Best career advice for a person starting out..

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just keep in mind, i somewhat trust what people on here talk about. for the most part, so please give honest advice.. i am 24, have a son, and am in my 2nd semester of a 2 year welding course (some guys are just taking the one, im going for 2)...  What is the best or preferred path to a career, should i go the apprentiship route, or just apply o any place i can (most want certified experieced 5+ years)i dont know everything or have cwb ticket or red seal or anything yet, i will after my course im sure.. just wondering how to go about this after school .. thanks guys!! ,..Evan
Reply:find an old hand and buy him beer, sweep his shop, wash his truck, cut his grass, whatever. I've learned more from the older hands than ever would from books / school. Listen to them, yeah they may be old and grumpy, they've earned that. Dave
Reply:There are a lot of welders that learned in High school shop/FFA, so by the time they were your age they had ten years of experience. In those ten years they worked with different welders and learned a lot. In today's Law suit happy society/insurance world you need documented work experience or some kind of degree. Once you get a welding job you will get your experience. You will have to start some where and work your way up. Like RuffneckDave said learn from and old hand, from some you learn what to do and what not to do. If you live close to an Oil boom or chemical/oil refineries there will be plenty of opportunity.
Reply:If you like where you live and dont want to travel, find all the places that do welding, apply hand out resumes. If you know anyone in the steel buisiness talk to them, chances are they know of other places you have overlooked that do welding. You might not get the job you want right out of school, but if there is opportunity there, it may not be a bad deal. I just left a job where my title was a welder, to go to a different company as an entry level employee. My new job has more opportunity to learn new things, my old job was pretty much any idiot can do it.- Christian M.C3 Welding & Fabrication - CNC Plasma Cutting-Mobile Welding-Custom welding and fabwww.c3welding.com
Reply:Go to work at an ornamental iron shop as a "hey boy". 12 months of saw-bender-roller time is good for the soul.A Hossfeld bender becomes a sex toyThose guys have so many tricks up there sleeves to make metal do things only spaghetti should be capable of.It teaches a person how to think ! Angles, radii, where to put stiffeners, what kind of fasteners how to prep and apply a PROPER finish.....it goes on and on.Any meathead can glue columns together and hang and weld beams or put teeth on a bucket.Multi floor spiral stair cases will either make a man or end him up in an asylum.When you can bid, build and successfully install this, while making a profit---without a divorce--. You B a Man !Last edited by Burpee; 02-15-2014 at 02:28 AM.Reason: Fhuhkeen spelleded MEATHEAD wron. I have sinned :-(Bubble gumTooth pixDuct tapeBlack glueGBMF hammerScrew gun --bad battery (see above)
Reply:BTW, Then thar ears izza fer holdin smoked glass panels in.OHHHHH NOOO. That's the " engineers" problem. Fuggem Bubble gumTooth pixDuct tapeBlack glueGBMF hammerScrew gun --bad battery (see above)
Reply:Coming out of your 2 year course, you should have the opportunity to test for your all position CWB smaw ticket. Concentrate on practicing for that ticket. That's the ticket that will get you a job after school and having your 2 yr diploma will give you the basic knowledge to get your feet wet. In my opinion artistic ornamental metal work is not where the money is unless your in a large metropolis area with a lot of high end home construction.  All you need is 3 years of weld time under your belt and you will have the hours to challenge the Canadian red seal journeyman exam. Once you obtain that status, along with your CWB ticket, your opportunities are endless. Hello Alberta oil sands $$$.JasonLincoln Idealarc 250 stick/tigThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 52Miller Bobcat 250Torchmate CNC tableThermal Arc Hefty 2Ironworkers Local 720
Reply:I agree ! Why bang beach bunnies in Grand Cayman when you can hang with REAL men (and reindeer) in a filthy ***,blindingly cold, tar pit !Don't be silly ! Ye gitcha noo twuck every 3 years ! Yeeeeeeeeeeeeehawwwwwwww. Buuuuuuurp.Bubble gumTooth pixDuct tapeBlack glueGBMF hammerScrew gun --bad battery (see above)
Reply:I'll take $40+ an hour, time and a half on Fridays, double time on the weekends for 4 months of cold weather. Steady work and $ is the key here. Every site out there is in new construction expansion. That's good clean work. I'd rather go on a vacation to the Grand Caymen. Not there to work.You will have a hard time making $120k/yr working as a Ya Boy doing artistic metal work. The experience you will gain in an industrial work environment will benefit a person much more down the road in my opinion. I've done a lot of decorative metal art myself. While it does bring in some $, it is nothing compared to the industrial wages one can earn in other industries. Plus the background experiences doing the industrial work is extremely sought after by future employers. Choose your path as you wish. Just stating my experiences and recommendations for a young guy starting out.Last edited by snoeproe; 02-15-2014 at 12:22 PM.JasonLincoln Idealarc 250 stick/tigThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 52Miller Bobcat 250Torchmate CNC tableThermal Arc Hefty 2Ironworkers Local 720
Reply:Come work in the real world, we need welder fabricators that make no more than $25 a hour to fill our shopsLast edited by kkustomz; 02-15-2014 at 06:49 PM.