of the collective bargaining when contact time comes around to negotiate new pay and benefits ect ect but it tends to be a crap shoot specially now with the failing economy.  From what I have gleaned over the last 3 years small shop jobs tend to pay low unless its a busy shop.  Factory welding jobs in the mid west also tend to pay low as they are mostly production tack weld and short bead run operations.  Pipe line jobs are profitable and they tend to be hard dirty work and the weather can be either really hot or steel block cracking cold.  Heavy manufacturing welding jobs such as building construction equipment from medium to super heavy duty like the giant mining trucks or ocean going ships like I build can pay decent to very well and there are guys working in my shipyard who do make a six figure income.  You'll have to do allot of homework and foot work on the web to find the companies that are paying decent to really well.  You'll also have to consider looking at a technical school for additional welding training to help yourself more easily get into a place that pays well because what ever advantage you can give yourself now will be in your favor.  Look for schools that will train you in SMAW, MIG, GTAW/TIG with mild steel and aluminum for MIG and TIG and will also offer 6G certification training and testing.  Being able to do multiple types of welding process will greatly increase your employability and the certification will give you a one up over the guy who doesn't have it.Welding Supervisor Department of Corrections.
Reply:Originally Posted by sj_engrI second the recommendation to get a degree. Focus on something that others cannot do or do not like, ie accounting or engineering. Weld for hobby.
Reply:I understand the difference in working vs sitting behind a desk. I went to college on a baseball scholarship with the aspirations of turning pro. Blew out my shoulder and realized I'd better take school seriously. Got a degree in engineering. Worked at it and was bored, so I went to welding school, finished and started my own business. I recently had an offer I couldn't refuse to go back to engineering, so I am selling my company to my right hand man. I've lived the welder lifestyle, and it paid me very, very well. But after 7 knee operations, both shoulders operated on, my right elbow, and right ankle twice, I decided to not put my body through this anymore and actually use my brain. You say that the whole "go to college to be successful" is what's wron with society? I reply to each their own. There is nothing wrong with people wanting to better themselves, being able to provide more than they had growing up. Take it for what it is worth, but I was just trying to give a young guy my opinion. Is it wrong? Maybe. But it is mineGo Cards!!!!!I agree with you cliff that everyone has to do what they feel is right, and I'm not trying to say that no one should go to college and get a degree.. SJ’s comment kinda erked me saying you should weld for a hobby. Welding is not just for building carts in your garage, lol.
Reply:Originally Posted by SR20steveI think this mentality is what is wrong with America today...your thinking is exactly opposite of reality. Everyone wants to be a accountant or engineer and keep there hands clean and work behind a desk, not many folks want to welders...but I truly believe that as I get older the value of good pipe welders is going to go up and the value of accountants and the like are going to drop. Being a good pipe welder is not something that can taught overnight it takes many many years and it's something that is never perfected IMO. I liken welding to being similar to a professional athlete, you have good days and bad days, you have to practice to keep your skills up. It's not a skill that can be taught in a book (like engineering and accounting) only that is the smallest portion of learning to weld. It's pretty obvious every shop you go to our skilled welding workforce is getting older and older with not many young people filling the gaps and learning the trade. At my work I am one of the youngest journeyman craftsman period at 29 (all crafts) and the youngest welder/fitter by almost 20 years and he got hired with me. The other 4 company welders are within 5 years of retiring..and every contract company is full of close to retirement rig welders as well. The mentality that you have to go to school to have a good career has been burried into the heads of even these very experienced welders minds so even their own kids never learned their fathers trade and you guessed it, went to college to be accountants and financial advisers and the sort (maybe you are seeing my point).It doesn't take someone with a degree to see that skilled welders will be in very high demand in the near future.
Reply:Originally Posted by SR20steveI think this mentality is what is wrong with America today...your thinking is exactly opposite of reality. Everyone wants to be a accountant or engineer and keep there hands clean and work behind a desk, not many folks want to welders...but I truly believe that as I get older the value of good pipe welders is going to go up and the value of accountants and the like are going to drop. Being a good pipe welder is not something that can taught overnight it takes many many years and it's something that is never perfected IMO. I liken welding to being similar to a professional athlete, you have good days and bad days, you have to practice to keep your skills up. It's not a skill that can be taught in a book (like engineering and accounting) only that is the smallest portion of learning to weld. It's pretty obvious every shop you go to our skilled welding workforce is getting older and older with not many young people filling the gaps and learning the trade. At my work I am one of the youngest journeyman craftsman period at 29 (all crafts) and the youngest welder/fitter by almost 20 years and he got hired with me. The other 4 company welders are within 5 years of retiring..and every contract company is full of close to retirement rig welders as well. The mentality that you have to go to school to have a good career has been burried into the heads of even these very experienced welders minds so even their own kids never learned their fathers trade and you guessed it, went to college to be accountants and financial advisers and the sort (maybe you are seeing my point).It doesn't take someone with a degree to see that skilled welders will be in very high demand in the near future.
Reply:Originally Posted by socoj2Whats wrong with America is that everyone thinks a Degree == $$$$ it doesnt it still takes lots of hard work, determination, drive and sacrifice.Quick question which has a faster path to a $100k year salary Welding or Mech E?
Reply:LU 798 Pipeliners  wages $48.68 Hr  / Per Diem102.50 / Main Line benifits paid by employer 19.25 hr who also pays all consumables .
Reply:Thats pretty good $$, looks like it would come to something like 135K a year if you get 2000 hrs.  Maybe 15K on top of that for per diem if you are out for 150 days.  How long does it take to get into the union and get that rate, and how many guys are getting 2000 hours
Reply:Originally Posted by SR20steveI think this mentality is what is wrong with America today...your thinking is exactly opposite of reality. Everyone wants to be a accountant or engineer and keep there hands clean and work behind a desk, not many folks want to welders...but I truly believe that as I get older the value of good pipe welders is going to go up and the value of accountants and the like are going to drop. Being a good pipe welder is not something that can taught overnight it takes many many years and it's something that is never perfected IMO. I liken welding to being similar to a professional athlete, you have good days and bad days, you have to practice to keep your skills up. It's not a skill that can be taught in a book (like engineering and accounting) only that is the smallest portion of learning to weld. It's pretty obvious every shop you go to our skilled welding workforce is getting older and older with not many young people filling the gaps and learning the trade. At my work I am one of the youngest journeyman craftsman period at 29 (all crafts) and the youngest welder/fitter by almost 20 years and he got hired with me. The other 4 company welders are within 5 years of retiring..and every contract company is full of close to retirement rig welders as well. The mentality that you have to go to school to have a good career has been burried into the heads of even these very experienced welders minds so even their own kids never learned their fathers trade and you guessed it, went to college to be accountants and financial advisers and the sort (maybe you are seeing my point).It doesn't take someone with a degree to see that skilled welders will be in very high demand in the near future.
Reply:Originally Posted by socoj2Quick question which has a faster path to a $100k year salary Welding or Mech E?
Reply:Well I'm 100% against trade unions so I won't steer you in that direction.  That's a choice that you have to make on your own and I wont try to sway you.If I were helping a new welder make a career choice, I'd suggest that he/she look into the newest whizbang processes out there. When GTAW was in it's first few decades of mainstream use, you could make about three times the money of average stick welding. These days, everybody can GTAW and the only "rare" form of GTAW is DCEN on aluminum (which I cant understand because that's what it started out as).I do Friction Stir Welding and the pool of people that are journeymen level of this process are way less than 500 I believe. It is becoming the "next big thing" in aluminum and even some ferrous metals. Most of the people welding in this field are making anywhere from around $25 per hour to the highest that I know of being $48 per hour. That's with full benefits and home every night.Electron beam welding and plasma arc welding are semi rare as well.Two turn tables and a microphone.
Reply:Originally Posted by sj_engrMeanwhile I design and program robots to replace pipe welders who have "good and bad days". Quality and overall productivity higher, thus better for USA GDP and overall job growth. Not all engineers keep their hands clean, I would hope accountants would.
Reply:Originally Posted by socoj2Whats wrong with America is that everyone thinks a Degree == $$$$ it doesnt it still takes lots of hard work, determination, drive and sacrifice.Quick question which has a faster path to a $100k year salary Welding or Mech E?
Reply:Originally Posted by sj_engrMeanwhile I design and program robots to replace pipe welders who have "good and bad days". Quality and overall productivity higher, thus better for USA GDP and overall job growth. Not all engineers keep their hands clean, I would hope accountants would.
Reply:Originally Posted by Big65moparBoth have good points because this country or rather the world can not run on labor or degree's alone.  It has been an unfortunate situation that with the collapse of our economy fly by night schools and even legitimate established schools have jumped into the " Don't have a job?  Come get a degree " band wagon and now there are thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people out there with a degree that are actually working at walmart or starbucks or waiting tables.
Reply:Originally Posted by SR20steveIn CA I would say process pipe welding.... Im not trying to be the guy talking big about my wage but this, if any, is a good reason to prove my point....but I haven't made under a 100k since I have been hired for Shell as a craftsmen so since year one (granted it took me roughly 4 years in the trade working as a contractor to get experience enough to get the job). Our fresh out of school chemical/ mech/ etc will start at around 65k salary (ie no OT). And most of the contractor rig welders around here make almost double my hourly wage.This is not a pissing match as to who makes more money...neither is going to get rich working for someone else.
Reply:Originally Posted by SR20steveSure there are robotic welders out there, but as anyone who has used a orbital welder will tell you, the machine is only as smart as the person running the machine. The machine doesn't know it was just just bolted up to a old piece of tubing and welding to a new piece (which either side of the joint may weld completely different) maybe one had some corrosion loss and has less mass then the new piece? Your counting on someone who has run the machine on this particular joint and has learned what has worked and what hasn't. If it screws up, what is the cost of repair for time and materials? All this that could have been welded by a experienced welder in minutes...When it comes to working maintenance in process piping no two joints are the same, and thats why the skilled welder makes what they do...thats why a journeyman welder makes more than a day one engineer at my work.
Reply:"You will find that while machine welds are fine, they fail more xrays, and the units themselves are more sensitive to their input power source."Maybe in your field of work that is true, but not all welding fields. I have run machines with miles of weld and very few defects and most of those were not machine induced.Two turn tables and a microphone.
Reply:Originally Posted by KelvinLet's see if my math is right.If you made $1 million in 8 years, that's $125k / year.If you made $1 million in 5 years, that's $200k / year.YOU MADE THAT FRESH OUT OF TRADE SCHOOL???
Reply:Originally Posted by Pressure_WelderRight out of highschool i was (taking home) at bare minimum 60,000$ NOT including perdiem and northern allowences which equals about 15,000 a year tax free. this included a decent amount of maintainence overtime, I finished my apprenticeship in 2 1/2 years and the very day after i passed level 3 with my journeymen red seal status i was at the DOL test center qualifying on 4 different alloy high pressure tickets. So yes for the past 8 years ive made about 130-150 depending on maintainece schedules and assisting at other stations. Did i mention that i work an 8 days in 6 days off schedule and with holidays i work about 5 to 5 1/2 months a year? So if you do the math.... +/- 40,000$ whatever.
Reply:i find nuke plants extremely interesting as iam an avid high pressure welding and really enjoy exotic alloy welding, i know of a fellow on this website that works at a nuke plant in ontario canada, dont quote me but i believe he makes mid to high 40s as he is very skilled. Think of it this way too, when somthing ruptures in the boiler a 2am our phone rings, and we repair what we can depending on nessecary cool down time. Or cavitation welding on our massive turbine blades. Theirs money to be had for instance myself and actually the fellow i apprenticed under years ago had to replace a 8" sch 160 chromoly steam line thath ad dog legged due to fatigue, we worked for 2 1/2 days straight to restore the unit, 8hrs regular time, 8 hrs double time, and 44hrs of triple time with shift premium. I believe in those 2 1/2 days my checque read just a touch over 10,000$ before the government took their share
Reply:Words of wisdom for ya kid.Now that I'm getting old and wise,here are my thoughts.In life just like nature you are either the predator or the prey.The guys who go to college and get the education and degrees are the predators.The guys who went to tech school or high school are the prey.The predators have the money,power,and control.The prey does not!In my area in Wisconsin you can weld for 30 years and they are going to pay you 10-15 bucks an hour.Just the way it is.If you go out on your own you can do better if you are good and have disipline to run a biz.Good luck to you!