[mateo32]

BIG "plus one" on everything Arno said!

I took the hardest route you can imagine, because I never saw myself as a welder. I'm almost completely self-taught. I did a four-year BS gig in industrial electronics. I've worked 30 jobs in eight entirely different fields. Yet it was welding I always came back to as my "go to" for a money job when some other plan didn't work.

I now work a job so rare the Department of Labor does not classify it, and am considered one of the best in the nation by my peers. Welding is a big component of this, and while the certification itself is common, few weld "beer can" thicknesses to a code (which I'll be doing in the morning).

I never knew where I wanted to go, as I never saw welding as more than my "fall-back" position.

Having an objective will clarify your path for you.

Steve S

so now i'm curious about what you do...?

[mateo32]

Hello all - I'm new to welding, having done some brazing and some stick and tig in a community education class.
I enjoyed it and would like to get certified and get an apprenticeship, preferably as a boilermaker. I have an interest in working in a shipyard. What's the best way to go about this?

There is a local school (in Vermont) that I can go to and get a few basic certs, but it's over 10 grand for a 600 hour program.
I'm tempted to take a 40 hour class, for about $1000, find a mentor,and then buy a welder and some metal and just practice.
Is this a viable route to getting certified and being eligible for an apprenticeship?

One other potential caveat: I'm 47. What effect will my age have on my getting into an apprenticeship or decent job?

Thanks for your help.

10 grand for 600 hours!? No NO NO NO don't do it. Look into the union training program first. You will get more training and on the job experience. You will spend much less than ten grand and be able to learn pipefitting/plumbing or refrigeration and work on your weld certs at the same time. You may not be interested in pipe at the moment but for me its always something new or different, much more fun and challenging than structural welding (imo). Check out http://www.ualocal693.org/training.aspx and contact them for more information maybe go check out the training center. Your age doesnt matter, let me know what you think or if you have any questions about joining a union apprenticeship and I'll give you the best answers I can based off my experience.

[hank]

Last week I went into the UA training center and applied for an apprenticeship position.
I don't feel like the interview went that well, but we'll see if I get a call.
I'm at the point now where I think I'm just going to have to get a machine, try and find a mentor, and start
going after it on my own. I think this is the only trade I've come across where it's difficult to just get into.

mateo - if I have further questions, I'll definitely hit you up.

[Wes917]

Hello all - I'm new to welding, having done some brazing and some stick and tig in a community education class.
I enjoyed it and would like to get certified and get an apprenticeship, preferably as a boilermaker. I have an interest in working in a shipyard. What's the best way to go about this?

There is a local school (in Vermont) that I can go to and get a few basic certs, but it's over 10 grand for a 600 hour program.
I'm tempted to take a 40 hour class, for about $1000, find a mentor,and then buy a welder and some metal and just practice.
Is this a viable route to getting certified and being eligible for an apprenticeship?

One other potential caveat: I'm 47. What effect will my age have on my getting into an apprenticeship or decent job?

Thanks for your help.

That's crazy, you can take a 40 hr class at Lincoln for just over $500 and they have some world class instructors. Hell there's community colleges here where a 16 week course is around $700. I'd keep looking.

[Dblcorona]

Yeah, I agree on checking out the community colleges in the area and see what they offer. We only charge $160 a credit hour. Also taking a class would really help you figure out if you REALLY like welding, and what kind of welding you prefer. I get guys that really gravitate toward the GTAW side and others really go the SMAW side.

[mateo32]

Last week I went into the UA training center and applied for an apprenticeship position.
I don't feel like the interview went that well, but we'll see if I get a call.
I'm at the point now where I think I'm just going to have to get a machine, try and find a mentor, and start
going after it on my own. I think this is the only trade I've come across where it's difficult to just get into.

mateo - if I have further questions, I'll definitely hit you up.

Well I'm glad to hear you interviewed, don't sweat it they usually put on tough interviews but they know you're applying to be an apprentice so they don't expect you to know everything. Keep that phone glued to your hip and if they call by all means answer it! They tend to move on quickly if you don't answer or promptly return their call. If you don't hear from them in what ever time frame they say that they will contact you in, by all means check back in with them. Let me know how it goes....

[Otto Nobedder]

...so now i'm curious about what you do...?

I work on liquid hydrogen tankers. The standing joke is, "It's not rocket science, it's rocket fuel..."

I do helium leak detection on vacuum-jacket vessels, and am ASME certified to make the repairs.

This is an oversimplification. My job is usually very interesting.

Steve S

[hank]

Otto - sounds fascinating.
Just out of curiosity, what was your career path like for you to end up where you are?
I'm always interested in how people come to be doing what they're doing.

[Otto Nobedder]

Otto - sounds fascinating.
Just out of curiosity, what was your career path like for you to end up where you are?
I'm always interested in how people come to be doing what they're doing.

Wow, what a question...
High-school was math/science, advanced and gifted programs. Hated it. After graduation, went to St. Louis and did carpentry with my brother. High-end stuff. $50K pool decks, remodels on $1M homes. Hated it. Went back to school (discovering too late my guidance counselor was an idiot and my ACT scores were worth a free ride if I'd gone straight to college). Studied industrial electronics for 4 years. Hated it (flourescent lights? C'mon! No one told me there was money to be made doing it in a hardhat outside.) Fixed/customized cars and bikes to help pay the way. Built limousines. Built structural steel. Worked in a plastics plant. Painted houses (again high-end, mulicolor faux-finishes in millionaire homes) Always came back to welding.

Went to Florida, and sold high-end water treatment for a year. This is when it clicked... When I realized why I'd hated everything I'd done, and stopped doing that. The sales training was the answer. I won't do sales, I actually hated that, but I finally understood why.

Dead broke in Springfield, MO, power turned off in winter, got an offer to go to IA to build a powerplant, went from broke to $2K/week, and life got better from there. Once I understood what it takes to be happy, and realized that I liked to weld, I've been climbing out of my hole ever since.

Steve S

[mateo32]

Otto - sounds fascinating.
Just out of curiosity, what was your career path like for you to end up where you are?
I'm always interested in how people come to be doing what they're doing.

Wow, what a question...
High-school was math/science, advanced and gifted programs. Hated it. After graduation, went to St. Louis and did carpentry with my brother. High-end stuff. $50K pool decks, remodels on $1M homes. Hated it. Went back to school (discovering too late my guidance counselor was an idiot and my ACT scores were worth a free ride if I'd gone straight to college). Studied industrial electronics for 4 years. Hated it (flourescent lights? C'mon! No one told me there was money to be made doing it in a hardhat outside.) Fixed/customized cars and bikes to help pay the way. Built limousines. Built structural steel. Worked in a plastics plant. Painted houses (again high-end, mulicolor faux-finishes in millionaire homes) Always came back to welding.

Went to Florida, and sold high-end water treatment for a year. This is when it clicked... When I realized why I'd hated everything I'd done, and stopped doing that. The sales training was the answer. I won't do sales, I actually hated that, but I finally understood why.

Dead broke in Springfield, MO, power turned off in winter, got an offer to go to IA to build a powerplant, went from broke to $2K/week, and life got better from there. Once I understood what it takes to be happy, and realized that I liked to weld, I've been climbing out of my hole ever since.

Steve S

Wow thats a lot of experience! Thanks for the reply! My apprenticeship is supposedly going to offer a cwi class, i'm hoping to get into it...wish me luck...