Welding Career

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Hello,I'm new here. I'm considering taking a long term course at my local vo tech. I'm actually trying to decide between welding and heating and air.  I plan on using this experience to propel me into a career in either field. I'm interested in finding out what kind of market there is for welders and what type of money I could potentially make out of the gate.http://www.mntechnology.com.php5-5.w...k.com/Welding/Here is the link to the course I am considering.I'm leaning towards welding at this point because it just seems like it would be more beneficial to my life over-all. I could make money doing it, and then I could have it as a hobby as well. However, the money has to come first. I need a trade. I'm damn near 30 and still living off of 10 bucks an hour. I have to change that.Thanks
Reply:Slim, welcome to the board.  As for money it all depends on what type of welding you get into.  Since you are in Ok. working the pipelines is most likely where the money is.  Most Fab. shops pay a lot less.  I can not say what they pay, since I live in NY.  I was just laid off from a job that was paying 15.00 PH to make Big Medical Equipment and that was Certified Tig welding on Alum..  And have worked in smaller shops paying a lot less. I got into welding 4 years ago at the age of 36, and took a big pay cut to get into it.  But I know it will work out for me.  Plus it is a good source of " tax free cash" Just don't tell anybody..........Others here will be better with more info then me.
Reply:Around here there are lots of welding jobs, but then again there is ALOT of manufacturing in the Milwaukee area. Here you can expect 15-16 for a MIG welding production job without any print reading ability or tools. Those jobs are a dime a dozen. Some larger places that do heavy fabrication (cranes, mining equipment, railroad) start a little higher and get into the high 20s. There is lots of money to be made here. I dont know about manufacturing out there but like partagas said there are probably opportunities with pipelines there. Either way with some training and experience you can definitly make more than 10 bucks an hour.I am 27 and make more than alot of my friends that went to college. If you are good at it and you like it you can make lots of money. I love it, 98% of the time Yup
Reply:Thanks for the info guys. It's a year long investment of 2 a days..meaning I work all night, study all day, and sleep sparingly for the next year. I just wanted to be sure it was going to be worth that investment.I read something about underwater welding as well. I read that the only pre-reqs for that field are to be licensed in scuba and welding. If thats a fact, then I may try for that. I always heard there is a lot of money to be had in that field.
Reply:Those guys do get paid alot but......There are already alot of them. Search underwater welding on here. There isnt a real crazy demand for them. The people who need that done know who to call and they call them, at least thats what it sounds like.Yup
Reply:Underwater welding is a lot more then just " I read that the only pre-reqs for that field are to be licensed in scuba and welding."  I thought that also since I am both.  Looked into it.  And the schooling alone was another 10K...  So that was out. here is a good link.http://www.aws.org/education/plunge.html
Reply:Ok.. guess thats out as an option.. thanks parta
Reply:Look at the unions in your area, iron workers or pipefitters. Pipe welders in Washington earn roughly 38 dollars an hour plus benefits. Total package is around 59 dollars. Go to ua.org and investigate the pipe trades.Bill
Reply:Remember you get out what you put into your course...I teach night school to adults and continuing ed kids that just graduated high school. I have older people that bust there butts, spending all of there time in the booths and studing for all of there class room test...then I have both kids and adults that think that they are in there 13th  thru 16th yr of high school!  They are my frustration, especially if they actually have the potential to be decient welders  They're is alot of potential in the welding careers...Though I'm not Union...They have very good training programs...look into all of your options...put forth as much effort as you can toward the class your going to take...Good Luck!!Jonesy
Reply:You are never too old to learn !!!I am now 51 years old and just started an adult apprenticeship so if an old fart like me can have ago; you should have no worries at all.  weldeyes in Tasmania Australia
Reply:Well I hope this does not spark a flame fest but here it is.I got into welding through the Ironworkers union apprenticeship program. Honestly never thought I would ever be good at it when I started off. I recall telling my father that I may have made a bad choice in the Ironworkers because I have to get these welding papers to become a journeymen...Well that same year a few months later I had my all position unlimited AWS and DOT certs. I have been a welding whore ever since. I mean my first gig in the business was welding stainless on a precast garage...if that is not an indicator of where your carreer will lead I don't know what is. Well here I am 8 years later with more papers than you can shake a stick at and plenty of welding work to go around and then some.Before you shell out all kinds of cash for a welding program check with some of the local trade unions. I would check into the Plumbers and Steamfitters, Boilermakers, Pipeliners and Ironworkers. Ask them about their apprenticeship programs and when they are taking applications.'Mike
Reply:Unions are great for teaching the physical aspects of welding, what they lack is general welding knowledge, mostly the metallurgy.  If you just want to weld, as others have already suggested try the pipefitters, ironworkers, and dont forget the pile drivers.  Not many people know what we do, or who we are, but we get most of the commerical welding work in our area, not the ironworkers.If you want to learn metallurgy, which i highly suggest, look into your local programs and see what they offer.  Knowing the theory behind what your doing will take you further in your career, than just knowing how to weld something together.good luck
Reply:Thanks for all the info guys.Ironman, I expect my job to be a grind. Im not concerned with that. I need to make good money so I can start setting up a better future for myself. That's what really concerns me at the moment.Drive, the course I'm considering is around 1350 hours and a lot of that is devoted to studying all the different metals.