My family had a welding shop.I welded most of my life and have the scars to show for it over head and virtual welding ****. pipe welding ****s We made tanks and pressure vessels these need to be welded inside that ****s I guess welding ****s
I've been a welder since 1973...the pay is good BUT ...a lot of welding jobs are "production" jobs IE: the same joint on the same piece over and over and over. If you work at a FAB shop then its different stuff and not as boring. Learn all types of welding that way you are more valuable to the company. gas, tig, mig, stick, and learn to do all those vertical , flat, and overhead. I've seen lots of female welders over the years, and some of them where the best welders I've worked with. let me add this, when you get my age you don't go into a job interview with all your cards on the table, I've been told I was over qualified and they wouldn't hire me BECAUSE they know if a better offer comes along I'd be gone. I only show enough qualifications to get the job. I save the rest for a better offer on down the road.
no. 30 years ago yes. Go to a medical school and learn a two year course in therapy or a tech job. Dont waist your time. Unless your planning to live in China. my experience..20 yrs of welding and 15 yrs in quality control. There is no work in these fields.
My Great Uncle (Jimmy Walsh) said "You have to be a dumb S.O.B. to be a welder." He was one of the best welders I have ever seen. I was a Millwright for many years and learned to weld fairly well as a part of my job. Welding, to me, is another "tool" to put in your box. Learn all the skills you can, it will make you more marketable.
I learned to weld years ago, at that time stick was all you needed. When MIG came along I taught myself all I needed to know and got to be pretty good at it. Then I bought a TIG unit and thought that I'd go to school on it. The local community college wouldn't teach just TIG...wanted everyone to do the full 600+ hour program starting with stick. I am now teaching myself TIG. That said, I would have loved to have gone through a formal education program but I am kinda glad I didn't because now I know just enough to do what needs to be done on my cars and I am not tempted (or qualified) to do any commercial work. Here in San Diego the shipyards employ the most welders and from what they tell me it's not a job that I would be interested in doing 40 hrs a week.
Dirty, you bet - hard work, yes, [I have the beat up knees & shoulder to prove it] Its put a roof over my head and food on the table for almost 30 years now. Its helped put my wife through college and hopefully will do the same for my kid. You will NOT make much money welding on exhaust, trailer hitches, or hot rods, [that last one may cause a **** storm] Heavy industrial is just about the only place where there are some decent paying jobs left. If you do it, learn to fit and weld, it will make you a much more valuable employee. I run a fairly large shop, the first thing I tell young guys, "this is not American Chopper, we are not here to argue about tacking round bar together, keep your hood down and make sparks. If you go looking for work show up early, like start time at the shop, dress like you want to go to work that day, not your BEST baggy pants with the crotch at the knees! I will step down off my soap box now, time to haul *** to work. Good luck, John
Damn it....thats how I earn my living , welding exhaust , trailer hitches and hot rods. You mean to tell me that I could have been making better money doing something else? Now you tell me !!
Even that has changed in this economy. The 798 has a list hundreds long of guys on the roll waiting for a job. My town is full of 798 guys with no jobs in sight. They pay their union dues and check the roster daily, but no work right now.
clark16; As ArtGeco points out; it depends on you, your ap***ude, demonstrated ability, skills, and work ethic. Go back and read "Deuce Daddy Don" and "OLDSPERT" also; Resist what the nay-sayers have to offer. There will always be those that excell, those that succeed, and those that fail. Work on an AT***UDE that breeds excellence. The pay? It will depend ENTIRELY on how you develop your skills, your work ethic and how you apply yourself. The more equipment you train yourself on, the more versatile, the more satisfaction you get from doing a good job, the way you carry yourself, the way other people see you. Just remember, it isn't WHAT the job is. It's what you want, your ap***ude, and what you make of opportunity. If you are cut out for the mechanical trades, you would never be happy as a day trader or a brain surgeon. If you were interested in being a medical technician, I believe you would be seeking advice on a different forum. Eh? It isn't about the current global economy. It ain’t about the guy that hated welding. It ain’t about the guy that likes a cushy job in an air conditioned box. It ain’t about somebody else’s failures. Lose the whiners. Ignore them. Get up early in the morning, develop your at***ude, plan on doing what’s ask of you, no less, but do the job better than expected. Don't second guess your boss more than once. Your need to improve will be obvious. On the other hand if it becomes obvious that your skill, ability, and work ethic are above the standards required in a particular situation, where 'good enough' is all they want, then just get out of there, because somewhere, possibly right across the street, superior performance is required. To your advantage; Slackers abound. Outsmart them. There are slacker employers as well as employees. In the end, if you choose to join that group, to just get by, sneak up on the time clock at the last minute, whine when given a tough ***ignment, talk about the boss behind his back, take the easy out at every task, then you will be in good company, and never, never, get the up front pay raises but instead will be ****ing on the hind *** all of your life. The choices are yours.
yep.. had 20-13 for 10 years....now wear gl***es. and i dont even do welding for a living. But do enough of it. the respitory issues are not good either..
Welding. What happened to software engineeers Computer developer Doctor, lawyer etc etc? Why would anyone want a Real Job doing something that adds to the GDP? Are you nuts? If so then go for it. I became a mech and later a machinist (automotive) My father an engineer and MBA was horrified. Everytime he looked at me i could see "Loser!" written on his face however I had a wonderful careeer. I enjoyed the work , lived through the **** and despite whatever my colleques said worked at learning more and taking extra training when it appeared. I also studied at home to learn more. I do not regret my decision and was able to retire 3 or 4 years before my Dad the Engineeer who is 23 years my senior. After that i just did what interested me. Sure there are lulls in occupations and there are **** jobs but they occur in any carreer. If you desire to be a welder and desire to excell you will. Brace yourself! Live is hard. There is at first the excitement of the job. then the drudgery sets in. Then the "why did I choose this path and that is not fair section" and then you slowly emerge from your ca**** as it were and find your place to stand and it goes well from there. If you as fortunate as some of us you get asked to teach your craft to others at the other end of your career. I had three uncles who were welders. One was very creative (made one of the first big self powered snowblowers long before) One was content to work for a bridge comapny or his brother and one was a gifted welder who was hired by many compaines to do experimental work. Even gas welded an aluminim experimental bridge once for a company. His son by the same name (Mark Daniells) works for Greg Biffel # 16 driving the truck and doing some mech work. A long way from his home in Kitchener Waterloo Ontario where he was, like me, his cousin a Cl*** A mech . He inherited I think his fathers sense of adventure. By The Way an old friend who taught me investment always told me the time to start into an occupation or business is when things are bad. Cause they can only improve and you will be well positioned by then. Seems to work. Go for it. (The opposite being if you start when things are at the peak they will only go down hill frst) Don
Good luck walking into another $18 an hour job without any kind of formal certification. A lot has happened in the last couple years. I'm not saying the system is right. But it is what it is. Just like the top has been lopped off the blue collar fields, the top has been lopped off most white collar fields, there is very little opportunity for advancement anymore. Except the pay versus loyalty thing is opposite. Blue collar, stay and get annual raises. White collar, stay and see a slide in earning power as you battle for COLA despite good performance reviews. The easiest way to keep up with current market pay rate is to change jobs. But as mentioned earlier, social skills are the most valuable of them all. Especially if they allow you to marry into money
My Daughter is a serious artist, and she wanted to be a PRO ARTIST. She talked to several PRO artists, they saw her work, told her she was very good, but don't try to do it for a living. Enjoy your talent. Do things that you enjoy doing but don't plan on doing it for a living. She took there advise, she's married, Husband works well, and now she does custom work (when she feels like it) and is very happy she went down the road she chose, and the advise she recieved. Get some education, that will give you the edge you need, and the path you will ENJOY following. Nothing better then working and enjoying what your doing. Education allows you to do that. I always wanted to be a body man. I can do body work and painting, but really LOVE doing ice machines, and because I got the education, am really good at what I do, and really enjoy doing it. Thats a plus. Iceman
I had a job in a ch***is shop as the "saw" guy cutting parts. Then they gave me the oprotunity to weld. After that I didn't go to work, I went to "welding practice". It paid alright and I miss working there. I got paid by the hour to learn how to weld and practice on their ****. If you already know how to weld, think about a different career. If I were in Highschool again I'd be thinking about college a lot more seriously than I did. Get a nice job so you can afford to have a nice big shop and fill it with all the tools you need to build hot rods.
Two small bits of advice. 1) Get a job that pays you well and allows you to live the life you want to lead. 2) Do the job you love but be prepared to sacrifice your life for it. Only the lucky few get to do the job they love and live the life they want. P.
My name is Jim am 72 yrs old been welding since I4 my father was a ***** would make me get under the dump trucks and do all the **** jobs and charge the customers $15.00 per hour ,they would complaine how much?he's only a kid $15.00 was a lot in those days.I used to jump start my 35 chev woods car with a d.c. welder all the time .Had a chest xray a week ago ,lungs perfectly clean and I was not to careful and seldom used a dust mask Welding came in handy ,channelled a 32 5 window in 1955, plus always doing jobs on other guys cars.heating coil springs,quick lowering job. To make any money you have to have a product or service that is unique , mine was wrought iron products railing gates furniture spiral stairs both high end and production. Anyway I had to say something in defense of welding as a profession as it has taken good care of me and family and I am still above ground and welding every day ,now just as a hobby to help out my car club buddys , Bruce Johnson from West Bridgwater Ma. is coming over in a little while for a small job on his coupe.
I find that sad...with our high demand for energy and unemployed oil field workers. Whats up with that?
Learn to weld, then get an engineering degree as a weld engineer if welding is what makes your gears turn. I am a hands on guy myself but knew I didn't want to be THE hands on guy so I went to college for a manufacturing engineering degree. At home I have a Tig, Mig, Lathe, Mill, Tubing Bender, Powdercoat setup, etc. Made some spare change after hours doing hands on stuff, I get a lot of respect at work and probably got this job because of my hands on skills/knowledge. I have several co workers come to me to ask questions, guys on the floor verbally tell me they respect my opinions over other "engineers" as they know and I have proven I have more battle scars than a few papercuts from an engineering book I studied and took a test on. We do have some mechanical engineers here that could cut themself out of a paper bag with a razor blade without a text book on how to do it.
i thought i wanted to weld when i got out of high school. then i went into electrical instead, im 21 and about a year and a half away from being a journeyman electrician. keep it as a hobby man, then when you have to do it at home you don't despise it (also why i dont work on cars for a living, thought about that too haha). after i'm a journeyman elec. i plan on taking some construction management courses at a community college or something, which i would recommend doing, people will always be building ****, and you'd rather be the dude in the trailer or office then out there in your bibs digging in frozen ground haha.
Welding alot without a fresh air hood is nuts, but who has them? Alot of metal work involves welding on old metal bodiies, etc. and they do fume and the weld itself fumes, even on new well prepared metal, plus your gases on top and look for a hang over type feeling each morning. I'd say learn and do for a hobby. Can't build cool car's without it. If you want to look up something, look up the hazards of welding.
Damn right welding is a good job. Things are tough in all career fields right now. It is a fact about hot dirty and cold and rough. Good welders can make a living most always. One important fact that is emerging is to keep your personal background impeccable. The twik cards now required to work around ports, refineries and other sensitive areas require avery high level of personal integrity. The better and more diversified your skills are the better your odds of getting and maintaining a job will be. Another aspect is learning to p*** weld tests. This is a difficult part of being a qualified welder and is a skill unto itself. The fact of travel is also very likely to factor into the amount off money you can earn. I recently was on a job that needed welders for a 3 month duration. the project was 6 days a week working 12 hour shifts. The welding included stick, heli arc, and automated processes on the same piping system along with structural steel welding also. These welders were earning $3,000 + per week+ benefits.This was in the south where wages tend to be substantially lower. The tests for this type project are demanding and your skills must be good. Most of these guys finished up just before Christmas and went home with a nice stash of Christmas money. Now understand that they were indeed laid off, but most have lined up jobs already. I am not saying this suites everyone but it is an interesting aspect of a welding career. It is one thing to develop these skills and quite another to get your self known to be desirable to employers. That will take time and effort on your part. Good luck in your endeavors. MickeyC
Or learn all the skills you can, and then go your own way. You may go bankrupt, but you'll never get fired or laid off when you're self employed. Gotta be nimble and flexible though. I could never work for the man. Damn the man. Wait, I am the man. Damnit!
1) i like discussing the subjects of careers and money and i've been meaning to learn welding, not nessesarily for career reasons, but just because i've always wanted to learn to weld. So let me preface my input on this topic by stating, i don't know **** about welding. 2) i stumbled upon this video while looking for something totally unrelated: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54DR...pipe welding&gclid=CI-U5MaIk58CFVFM5Qoddh8Lng i know it sounds hokey, but again i know nothing about the welding industry. 3) My other thought is Welding is SO important and i think this is a really specialized skill----most people can't and can't learn on their own. And there's no money in welding?
Started welding at 14 using stick and oxy acetelene and Loved It. Got work out of school fabricating etc. Got tired of low wages, went to college at night and became Mechanical Engineer. Now designed stuff others got the fun of welding up, but kept getting laid off ( read many examples above). Went back to college (again) for stable medical field. I now treat cancer patients with radiation therapy. Not so stable, been laid off once and earn less than engineering. My advice, see Paul Y. quote above. Learn welding, have fun, be a good person, friend, spouse. And wear a respirator! I don't want to treat you for lung cancer!
I am a 34 year old union pipefitter/welder. I have now have asthma and my gl***es get thicker every year. It is a boom or bust profession right now being a bust. I have been laid off since October with no end in sight. GO TO COLLEGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I dont think theres any job thats stable any more but a good friend of mine has a welding buiness and he is pretty busy most of the time.We does laser welding and other ***orted high tech welding.He has a hard time finding good help that will show up and stick with it.
i was ALMOST offended when i saw that news report. i never thought i could hold 2 of the worst jobs listed. but i still do have a job. for now. ironworker welder. learned to weld at 14 from one whacked out tech school teacher. dude was out of his mind when i was in his cl*** in the 90s, and he still is. he retired and opened up his business again and is doing really well. shoot me a pm if you have any questions.
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