Welding Careers and You: A Perfect Union

Secure your place in history with one of many hot welding careers.

World War II ships. The Alaska Pipeline. The former World Trade Center.

Can you guess the common bond? These pieces of American history were all constructed by professionals with welding careers. Read on to find out how you can become a welder and seal your unique place in history.

Make the Career Connection
Welding is the most common way of permanently joining metal parts. When you become a welder, you'll learn how to apply heat to metal pieces, melting and fusing them to form a permanent bond. With welding training, you can work in a wide variety of manufacturing activities, such as shipbuilding, car manufacturing and repair, construction, underwater welding, and more.

As a skilled metal worker, you may perform manual welding, in which the work is entirely controlled by you, or semiautomatic welding, in which you use machinery, such as a wire feeder, to perform welding tasks.

Cement Your Commitment
Formal welding training is available in high schools, vocational schools, vocational-technical institutes, community colleges, and private welding schools.

Your welding training will likely consist of courses in blueprint reading, shop mathematics, mechanical drawing, electricity, physics, chemistry, and metallurgy. You'll also be schooled in computer applications, especially as welding machine operators are called upon more and more to program computer-controlled machines such as robots.

Once you become a welder, you may choose to earn welding credentials from the American Welding Society (AWS). In order to be certified in entry-level welding careers, you'll need to weld a test specimen according to specific codes and standards required by your employer. If you perform according to your employer's guidelines, you'll be certified to work with that particular welding procedure. Certifications offered by AWS include Certified Welder, Certified Welding Fabricator, Certified Robotic Arc Welding, Certified Welding Engineer, and more.

Get Linked for Life
Median hourly earnings of those with welding careers were $14.72 in May 2004, with the top 10 percent earning over $22.20, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Welding, soldering, and brazing workers held about 429,000 jobs in 2004. Of these jobs, more than six out of 10 were found in manufacturing. And, job prospects should be excellent for those with welding training, as employers report difficulty finding enough qualified applicants.

The construction industry in particular is expected to have solid growth over the next decade, resulting in an increased demand for welders. Government funding for shipbuilding and infrastructure repairs and improvements should also generate more opportunities in welding careers. Finally, technology is creating more uses for welding in the workplace and expanding employment opportunities and productivity.

Secure your place in history with one of many hot welding careers.

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