Certs??? Which ones to get?

admin

Ok guy i know this is a VERY opinion based and general question please forgive my long explanation as well....I just want some thoughts.   First I started out in your normal run of the mill small fab shop that does a little of everything, moved to precision sheet metal doing TIG mainly. Following that I ended up in off road manufacturing until 2008 until I declared that stuff dried up. SInce I have been working mainly for myself but have been thinking it is time to finally go get my my certifications. As far as my TIG skills I think I could pass SS 6g pipe now or very quickly. My smaw/fcaw is not up but I want to get that up where I should be and ideally get structural and pipe certs so I will be a well rounded go anywhere kinda guy.  I know I could get LA city and that looks good... What about AWS D1.1 or whatever the aws equivalents are?  ASME??  I see jobs all over asking for all of these and since I`m not up in any of these areas  I just don`t have any idea where to start. What I do know is I have 13 years under my belt with nothing to show and its time to make this a career or something.
Reply:If you are looking for employment with a company that requires welding certifications, it is my understanding that the company will generally not accept certs from yourself or your previous employer, but instead they will have you certify with them, for the particular welding they do.I suppose you could go through an independant testing lab and certify for various weld procedures, and this may be applied if you bid on some work as a sub-contractor, but otherwise I'm not sure if a company will hire you and use your existing cert.I could be totally wrong on this, but this is what I've seen.
Reply:If a company requires certain certs before considering an application, then go get those certs.  Otherwise, it's as pulser mentioned - most companies won't accept them anyways, and it'll be a huge waste of money.  Many companies in the power industry won't even take common-arc anymore, and require the welders to be tested under the tutelage of their own QA/QC program.
Reply:I had to get certs from my company at the time. They said mine were no good to them. So unless your going for the training or bragging rights I wouldnt worry about them. But this was 4 years ago.
Reply:Hey Brian,  Most codes state it is up to the company if they accept previous certifications, which in 23 years of welding I've never found. The company has there own certifications which they've tested and bought. If you go into a company that follows ASME there is no  pre-qual certifications so you will be re-certified. AWS has certifications which some companies might recognize however you need to attend an accredited AWS school for this certification.   If you have money get whatever certification you want for the ability to say I have been certified in this and that but usually it means nothing and you will be required to re-certify at the new company. From what I have seen most companies need slaves to the FCAW so practice in your stick and fluxcore welding if you want a job welding.   Hope this helpsWeldor/ Certified Inspector
Reply:If you want to do welding in the heavy construction trades, you'll need AWS D1.1 SMAW and FCAW in the 3G and 4G positions.  In California, you should also have AWS D1.8 FCAW 3G/4G.  If you want to work in a shop or in aerospace or piping, or any other non-structural or non-construction related job, then the companies will have their own specific certs they'll want you to pass.  In that case, not having D1.1 is no worry, but having it at least shows them that you have verifiable welding skill, which might get you the opportunity to test on their stuff instead of never hearing from them again.MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:Pulsar....I`m not talking about really specific TIG certs here, nothing aircraft related or anything likely to be really specific to one industry.  Rather the opposite, I want to get some general run of the mill certs that would prove my abilities.  DesertRider that the kind of answer I was looking for....Thanks.I don`t want certs for bragging rights or because of a desire to do any particular industry....I have my own business and it will help that I`m sure as far as looking more legit. Mainly I have reached a dry section in my career and am finding myself to either be overqualified for manufacturing positions that don`t pay enough anyways....or I`m under qualified for the more serious welding jobs and don`t even get a call back.