Universal Technical Institute Expands Welding Program
Company also reportssignificant cost savings from lease restructuring and rightsizing at its Sacramento campus.
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Welding Career
- Thread starter redbone3
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Is that one of those for-profit schools?
You're better off going to a community college welding program
You're better off going to a community college welding program
Becoming a welder is a great money making job. But, at a cost. I had been a certified welder (6G) for 39 years. I was certified only to weld when I was needed. Most of my career (90%) was as a pipe fitter. If you value your eyes/vision, find another career. I have heard far too many welders say that they wished they had never chosen welding as a trade.
Lots of unhealthy fumes with welding, too. Lung disease is a risk.
Never weld Cadmium plated anything, or you'll have to drink your milk!
That pretty much goes for any skilled blue collar trade.
I worked a trade for the past 30+ years and never had any worries about not having a job. I also taught new hires from military and trained them since my boss knew I wouldn’t take any shortcuts teaching them.
my nephew just graduated this spring from High School, and the Local Vocational school, with his welding certificate(s?) got his first job as a factory welder(6a-4p M-Th), just before the shutdowns.
a month or so ago he got called back. realized within a week, that he didn't want to continue working at that kind of job. he came home every night with his skin and clothes as black as a coal miner's, luckily he had put in applications all over before he was called back.
one of those(Whirlpool, Freezer Factory) called him to set up an interview.
first position they offered him (which they figured he wouldn't like) was as a braiser, he turned that down. they then offered him a "Utility/Maintenance" position. which he took, he'll be doing stuff all over the plant, learning all sorts of stuff. He Chose third Shift (8p-6a). Starts Next Monday, at $17/hr. (which sadly is more than i make. )
a month or so ago he got called back. realized within a week, that he didn't want to continue working at that kind of job. he came home every night with his skin and clothes as black as a coal miner's, luckily he had put in applications all over before he was called back.
one of those(Whirlpool, Freezer Factory) called him to set up an interview.
first position they offered him (which they figured he wouldn't like) was as a braiser, he turned that down. they then offered him a "Utility/Maintenance" position. which he took, he'll be doing stuff all over the plant, learning all sorts of stuff. He Chose third Shift (8p-6a). Starts Next Monday, at $17/hr. (which sadly is more than i make. )
There aren't a whole lot of old welders....
A grinder and paint make me the welder I ain’t!
I’m a machinist, worked in a job shop that had welders. I’ve never had so many sinus infections in a year before or since leaving there. But yes, good welders will never be hurting to find work.
I’m a machinist, worked in a job shop that had welders. I’ve never had so many sinus infections in a year before or since leaving there. But yes, good welders will never be hurting to find work.
I'll take any of the trades provided they have the legitimate skills and certs (I don't mean just a "job title" and years on the clock)
Its easy to see the difference
Its easy to see the difference
I worked as a pipe welder at a nuclear power plant for 4 years. I was certified for 6G 2-1/2" monster wall in TIG and Stick, 6G 1" stainless in TIG, and a 2G/3G/4G titanium in TIG. I also had structural certs in stick and fluxcore. I went to school for welding at Hobart in Troy, Ohio before getting on at the nuke plant. There's a lot more to welding than just welding, especially in the nuclear field as you have to deal with the NRC paperwork. I would say probably 10% of my time was spent actually welding something. The rest was spent sourcing material, filling out paperwork, filling out the paperwork again after engineering screwed it up, waiting on the inspector, doing the paperwork a 3rd time after the inspector screwed it up, and setting up the equipment. There's a lot of times that I would spend 30 minutes doing a weld and then wait around for 5-8 hours for the inspector to come and sign off on it.
The biggest hurdles I ran into was engineers who knew nothing about welding. They'd give us prints that called for oddball weld placements and sizes that we physically couldn't do. I remember a few of them being in spots that were completely unaccessible. They'd fight you over it from their office saying "well the computer says blah blah blah" and then when they'd finally crawl down in there and look at it in person, they'd be like "ooooh..." I went rounds with one of them over an order of tacking. They were trying to say I had to tack the bottom of a support beam before the top. I said no because if I tack the bottom first, it'll warp the top off the beam and we'll never get it to fit right again. My superintendent came out there, got mad, put me on something else, and brought a green guy, fresh out of his apprenticeship, over to tack it. I walked by there 2 hours later to see those idiots (whole crew) with 2 come-alongs and a torch trying to pull the support back in place because it warped from them tacking the bottom first. Then the super had the nerve to ask me to fix it just 5 minutes before I was to hit the gate. I just laughed and walked away.
The biggest hurdles I ran into was engineers who knew nothing about welding. They'd give us prints that called for oddball weld placements and sizes that we physically couldn't do. I remember a few of them being in spots that were completely unaccessible. They'd fight you over it from their office saying "well the computer says blah blah blah" and then when they'd finally crawl down in there and look at it in person, they'd be like "ooooh..." I went rounds with one of them over an order of tacking. They were trying to say I had to tack the bottom of a support beam before the top. I said no because if I tack the bottom first, it'll warp the top off the beam and we'll never get it to fit right again. My superintendent came out there, got mad, put me on something else, and brought a green guy, fresh out of his apprenticeship, over to tack it. I walked by there 2 hours later to see those idiots (whole crew) with 2 come-alongs and a torch trying to pull the support back in place because it warped from them tacking the bottom first. Then the super had the nerve to ask me to fix it just 5 minutes before I was to hit the gate. I just laughed and walked away.
That's how trades work in New Zealand, they all have a certificate at a national level, there are different levels, but all are on the same page. You can't work as a whatever unless you can produce your qualifications.
This x1000. If they've got commercials on Sunday Powerblock or 4 color ads in mags or even pop-ups online....you know where your tuition is going. Those schools are a numbers game, for-profit ---- maximum enrollment, minimum expenditure
Of course things vary state to state....New Mexico has figured out that they're always gonna rank as one of the poorest states if they can't get people employed, so the state basically subsidizes vo-tech to where it's essentially free (how's sub-$500 per semester sound?). When I went to SJC in Farmington ~10 years ago it was under $350/semester and I used a LOT of material on personal projects (which they encourage if you've completed your assignments). We'd also try to "give back" by helping anybody who'd walk in off the streets asking for something to be welded or machined (within reason, of course).... basically the taxpayers were paying for us to be there anyway
I'd probably pick electrician, if I were to go into a trade like that. Plumber is also solid. Welding can make more offshore, underwater, etc. but there are risks...
I know, that's the system I was specifically referencing. I do tons of mining all over the world and work with Kiwi's and Aussies all the time and know that system well. It is exceptional.
We have the NCCER which is equally as good but a lot of companies don't make it a mandatory requirement and that's where the trouble starts.
There's a HUGE difference between a WELDOR (notice the spelling, LOL- a QUALIFIED human being who operates a WELDER [ machine that welds])
and some dude who tells me "yeah I can weld"
That "difference" has cost me and clients dearly many times but they never seem to learn. I keep preaching it and they keep telling me how much money they saved ( until I remind them of adding the cost of rework)
Many people fail on the physical part of it. I saw several people who could make beautiful welds in a booth with perfect conditions but put that weld just 2" off the floor, 2" off the wall, and with a wind blowing out your shielding gas, they fail miserably. There were some I did where I was hanging upside down with less than a foot of arm room each side of me down in a condenser tank that's about 120°F and completely dark.
One of my last welds there was a repair on a 12" valve that two guys spent two days welding only to fail inspection because they installed the valve backwards. That was 48 hours clocked to weld it wrong, 6 hours to cut and refit, and 42 hours to reweld at $52/hr. Over $5k cost to the company, but that pales in comparison to the $2.2 million the company lost due to the reactor being offline for 3 days longer than anticipated.
One of my last welds there was a repair on a 12" valve that two guys spent two days welding only to fail inspection because they installed the valve backwards. That was 48 hours clocked to weld it wrong, 6 hours to cut and refit, and 42 hours to reweld at $52/hr. Over $5k cost to the company, but that pales in comparison to the $2.2 million the company lost due to the reactor being offline for 3 days longer than anticipated.
I thought very important welds (nuclear power plants/ oil pipeline) were X-ray or eddy tested to look for bad welds ?
Welding can be a good paying career but it’s sometimes very dirty, dangerous and takes a toll on your body.
With any career field.... it takes years to get very good at your craft, nothing happens overnight. Hopefully some old timer takes you under their wing and teaches you all the tricks they’ve learned the hard way.
Welding can be a good paying career but it’s sometimes very dirty, dangerous and takes a toll on your body.
With any career field.... it takes years to get very good at your craft, nothing happens overnight. Hopefully some old timer takes you under their wing and teaches you all the tricks they’ve learned the hard way.
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My biggest problem is getting the young ones into the trades
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