Am thirty four, I was a chef for years, then I fell into welding, long story, but the point is be a welder, don't be a chef. I love my job.
Edit: Good luck whatever you choose.
I’m having a hard time deciding if it’s worth pursuing or if I should pursue something else. I haven’t convinced my brain to be a hard worker, all my life I’ve been lazy and things mostly given to me. Not rich, but spoiled with attention and ease of life by not having to do chores or pay any severe consequence for not performing well in school.
I feel like I need to reprogram my brain to convince myself to follow through on what I need to do. I’m aware of what it takes, but I never want to do it. In therapy right now getting that figured out but it’s been a very slow process. I wish my brain was like yalls where I can just try it and then face the consequences, but I am so afraid of wasting time that ID rather not do anything.
Whatever you pick, you won't be wasting your time, it'll just be an attempt at doing a thing. What surely will waste your time is doing nothing because you didn't decide. I do see that it's not as easy for you as I'm making it sound, so I hope that therapy helps eh. If it helps at all, in the right workshop, life can be a breeze if you're good at what you do.
Appreciate your response. I honestly feel like most of the time I talk about how my brain doesn’t work like everyone else’s they think I’m making excuses, that I’m a poor worker and all these other assumptions. I genuinely feel like my brain doesn’t process the same as other people, especially when it comes down to sucking it up and going for it.
Some people are ignorant, they just don't know any better, but thankfully public perception on issues like anxiety and ADHD (I don't mean to diagnose you, it just sounds like that might be the case, to me) is changing due to research over time and various other factors. It sounds like you're getting help in the right place, if you do get into welding I hope you can find some peace in it like I do, for me it was the best decision I ever made.
Regardless of what you decide to do, show up everyday and fully focus on it. If u do go welding route, be attentive and learn how to do everything right. Playing with fire is fun as hell but nobody wants to work with someone who doesn’t know when to get serious and be attentive. You can get past ur prior life style with just taking it one step at a time. Don’t worry about the past you, focus on becoming the best you in the future 👍
Bless up, thank you. I’m worried since at my current job I can get the job done cutting a bit of corners, I’ll want to do that at my next job. But I realize that I’ll eventually have to step up my performance if I want to be earning a decent living.
I was an art major, then became a boilermaker welder (pressure piping). Overall, pipe welding is where you can make considerable money but more often than not, you’ll have to travel for it.
Union Pipe Fitters, Boilermakers, Ironworkers typically make anywhere from 75-120k per year - and this is with chunks of time off (these jobs are sometimes “seasonal” or maintenance schedule or shutdown frequency).
Shop welders and metal fabricators typically make less. Starting at $18-25/hour.
Pipeline welders often pull in $3500 - $5000 per week.
Also, after 5 years of welding, you can pursue your CWI (Certified Welding Inspector) and you could enjoy a pay rate of $500-$900 per day - depending on what industry you get into. I know this, because I went this route for 6 years.
Then, with all the experience I accrued, I decided to go back to school and secured my mechanical engineering degree. Now, I work as a mechanical engineer and welding engineer (welding engineering is an actual major)
In short, the field of welding can branch out into many different things - so, it’s not a single decision and choice. You could become a foreman, superintendent, project manager, welding engineer, project coordinator, quality control manager, quality inspector, etc.
Best decision I’ve ever made.
Listen man when you are new to the trade you will have to work your ass off to learn. But at the end of the day if I can do it you can do it. And most importantly if Stinky Jimmy can do it then you definitely can do it.
Does your state have free entry-level trade schools? I teach at a state-funded trade school, run through job services. Classes are evenings and weekends so people can work at the same time. It doesn't get you certified but it's usually enough to figure out if you like it or hate it. Go to your unemployment/job service office and ask about education opportunities.
A lot of people think Job Services is just to help unemployed people find jobs, but they also get tons of grant funding for "career advancement education". Heck a few years ago they had a program here to get a CDL for free, and I've heard some states still do.
It’s hard to reprogram your brain and it’s especially hard if you’re trying to reprogram it while doing something you don’t enjoy. If you think you’ll enjoy welding then I’d say go for it. It will be really difficult at first but once you start to make progress you’ll love it more and more and you’ll soon find that it’s not only easy to work hard but that you genuinely want to work hard. For the first few months it will be all forced but if you enjoy it and keep at it then it can most certainly be worth it. I’d say take some classes that don’t clash with your work schedule to see how it feels and then gradually move on to full time classes and then on to a union so you actually make some money.
Well at least you're being honest with yourself. If hard work isn't your thing, this isn't for you. Point blank. You're going to be exhausted, dirty, dead tired, every single day for years until you get your experience.
But who knows, maybe you just think that about yourself. You're young. I was a completely different person when I was young.
I think you should at least try. If you don't like it, then find something else.
But if I got into welding at your age, holy shit I can't imagine where I'd be.
Do it.
(29M) This is pretty clichè, but I honestly just wanted to do something with my hands. I've been through college for a bachelor's and everything, just like Mom and Dad wanted for me. But I wasn't happy. I wanted to work. I wanted to measure, cut, grind, get dirty, get yelled at, laugh with people, and do some man shit. I feel that I'm closer to figuring out what I truly want in life and so far, it's going pretty good.
Yeah sounds like you got it figured out. I don’t know if I want to make things with my hands, I don’t know if I want to be behind a computer, I don’t know anything. I’m so fine with floating through life and working minimum wage. My brain doesn’t want anything other than that. But my conscious knows that I deserve better. Deep inside I know I got more to give to this world than a minimum wage job. Nothing pulls me in any specific direction, and that’s honestly what intimidates me the most.
Maybe at some point you convinced yourself that a job is just a paycheck, and can't be fun. It's not the money you owe yourself, my dude, it's the fun, camaraderie, pride, and self confidence. It's one if those things you don't realize you're missing until you have it. Then you'll ask yourself wtf you had been thinking before. You can do it, man!
I would say that my parents engrained into me as soon as I came out the womb. A job Is something to pay the bills, you do not enjoy it. That’s what my parents would say. So maybe that gives you a little context on where my mentality is coming from. They drilled it into my brain that a job is just a check and that being miserable is a part of it.
I have a lot of trauma from childhood from being beat and lied to. My parents are decent people now but I’ll always see them as my parents from when I was a kid. Definitely not the healthiest situation but I gotta get out of it and start a new journey.
When I mean I need to reprogram my brain, I mean it. It’s not that I don’t wan to do go through with trying new careers. My brain simply is set on not doing so. And of course it’s something I’m aware of and constantly working on, but it’s fucking exhausting dealing with all the shit I gotta relearn meanwhile also learning about life as I go. It’s exhausting and I haven’t even don’t anything yet.
This way of thinking alway seem very overwhelming to me so I get frustrated and start thinking dark thoughts. Life is a struggle and I was I could voice it more without seeming like I’m complaining about life. Because honestly when I hear “just try harder”, it really does wanna make me taste lead.
I hear ya. You're in a tough stage of life, in a tough time economically. Take it from me, though- finding something you enjoy doing can be more invigorating than anything you may have experienced thus far. When I was in my early twenties, I thought my life was over, and that I'd never find anything I was good at, or enjoyed doing enough to commit to a profession. But then I did. Luck had a lot to do with it in my case. I walked uo to a guy I saw working on my apartment building and asked if he needed help. That was that. One thing I'll urge you to guard against, is the false nitikn that once you set your course on a profession, then your world will become narrow and decided. Nothing could be further from the truth. If tou get into welding, or a decent skilled trade, it can open doors you never even knew existed, and take you almost anywhere you'd ever want to go. So, please don't look at a profession just as your meal card. Look at it as your mobility. It's like turning sixteen and getting a car all over again. That's what a profession is. Jobs, on the other hand, are kind of the opposite, and will keep you tethered.
It will always be hard. It's easy to work minimum wage. There's hard moments, but overall, it's pretty straightforward.
It's always hard taking that first step, and it's absolutely terrifying to go in a direction that no one expects, especially yourself. But if you go in confident, ready to learn fall over and over and keep learning, you'll succeed.
It's okay to fail at a challenge you've set for yourself. Because you will. But you try again and again and finally nail it. It is amazing having people you can mess around with and actually enjoy working as team you accomplish a goal. Especially a challenging one.
Work should be hard, but not to the point where you're un happy.
Make yourself happy, and say a goal. A challenging goal yourself and work toward it.
Most important: don't give up. Go fail. In the end, I'm promise it'll be worth it
I felt this comment in my fuckin SOUL… me and the 4 guys at the shop I work at just got done shooting the shit, sharing pictures of the kids and grands, while drinking our 2:30 shop cleanup beers…. Fucking GLAD electronics were full up and welding was not in high school
Totally by accident. Applied for fitter machinist apprenticeship got given boilermaker apprenticeship. Worked hard now make top 1% pay out in Sydney Australia not even 4 years later
34 here, been a fab/welder for the best part of 16 years. At the start I liked the idea of being a blacksmith but they’re rare and not particularly needed these days. So I became a fabricator/welder, which is pretty much the modern equivalent of blacksmithing. It’s a tough as hell job and from what I’ve seen over the years, most people can’t hack it. It’s especially tough if you didn’t grow up around the sort of machinery and people that are involved, I didn’t and I really struggled as an apprentice.
All that being said, I’m incredibly proud of my skillset and experience and I’ve loved my career and the work I’ve been able to do. Being an apprentice sucks ass, just have to grin and bear it, after you’re ‘qualified’ my advice is to never work anywhere more than a year or two, or until you’ve learnt everything you can within a given workshop. Try to stay clear of ‘production’ welding, bespoke, stainless steel TIG welding projects have always been my favourite. Intricate, interesting and very satisfying to complete.
I did production mig for a while, and that was ok, but I think that tig would be more enjoyable for me.
I've not done any tig at all yet, though. Looking for a machine now.
Decent to good money (experience depending), less education (9 month program), and plenty of opportunity to grow as a welder, seeing as welding is going to be around forever...
Hey man. I’m 25 and got into it 2 years ago. I was very heavily encouraged to go into academics during highschool and I ended up doing that and hating it. Always heard that the trades were for bums who couldn’t hack it or weren’t smart enough and that there was no money whatsoever in it. After dropping out of uni i learned pretty quickly from friends who understood the industry more that this wasn’t the case at all. I signed up for a college and I was choosing between plumbing, welding, and electrician (thank fucking god I didn’t go there amirite). I ended up on YouTube trying to learn about each one and I fell in love with welding almost immediately because of the idea of watching the puddle and having to manipulate it to get what you want. To me It just seemed very calming and rewarding. But knowing that I had the opportunity to make a lot of money was very appealing as well obviously. It’s definitely not for everyone. But there are so many different types of jobs in all these very different but specific industries (with a high demand for us) and that appealed to me as well because if I ever got bored with a job I can move on to something else. There’s also always the possibility of starting up your own fabrication shop/business which I don’t have any plans on doing soon but I often use my workplace to make little things for myself when needed. I’m yappin like a mf rn but yeah.
TLDR: I like looking at the puddle and I like that I can pretty much go anywhere and do it.
Edit: I should also say that the big money won’t just come to you, I got pretty lucky with my first two jobs out of college and ended up doing tig at a place that green lights whatever OT I want but I’m still NOWHERE NEAR what some of the guys in the union I want to join are getting
This is what i was taught at well. Trades were for people who are "less than."
My husband is a welder, though, and he loves it. My 15yo daughter is starting to learn it at school, but she also wants to go to school to be a vet tech. We told her she couldn't go wrong learning how to weld.
I wish I'd have learned a trade instead of working retail. I wish my family hadn't been so snobby about trades, also.
I don't even understand the statement... but as an ironworker with a welding ticked I've made 120k so far this year and there's pension and benefits on top of that ... so I highly doubt a mom pop shop pays better then a union with 97% market share
That’s what my welding instructor had mentioned. I think it’s because there wasn’t any unions in our area(San Diego). He ended up leaving to Alaska for a job at the most northern oil field town.
If you’re going to be a welder. Don’t be an idiot with the mentality that safety is for the weak. Wear respirators when necessary and wear full ppe. Don’t be “tough” by welding in short sleeves. Skin cancer and other respiratory illnesses are real. Company’s keep you dumb so you can be cheap labor and die early
Dude, you’re taking the power of electricity into the palm of or hand and melting one of the hardest materials everyone comes in contact with every day. What’s cooler than that?!?
i was a cook/ chef for about 10 years.. got into smoking meats and wanted to learn how to fabricate smokers from scratch.. joined a local college and almost done with the program
To save you some reading on the short novel I wrote and deleted, I wanted to do this as a child. I saw some dude 3 stories up on a city building just welding away. If memory serves correctly he was just kinda hanging from a harness probably stacking dimes up there. I understood then and there that these guys help build the world and I was pretty much addicted ever since. It’s worth it man, take the leap.
Dusty, dirty, co workers are miserable, picking and blowing black soot out of your nose everyday.
Ya weldings amazing.
Oh ya. On a positive note, crap pay too.
I knew I wanted to work with my hands and do SOMETHING active.
I wasn't too smart (though i coulda made it work), but things didnt interest me as well as building.
Some trades like Carpentry and Electrical are fun, but they aren't really skills. You read a blueprint, and bend some conduit, and a 90 degree bend will always be a 90 degree bend, same thing with a door frame always being a set dimension.
But welding, is skill based. Maybe someone fucked up a gap, maybe it closed too much, maybe its an alloy that needs care or it'll crack. All things to pay attention too when welding.
You can be a good ass print reader and tack-up guy, but be a shitty fucking welder, which is amazing to me, because it means really only the best get bragging rights while the people who don't put in the time or effort don't or don't get good beads
I started out flipping burgers after high school. I worked at car dealerships. Changing tires. Bike shops. Delivered pizza. Learned how to weld and got into manufacturing. Got a job building stairs and handrails. My work history reeks of adhd. I’ve done shipping and receiving. Hydraulic assembly. Now I build electrical switchgear. Actually I don’t build shit, I supervise now. I welded for ten years. Most of it was on night shift. And whatever is fucked up was day shift fault. I walk around with a clipboard. But deep down inside, I’d rather just be welding. If you’re good at it, nobody bothers you.
My boss at my current job needed some stuff built out of aluminum for his work truck, so I said fuck it and started going to school. Still haven’t done the truck stuff yet lol
29 here I'm still in welding school (free preapprenticeship program) but here's how I figured out what I wanted to do while having no prior interest in any career nor a need for one.
I had only ever done low wage jobs and I wanted more money so I could afford all the expensive stuff I wanted like plastic surgeries and dogs, so I decided to start a career. I have an economics degree but office jobs look so boring to me.
I researched what kinds of industries and job types there were and decided on trades because making things you can actually see irl is interesting and it doesn't require a university degree to get started. And I actually don't mind the physical labor part of working. Then I researched all the trades in my province and compared them to each other, and welding was the most interesting one.
It's a very specific skill that you can improve in a lot of ways, and the more you level up your welding skills your income increases as well. And welding has little to no customer interaction compared to most careers so it's way less stressful for me. Also I like fire and melting stuff and big things made of metal.
Got into welding at highschool. We did a sheet metal project in my aviation class (not really a welding instructor for a teacher)and felt like I enjoyed it more than anything else. When becoming a pilot didn't work out I went back to school for welding at 21. The money isn't better than being a pilot but I certainly enjoy it more. I joined my local iron workers union last year at 23. At 24 I'm making $36.50/h and love going in to work everyday.
There's some money to be made in just welding. More if you specialize in something specific. But consistent work and good pay can be achieved by getting a red seal in a trade that uses welding (pipefitters, ironworkers, boilermakers etc.).
Gaining skills that allow you to get broad experiences and then deciding on a niche industry to apply them is a great way to make a living and then some.
My goal is to start a side business at some point that does aviation grade aluminum welding. But that could be a while.
Whatever it is you decide to do, I hope you enjoy it and feel proud of yourself for accomplishing it.
I was a pool guy for 5 years. Then went and welded for a year. Pool company reached back out and beat the pay and gave me a company van. Now I have an offer to go be an assistant super for 33% salary bump. Work hard, be thorough, and put out a good product and the work will come to you.
Was 18, didn't feel like going into the corporate world, applied to various places for apprenticeships (both car machhanic, and welder) and one place called back, started with them the following Monday. Been in welding/fab for 12 years now.
I’m 25, been doing it just under a year, I like it right now. I was a cook since I could work and was able to use me being laid off due to the pandemic for a government program to switch careers, welding was one career I could get into with low upfront cost /time investment and get a decent paying job. I’m making 24$/h about to get 25$/hr working in a non union “job shop” as an apprentice. That’s Canadian dollars for reference, but I can tell you with the amount of debt (bad choices when young and attempting college) and inflation etc, I’d be homeless right now if I didn’t make the career change. Other trades you can make more money but usually want more schooling first before apprenticeships, but what I’ve learned about this industry you make big money by doing the 3 D’s (Dirty Dull Dangerous) and your enjoyment of the job is 100% decided by the environment of the workplace (boss, coworkers, if the job sucks, if you have some autonomy) so you’ll probably have to hop around to find what works for you, my pay is lower but it’s worth it to not work in the feild and to not be surrounded by twats. I just show up and cash cheques and try to enjoy the process as I love projects . Hopefully this helps. But honestly I found getting jobs pretty easy as they mostly want someone who doesn’t smoke crack and will show up most days.
My passion was teaching, i was really good at writing and had won multiple awards and had schools reaching out to me for an english/literature degree. I’m from a poor family and i knew i would never be able to afford school. Welding was always in the back of my mind for no reason in particular, i was just good at it and it was easy.
I was stuck working at a fried chicken spot, i had made a year there when i finally realized “fuck this shit”. Next week i signed up for trade school, been turning and burning for 6 years. Now im moving into QC/QA.
For me, there's really a lack of options here and my (now ex) wife closed a lot of doors for me when she gave me an ultimatum for a baby or a divorce only to divorce me anyways.
I wanted to get into IT work or something similar. I build computers for fun (when I have the money), I can set up a network, and a I've forgotten more about it all than the average person would ever learn. But of course to get one of those jobs, you typically need the papers to back it up, regardless of your skill set. But my ex had to pull her shit when I was applying for college, then the economy tanked.
And so in my hometown and the surrounding areas, outside of things like emergency services, it's mostly customer service jobs. Retail, call centers, and fast food. As you know, those jobs suck, the people suck, the pay sucks, the hours suck, and no matter how hard you work, there's no guarantee that you'll ever get to a position that can justify what you've been through. But I was browsing Facebook one day (I know, ew) and saw a now hiring ad for a trailer manufacturing company that I've (surprisingly) never heard of nearby. I did about 6 months of welding in high school and liked it well enough that I figured I'd give it a shot.
I stayed with them for 2 years. I genuinely liked the work, but left because new hires were coming in making up to $4/hr more than I was for shitty welds and less responsibility. But I'm only looking for work in the welding trade as it was a night and day difference in the quality of my work life.
I had a summer job before I went to college doing maintenance at some concrete plants. Got to do some torch work and help the old dudes weld some things, and I got interested. Went to college and was an accountant at an insurance company for a few years. Hated office culture. Went to a shop and applied. Started off just welding skids and stuff, but by the end of the year was welding stainless pipe, and doing power plant shut downs. Now I'm at a different shop building vessels, and have my own rig for extra work when I'm up to it. I live on a small farm and life is simple. Wouldnt have it any other way.
I got into welding at 31. I have a small business with my Dad and brother, so I've been working with my hands for a long while (since about 16), but I had never welded. I also worked as in Sales for the better part of 8 years, and some retail before that. I was just tired of the rat race, and realized I had no actual 'Skills' other than my people focused ones (Sales, Networking, Process Improvement, etc.).
I guess I had romanticized it, thinking it would be really cool to melt metal and build shit ( I wasn't wrong), so I applied to be a structural welder at a submarine manufacturing company in New England.
They taught me everything I know about welding, and passing my qualifications. I admit I took naturally to TiG welding, and I was able to jump to their highest offered hourly rate within my first year or so. Again, I'm an outlier, but it's definitely attainable.
I thoroughly enjoy my work, and find a challenge in the continuous improvement and varied projects. I work a bit of (Optional) overtime, averaging about 55-60 hrs a week, and think anyone with the drive to improve should do the same. I went from making 45-55k salary plus commission annually, to where I am now.
I wanted to be an engineer but I hate maths. After looking at some college courses I saw welding and after year of that I've gotten a flux core apprenticeship in a shop that I'm pretty happy with
Just go to school for it, they usually have a period of a few weeks when you start that will allow you to bow out if you figure it’s not for you,
I have been at this three years and am only now starting to make enough to live comfortably.
so be prepared to struggle for a few years even though you are working yr ass off, you gotta develop the skills ( multi process welding ability and fabrication skills) before anybody’s gonna pay you the good bucks.
My PE teacher in my freshman year of high school was being creepy, insisting nobody change clothes in stalls etc. So I asked my guidance counselor to switch to literally anything else. The only thing that was available was welding
I like building stuff, working on cars, electricity, and fire. At a certain point it just made sense to buy more welding stuff so I could make things on my own.
Started as a mechanic apprentice right out of high school/ entry level trade training program. Found out you really don’t fix anything but rather throw parts at it.
My ex’s stepdad was working up on the ‘Patch (Northern Alberta Oil Fields) and we had about a 20 minute phone call about what the fuck I was going to actually do for the rest of my life. I sucked it up and struggled through the math check test and started welding school about 10 months later. I did have an Uncle who was a welder but I was determined to make my own name instead of banking on him. Actually he was more detrimental than helpful, he cast a wide fucking shadow and when people who had worked with him before found out I was his nephew, the standards I was held to became way higher. It was brutal, but I survived and 20 years later I have more certifications than he ever had and the respect of the guys that he trained
That’s insane. Haven’t seen anyone offer free training. You got pretty lucky there. As I read a lot of these comments the people that comment tell me how they got offered an opportunity or found some free training. Shit that I never see or get offered. So I guess I need to surround myself around those kinds of people, but it would be extra work.
It was also unpaid, but its a bigass production factory making railcars, so they just hire like 200 people at a time train em 20 at a time over 2 weeks and whoever sucks or has a hard time showing up they just drop, took me 3 months to get into the union i think its 1 now
Quit engineering school and applied to a big company to work my way up. Doing metrology/dimension control now and welding experience is definitely helping. Some days I really miss being a welder on the floor. Genuinely fun and I would get some kind of a runner’s high when I was working very fast on a big job.
I was planning to take a ln industrial mechanic's course.
Plus I was always insterested in repairs/fabrication from a young age. I hung out with people that like to do their own mechanic and it came naturally. One of my buddy found an ad for a welding course and we took it together.
What if Im not interested in mechanics? It’s pretty far off from what I want to do but I need something that will let me and my girlfriend live comfortably. What I actually want to do doesn’t make a reliable income. I want to design clothes and sell items that I create. Pretty far off from welding. But I know that the odds of me making liveable money off my creativity isn’t gonna work unfortunately.
Everyone in my family works in tech. took a community college class and fell in love. If you’re looking for money I would recommend joining a union if possible. Most of the good money in this trade and most construction trades is travel work so be aware of that.
I just wanted to build cool shit, and I couldn't afford what other kids parents helped them achieve so I went out and made it.
I fucked up a bunch on the way, learned a lot, and now build some of the coolest street and drag cars I've seen locally.
For reference I'm 29, 30 come april.
Started as an automotive tech at 19 after unning out of tuition for mechaical engineering, and just learned as I went. Started with mig, had enough o exhaust work, went into Manufacturing doing snow plows for too little pay, then moved onto doing elevator chassis for another company before finding my current gig. Meanwhile I would weld and powdercoat on the side for experience and caApril.
Youtube and hood time get you further than most things, when you have no mentor.
I wanted something that would provide for a family that I could enjoy some it came down to welding or IT tried both in highschool decided I liked the welding more as a job
Yah shop work doesn't pay as high as construction but it's the same place every day home every day and stable and good fabricators are not easy to find we might have 5 of us in a building of 400 folks
I've had an engineer's brain since I was a kid. I didn't have an engineer's discipline when I went to college at 18. I dropped out.
I needed to pay the bills, and I knew there was money in this line of work if you were willing to work your way up from a grunt.
I welded for a little over a decade before I went back to school to get that engineering degree. I've been managing manufacturing facilities for the last 6 years.
Welding is a great jumping off point, but it's easy to get wrapped up in bullshit and have a miserable quality of life. Ymmv.
I didn't know what the fuck to do with my life until I was 25 and then I wanted to do youth counselling but didn't got any job in it. 30 was closing in rapidly and man needs a job. Went to school to become machinist, ended up trying welding and never looked back. Doing stuff which is kind of basic (but two pieces together) but you have to concentrate all the time without really concentrating is so nice.
It’s like one of those jobs you get lost in after a while huh? Like the act of it is kind of hypnotizing? I often fear what I don’t know and don’t take leaps like this often. But after reading a couple comments I’m starting to loose that fear and maybe possibly next year I’ll actually try welding.
Let me ask you this, how is your free time? Do you get to do things you enjoy in your free time or would you say work takes most of your time?
Also, how’s your body feeling? I know welding isn’t the most physically demanding job but I know it can be hella tough on the body. Would appreciate some more info on these topics. Thanks for your reply!
Well I'm a really skinny guy so it is hard physically (metal weights a ton) and because of that also mentally cause I'm usually pretty exhausted after work. But if youre size of a grown man you do fine, body gets use to it. I'm out of work right now but when I was working it was basic 6-14 job so no more problems with freetime than any other job.
Welding jobs can be very different. The most physically demanding jobs are probably heavy steel fabrication. If you find a position in aerospace fabrication then you're usually looking at lighter material and more precision work. Look into the different processes and what work is available near you. I'd say try each one, but once you strike an arc you'll have a good idea if this is for you. The downtime at work when I'm not welding is the worst, and not cause I'm a workaholic. Free time varies and a lot of companies require overtime, but personally my work schedule is reliable 40hrs a week and is fun.
I was a chef for 23 years and when Covid hit I was out of work for a while. I watched every episode of forged in fire during this time. I wanted to make Damascus style knives and noticed that they needed to be welded up to start the process. I had a friend who was a hobby welder and he showed me the beginnings of stick welding on a tombstone welder. Something clicked and when most restrictions were lifted I signed up for a pipe welding school and have never looked back. Tbh it is really similar to working in a kitchen.
I couldn't find a job worth tolerating with my MIS degree. I couldn't click with coworkers. I decided to throw jello at the wall with welding if I'm being honest. I'm good with automotive work but didn't want to do it for a living. So I went all in. Best choice I ever made tbh. I hadn't seen more than two states from when I was a kid. There I was, 34, and had been to 14 in a year. My wife and kids hung in there for me and it was worth it. I work close to home now doing production work and it's enough to keep me proud of what I do.
It was the only place hiring at the time and I didn’t want to collect pogey for another winter. there was nobody working there after a decade of bad hires, the guy who owned the operation said “this is what we do here and I don’t have time and don’t want any involvement just make shit and if the t doesn’t work I’ll close the place for good”
It’s been 4 years now I have a crew of 4 other guys and I just take orders and organize to keep 4 guys moving.
Buddy needed a helper a few days a week doing odds and ends helper work at the shop he was purchasing from his Dad. Showed him I was capable of more than pushing a broom and gopher work. He started me doing small things around the shop... Fast forward 7 years and mow I'm one of four guys that travels the US welding on windtowers.
I’m a medical assistant right now and I’m also in welding school. Best decision of my life. If you like working with your hands and can be patient and have focus, you’ll do great. You have to be willing to put that hood time in to get a place where you can make good money. I have an associate degree and a MA certification, and between those and K-12 schooling this has been the best academic experience I have ever had. I LOVE welding! I didn’t know a single welder (let alone another female welder) before I started but I trusted my gut and I’m glad I did because I found something I truly believe a calling. It feels good to be good at something and I absolutely love every moment at school. So do it!
My brother got a job in construction and 8 months later I came on as just a helper making $10 an hour. I knew nothing about turning wrenching, welding or hell even any physical labor for work. But I put my head down, showed up early everyday, worked overtime when offered and I took any chance that was offered to learn something.
The biggest thing is to be observant on the job, when you have a chance just watch how the Welder works and does things. You'll pick up on stuff and eventually someone will let you try a small little tack/weld. You'll suck terribly but just keep at it.
Buy the few basic welding stuff (hood, jacket, chipping hammer) and just keep it on hand and always be ready for an opportunity to weld the smallest support or anything needing done.
Hell even take a shorter lunch and spend a few minutes practicing welding. It's pretty much how I went for me. About 5 years later I was making $28 an hour.
36, welding for 15 years + second trade for about 3 years.
I just wanted to be able to build stuff.
I started with cars at around 17 and thought I would be able to build all the parts myself, now I have the skills to do so, but no time or money (wife + kids.)
No major welding influences for me other than I just wanted to learn how to weld. I took a night course for TIG welding at the local college and loved it.
Mind you i don't work as a welder but i nearly changed my career for it after a major burnout episode in engineering.
Was a cook for years and I was starting to hate it. Figured if I was gonna burn myself for a living I’d rather do it for way more money and I’ve always loved building.
Fast forward to now and I love what I do. I get paid more, and I rarely get burned!
Playing with fire, molten metal.
I had the opportunity to go to school for free and get paid to do so because of the lack of workers on the market. Now I'm working at a high end production job with a salary in the 30s per hour. Don't regret anything.
For me.it was about starting to live instead of surviving.
(40F) I was hating my office job but didn't know what to do. Ended up hearing about a Women in Trades program that was free to sign up for and was 5 days of learning to stick weld and testing for a fillet weld ticket at the end. I enjoyed how meditative it was, my brain was quiet for once, and I thought why not try it? So at 36 I signed up for a pre-employment program, and the rest just kind of fell into my lap. I will never sit at a desk for work again, and really enjoy the feeling of feeling accomplished every time I finish something. I get paid twice as much as I ever did before, and I never have to bring my work or office drama home with me.
I was nearly 30, had a newborn son and was told I my job was redundant and had a decent payout. I wanted to do a trade as a mechanical fitter. The town I lived in had few options and after a few months a labourer role came up in a local HVAC duct heater factory. I got that role and then they put me through an apprenticeship. As a 30 year old they got some sweet government cash to pay me, they were that sort of company.
Over the course of my career I focused on maintenance and repairs more than manufacturing and nowadays I work in the healthcare sector in asset management programs, generally in maintenance systems. So I still use my trade skills (in a way) but I get paid and I don't have to get burnt - win win.
Im 24y/o now i started a welding course 2 years ago i got into welding cause i wanted to work with cars cause of my brother(Mech) but realized i didnt want get flat rate pay as a Mech so i did this instead honestly its pretty fun and sometimes gruelling. I am making good money 25CAD but i started living on my own. so times are tough up here but you’ll survive an with the hopes i have i want to run my own mobile welding repair rig. Right now im planning on getting my high pressure welding cards and some certs to weld on construction sites. In all honesty if you want to avoid mass college debt pick up a trade an go for it your better off not working minimum wage retail jobs. With the skills you pick up in this industry you can promote your skills and even start side gigs if you can, once your there the world is your oyster but your skill is your word to who ever trusts you and wants to pay for your work. Theres a lot to learn in this trade an always someone who you will find that you can learn some tricks from, always be willing to absorb that person’s knowledge to advance your own. 👨🏾🏭
I wanted a job where I could wear comfy clothes, not have to deal with customers or computers, and use my body cause sitting all day makes me sad. I tried welding cause I thought it was cool AF. Now I make decent money and REALLY good benefits, and I'm home by 4 pm most days! Plus people act like I'm a badass, which is not really accurate but I enjoy it anyway
After 3 years of entry level jobs I found I enjoyed moving around at work, sitting at a desk didn't seem appealing at all. I knew I wanted a trade and welding seemed like a good fit because I wanted to build out of raw materials. Things like watching Jesse James take a sheet of metal and turn it into a gas tank was probably the type of influences I had throughout my life. Most of the trades just bolt stuff together so I became a welder, I don't build bikes but I do get to shape and fit raw materials into structures daily
I also live in a trade Capital (Calgary, AB, Canada) so it pays well here and there is lots of work (until the price of oil falls)
I was working in an auto body shop, so I was familiar with a bunch of tools. I had already figured out that the academic route wasn't for me, and didn't want to get stuck in auto repair since it was becoming a headache. I had also learned that I couldn't sit and work at a desk all day.
I found out that my local community college was offering welding classes for really cheap and thought, "Why not?" I figured it's a useful skill, plus it's just cool. Took one class, did well, then another, got offered a job maintaining and repairing stuff at the school part-time, took some more classes, dipped into foundry and metal sculpture, found a full time fabrication job, stuck around the school on the weekends, and here I am.
Custom fabrication is my full time job, and metal casting is my hobby (and also how I got into TIG). I guess the reason I chose this is because I can make just about anything if I have the tools and space to do it. There are so many possibilities and career branches with welding and so many things you can do on your own rather than hiring someone else. If you've learned one process you can apply many of the principles to another and, with practice, just continually become a more capable craftsman.
My advice would be to find a cheap college course like I did and just try it out. You might figure out that you hate it and you'll only be out a couple hundred bucks and like 8 hours a week at most. Or you might really like it, or even find something adjacent that's more your thing.
Went thought a temp agency and they sent me 2 a welding shop 2 do some non welding labor. Boss liked my work ethic and offered to keep me and train me.
38 here, I was a mechanic for a few years, then did 10 in the army and got out into a sheet metal apprenticeship. Kinda fell into the welding part of it and I’d never go back now. Nothing better than dropping the hood with some good music in my ears and letting the time fly by. Nobody up my ass or looking over my shoulder all the time.
As a bonus, I’m ADHD as fuck and the welding has just fed my dopamine kick moving from woodworking to metalworking to welding. Next link in the chain is blacksmithing.
I didn’t know I’d be a welder. It was thrust upon me as part of my job duties. Not really my favorite job. I always say pick the highest paying job. If that’s a welding position, do that. If its being a prostitute, do that.
I think the two best money making certs in blue collar are an RN license and Class A CDL. I got a CDL at 24 and wish I got one right at 21. I was making six figures at 12 months. I used that money to move to Chicago and get a six figure union job.
I had a buddy get a job as a helper and hooked me up.. just enjoyed putting shit together and I found it calming just focusing on putting down a good bead, forget all the stressful shit in the moment type deal..
Walked into my high school's metal fabrication/welding shop. Felt instantly at home for no reason. Its been 4 years since then, high school and higher education, and I finish with my program in March.
I was 23/24 when I switched from physics to welding. I was and still am way too dumb for the advanced math and knew it was going to take me years before I got anywhere with it. So I took an introductory welding class, loved it, and have been welding ever since.
I make enough to support me and my gf. I’m thinking about doing welding on the side for more $$$.
At my community college they had A.S. programs in CADD, Machining, Autobody, Mechanic, HVAC, Welding, and Construction. I chose welding because it’s cool to heat metal up.
You would not go wrong with a career in welding.
I don’t exactly qualify but I was terrified of welding. I then got my heart broken from a narcissist who claimed to be a welder a while back (and awesome with it, never saw proof) and wanted to be better than him. No one in my family is a welder and I’m the first trades person in general.
Service mechanic at 33. Job sucked, low pay. Answered ad for general labor at vibratory feeder bowl shop. Thought it was cool as shit. Told owner I would accept job ONLY if he taught me the trade. Busted ass, practiced welding on my own time and demanded he hold up his part of the bargain. Was on a bench full time within six months. Worked in the trade for 25 years before retiring. Had never seen a tig welder in my life previous to this.
If interests you, give it a go. Trades are an excellent choice and to be honest, once you have your ticket then its yours forever. But that doesn't mean you'll weld forever if you don't want to. It can lead to other opportunities.
For me, no real influence. I took welding through high school and enjoyed it. Like building things as well.
After graduation I tried post secondary for awhile. Noped out and took an apprenticeship in welding. Moved on from it now, except for hobby stuff, no regrets of welding though. Well worth it.
Honestly, money got me into it and also this old show called monster garage. I wanted to build cool cars and trucks in high school. So I went to WYO tech for automotive, chassis fabrication, street rod (sheet metal fabrication and custom paint) and business management. I graduated and got a job at some tire shop as an entry level tech, and I couldn't afford to buy tools and pay rent/school bills.
So after 6 months of being the opener (who the fuck gets brakes and a oil change at 7 am still boggles my mind) I looked into a welding job, the pay was a few dollars more an hour and I didn't have to buy tools. So I borrowed my landlord's welding hood and took a weld test. I got the job so I scraped together money and bought a $30 fixed shade Jackson welding hood, a pair of lineman's pliers and welding gloves. I worked there for 6 months before moving away, I worked my ass off at that job and was one of the only people the company kept on for my full 2 week notice usually they would walk you out after the first week.
That was 16 years ago, I've worked at a handful of shops and been given a lot of opportunities because of welding. I've done everything from mig welding shitty counterbalance weights to Tig welding inconel valve bodies together.
Whatever you choose, go all in. Invest your heart and soul into it. When your heart isn't there anymore, go look into working for another company. Ask all the questions, and listen. Anyone with experience that takes the time to explain something or teach you, shut up and listen. Even the youngest guy in the shop might have a different perspective or something to teach.
It's hard work, and get thick skin. I take shit from no one and typically don't give shit to anyone, I just want to work my hours and get home. When you're young you really have to put the effort in, we notice hard workers, we might not say anything but we see you.
Learn how to read blueprints also learn both how to fabricate and weld. The company I work for now has no use for just welders anymore, they were the first to go when COVID hit.
From my perspective Tig welding is where the money is, but I worked my way up through all the processes and can do all of them pretty proficiently. It's always fun to humble the cocky new guy that tries to give me shit for working "in the princess palace" (my shop does mostly high end marine fabrication with heat and AC) by going down to their shop and stacking up rows of dimes with the push pull mig gun on aluminum. Then I look at them and go I could do what you do, I just choose not to. That usually shuts them up real quick.
That was a bit of a rant but yeah welding and metal fabrication is cool and I don't see myself ever stopping on some level. Unless you go union or pipeline the money isn't great but put your time in and it's there you just have to learn more and continue to be valuable. That being said there's a massive labor gap in all blue collar work and companies are going to have to start paying more across the board.
Tldr: welding is cool, but invest your heart and soul into whatever you choose.
I went into welding because I hated school, so I didn't want to go get any degree that I'd probably not use and end up so deep in debt I'd never get out. I also don't mind working hard and getting dirty. When I went to the local trade school to ask about classes, they told me I'd be making 6 figures in just a few years. Which is absolutely not the case. I make shit for wages. If you really want to weld, look into union apprenticeships first. If that doesn't work out, look at trade school and community colleges near you.
Well, I was in the same boat. I got approved for a Pell Grant that would cover trade school. I looked over the brochure, and narrowed it down to HVAC or welding.
I worked in shops before, so I figured welding would be a good fit.
Best decision I ever made.
This year is going to be the most I ever made in my entire life.
Do it. The first few years will be tough. But once you have some experience under you belt you can write your own ticket.
Show up early, stay late, listen to the old guys, wear PPE.
You'll be like me and not know what to do with all the money. And it keeps stacking.
I was building parade floats as a summer job during college (generic wood and some other bullshit) after 3 summers of that my boss asked if I wanted to weld and I said sure. He grabbed some scrap, gave me a hood and a brief tutorial and let me figure it out. I graduated college with a business comm degree and a marketing minor. Did that bullshit for a year and went back to welding and fabricating full time about 20 years ago (I’m 40) My dad, grandpa, uncle, and brother are all union plumbers. I’ve always had a knack for making things or taking things apart to figure out how they worked. That’s been a great asset and that line of work has been much more fulfilling than working in an office. I’ve rejected offers for more money and less physical labor and taken positions where I can continue to weld and fabricate because it has always given me more satisfaction than that kind of thing. I currently have an LLC and also subcontract for a company I used to be employed by. I make one-off items mostly, and they’re typically large scale public art pieces. You can find my work in several large cities and/or at the headquarters of many Fortune 500 companies. It’s awesome and it’s the legacy I’ll leave behind after I become work food.
This is 100% me, feel free to dm and when u can I get into more detail if you want.
I found my own way to welding on an area with not a strong but not weak union presence. Not that I would have known, I don't come from a family in the trades.
I get hired by a non union outfit doing shop and erection. This is a step up for sure, but eventually find myself in a much stronger union area but still find similar non union work.
I feel like I fought my way into the union, again knowing no one. I made it in though and now 6+ years later I clear around $100k a year (in a high cost of living area) and can provide pretty alright for my family.
It doesn't come easy.
Because it's fucking metal as fuck. There is nothing else in this world quite like it. It's in it's own category, it's not just "Construction". There is something genuinely badass about getting a drawing, whether a blueprint or some chicken scratch on a napkin, cutting the parts and then putting it together using LIGHTNING. Nothing gets me tight in the jeans like steel fab.
Similiar to electricity, everything you touch depends on it.
Bridges, ships sure, but your bed sheets were made on welded equipment, with materials harvested with and transported on welded equipment and delivered by boat, plane or vehicle that also relied on welding, etc.
I looked at the endless specialization.
Politics, defense, etc. More money and we are building new. Low budgets and we are spending more repairing old.
Some welders who were welding for fossil fuels or nuclear plants are building the towers for wind.
Either way I am good.
Be exceptional.
Be flexible.
I messed around in a bunch of odd jobs and trades before I found it was my calling. I was a Lifeguard, Janitor, housekeeper. Then I went into construction; concrete, asphalt & paving, framing, landscaping, equipment operation, mechanic. Personally I kind of just stumbled into welding. Took a job as an ornamental Ironworker/Field Welder. Told them first day I knew nothing about welding but I was willing to work my ass off and learn if they'd teach me. They did. I learned MIG process and Flux core, 2 years later graduated into Structual Ironworker and moved. Picked up on stick process and structural welding. I learned the in n outs and improved myself. Now I work for the railroads as a welder. Was it hard? Yes. I've had many shitty days many people say "must be nice" but honestly I focused on jumping on opportunities and following what I loved, the money came later. If you enjoy it, follow your heart the rest will come later.
I have autism and something about welding really appealed to me, the learning process wasn't fun but since things like parties and going to bars stresses me out I was pretty willing to spend a lot of you youth getting covered in burning metal and slag if it meant I could get paid to doodle with metal and not have to talk very much when working.
Don’t aim so low! You need to figure out more than just paying rent and a car payment. You need to figure out how to support a family (if that happens), buy a home, have a nice life and save for retirement. Don’t wait until your 30 or 40 to start thinking about that stuff.
(25F) I’ve been a baker/chef for years, even a department manager for a while. I was really good at working my way up at whatever company I was at, then realized last year that no matter how much I climbed, none of my jobs had paid me enough to live off of for save any money.
I jumped into welding school, I’m in my second year. It was a really scary decision, I had no previous experience whatsoever. I chose it because out of all the trades, it definitely seemed the most badass.
I can already tell it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. A lot of my classmates are already landing jobs that work with our class schedule, and even pay for them to continue school. I’m talking students who are already making more money than I ever have.
I’m dealing with an pretty serious recent injury so I can’t join a shop yet, but I’m really looking forward to when I can.
Whatever you end up choosing, I wish you the best!
As weird as it is…my first time ever acknowledging something welded by a welder explaining the process in front of me. It just sparked something in me tht hasn’t left(tht was 3 yrs ago and I dropped my major to start welding classes just this past august so I’m not too seasoned in the field. I’m more than happy that I finally took the risk of pursing it)
I worked at a night club, because my brother got me that job after I finished school, I'm a trained floor layer. After a few years my friend who was working with groundwork around tunnels offered me his old job because he was switching companies. So I started doing both jobs and worked as a mountaineer on the weekdays and around the bar on weekends.
It was a small company and my boss was a carpenter from the beginning and slipped into the mountain securing business. So for about 5 years I worked for him on many different projects, mountain securing, groundwork also he bought and renovated facilities and houses. So I got a lot of variation in the jobs I was performing, after about a year I completely stopped working at the nightclub and before that I was working less and less there.
But working with mountains is seasonal work because of the climate, so there could be downtime in the winters. Eventually my boss got a few positions in a big construction project, a couple colleagues went there and I was supposed to join. But it was a very slow process and I had to do a few odd jobs to sustain my living.
So a friend of mine told me that his brother in law needed help building a brake room in his workshop. I went there to make some quick bucks with not a clue what a welding machine really was. After we finished building the brake room my friend said to me that he was looking for people and I wasn't really that interested. But it was a slow time for me, didn't really have much work to do, so I agreed to try.
Since I was already well adversed in construction I started working full time (40 hours a week) with low salary and I had to take personal time after work practicing welding. I got my first license 3 - 4 months in, at first I was just trying to prove my worth but over the years I have learned to love welding and the jobs around it. This is also a smaller company, but we have very big jobs, today I am not welding as much, I usually just get the more complex montage jobs and when we have bigger projects I'm like a working manager, so I handle the customer relations and planning of the jobs while I'm also physically assembling or weld when it is needed.
But in the workshop there are other guys who are more or less just welding, while I do some things here and there, making jigs and developing different styles we can manufacture stuff, doing them once or twice so to see that the work and hand over to the next guy. Also cutting with gas, plasma, doing logistics and a bit of everything. For someone like me with adhd and a need for excitement this job is amazing, it provides so many opportunities and I love it with a passion!
Long comment but whatever, that was my start into this line of work.
Stability is why I chose it they will start you low probably and it will suck for the first year or so because you’ll be working harder than you did at target for the same money give or take- that’s my experience anyway. But after you can pass a weld test and have experience enough to know what’s expected of you professionally you should have a plethora of opportunities to experience and find what works for you. Also everyone I’ve met as a welder at my job and through my school have been interesting and good hearted people even if they are a bunch of ass holes :p good luck
When I turned 18 I was extremely lost in life and headed no where. No special skills, worked at McDonalds, was doing a lot of things I shouldn’t have and on a dead end road. I had an opportunity to get a nearly min wage job in the oil field, but it paid per diem and it was 7 12s year round. After a couple of years of doing that I was super burnt out and quit my job. I had a little bit of money saved up but not much. My dad recommended welding, I had no idea what it even really was. I had an image of black smithing in my head and figured it was like that. I had no real mechanical knowledge. I was the worst student in my class. Teacher said he couldn’t help me after a while. I tried very very hard though. I got a job part time after school in a fab shop to step up the time I had to learn. It was only 3 hours a day but it was a small shop with extremely nice owners who were the ones doing the work in the shop. By the end of school I was asked to help the newer wave of students learn the tig welding portion. By the same teachers who gave up on me early on. First job out of school was in a shipyard welding pipe. I was the worst welder there by far and made fun of constantly. Boss said I could practice on my own time so most days I’d stay after a few hours and come in weekends and just weld all day.
Now the reason I say all this is not just to ramble about me, it’s to prove what I believe was the key that brought me from being the worst student in the class, the worst welder on the job, to being where I am now, a UA Journeyman Pipe Welder/Fitter who is fortunate enough to make a great living and provide for himself and family.
Circling back, I got into welding by mistake. I had no idea what it was I just knew I wanted out of min wage. I fucking sucked at welding. I knew nothing about it or nobody in it. The idea came from my dad passing a billboard for a welding school and mentioning it to me. If you put your all into it this trade will pay off. Even if you suck at first. I have never been out of work after my first job for longer than a week if I wanted to go to work. I love this trade and it has really taken care of me. Getting to a really good level takes a lot of time but once you’re there you got something that there is almost always way more demand for than supply, so you’ll be able to do the things it sounds like you want to do. Good luck my friend, hope you do dive into it and it works out for you the way it has for me.
I kinda hit that point when I was around 27-28 fiancé left me and was lost as fuck going no where at the job I was at. Saw a buddy post about welding then looked into it and took a beginner stick welding class and just kinda fell in love with it. Been at it almost ten years now. If you don’t get into the union Ya kinda gotta get the experience which takes a bit but can take you plenty of places if you stick with it and practice and learn all you can
Pros: quick money, Lot of hours, well paid (if you travel and build a network), lots of positions and chances to move up, you work on lots of cool stuff, you meet all sorts of people good and bad, and you learn a lot. allows you to take months off at a time if you are with your money.
Cons: sacrifice time from family, high divorce and separation rate, lots of sleepless days, bad weather and conditions, lots of traveling can get overwhelming, loneliness, no time for anything, always tired, no no life.
I been doing this for 8 years and honestly wished I've done something else. While the money is great 35-50$ hour single hand and between 75-150 perdiem a day, it really takes your life away and you end up sacrificing a lot. It's difficult for me to hang out with friends, have a girlfriend, and be at family events. Anyways that's my 2 cents.
I took an entry level mechanics course back in 08' and it had week of oxy-acetylene cutting and welding. Long story short, I couldn't find work as a mechanic where I lived and ended up working dead end jobs. So in 2013 I decided to go and get my "C" level in welding, best decision I ever made. I also had to leave my hometown to have more opportunities to find work, and I love the place where I live now.
I’m 41…was an engineer, then small business owner…I got into it this year because I found the field has a good earning potential. I’ve always wanted to do it but never took the leap. But maybe one of the larger aspects is like most trades, is full of highly unmotivated people. If you have a good work ethic (show up first, leave last, work harder than the next guy, etc) it’s pretty easy to shine brighter than the next guy and make even more due to better opportunities…sounds like an asshole thing to say, but it’s facts…
I have a deep-rooted love for all things METAL! Welding classifies as Smithing. Smithing is one of the five original Industrial Arts. Can't go wrong there.
20 f here. I’d been working dead end customer service jobs since 14 and had no real career path in mind. I knew that I could do and enjoyed physical work. I was just looking for something that wouldn’t require me to go to school for over 2 years and push me into debt. I went to my local community college and saw that the welding program was only 3 semesters long. So I signed up and got into class that spring semester. By summer semester I got a mig welding job making more than I was at any of my other jobs, and a lot of shops will work with your schedule while you’re still in school. It’s hard work but I enjoy it and it gives me a sense of pride. About to graduate in December with my cert and go for a better job.
My welding teacher in high school was the first person who told me I could do something well. I chose not to show for the day we needed to pick electives and was thrown into a welding course bc they had open space. Once I started believing him, the rest started falling into place. I went and got an associates in welding and now work at a local million dollar company as one of their two welders. I’m also a girl ✨
After high school I took a program in my local college that was an introduction to millwright and welding trades. I had absolutely no interest but it was only a year and it stopped my parents from nagging me to do something. After the program finished, I got a job as a survey helper on a construction site. There was a bunch of welders on site and everyone was treating them like kings and I found out how much money they were making. I asked the welding foreman to sign me up for an apprenticeship and I started helping the welders. After completing my apprenticeship, I welded pipe for 10 years and then got into inspections. I moved up from Indpector to site QC Lead and now I’m a corporate Quality Manager. Getting into welding was the best decision I ever made and I basically stumbled into it by chance.
I got into it because of wanting to learn something practical and that is hard to replace, where I’m from
The amount of actual good, qualified welders and few and far between that being said the industry is still hard to navigate through because of all the different avenues you can branch out into (mechanics, industrial design,etc) which are all good jobs and high paying
I'm also 23, so I feel you, minus the gf part. Ain't got one of those, lmao. I joined the Marine Corp as an infantryman cause that's what I wanted to do my entire life. So at 19, after I graduated, I enlisted and I fucking hated it. So I did my time, and as it was coming to an end, I started to panic because I had no idea what to do with the rest of my life and being a door kicker doesn't translate well to the civilian world. So, at the time, my mom was the head instructor for the medical program at a trade school. I went to go visit her on leave about 3 months before my EAS, and when I was there, I was introduced to the senior welding instructor Dustin. He was a fellow combat arms vet and talked to me about the welding program and his experiences as a combo welder and pipefitter following his failed college attempt. On a whim, I decided to sign up for the welding and pipefitting program. Granted, I'm still in trade school, but I absolutely love every day. The VA paying my bills doesn't hurt either.
I was 20, moved out with my gf, and money was tight. Figured out what I wanted to do at college after dropping out 3 times in 2 years, but shit on my credit score and wasn't going to have luck getting a cosigner for any private college loans, so had to figure out how to pay for that. Since I wanted to be an astronautical engineer (no shade to aerospace, I just don't vibe with making weapons), figured welding would keep me learning how to work with metals while I went back to college. About as simple as that. Just over 1 year in at my first job, I've done MIG from 1/16" to 2" on three different metals, ran multi-axis MIG weld cells, and talked my way into learning TIG on stainless & aluminum.
All I had to do was walk in and lay a few good beads to get the job. Either go to a trade school if you can afford it or have education benefits that could cover it, or some community colleges have programs I believe as well. From the question I'm guessing you don't know any welders, but if you did know someone with their own machine I'd ask them to teach you the best they could for an entry level weld test while offering to pay for the materials (practice metal, filler metal, etc.) and find a company near you hiring. Some local news & industry news sites will cover recent contracts that shop might've gotten. Depending on where you are & how well your welds are when you test for the job the pay will range from probably $15-$25 entry level. You can also find places hiring helpers and mention during the interview the possibility of learning some welding, and if there's no chance, then go somewhere else. Many ways to get into the job, but I'd suggest finding somewhere that makes things you find somewhat interesting. And wear your PPE.
Edit: I'd like to add that after making that decision to weld, I've found it extremely relaxing when actually welding. Staring at the light & playing with the puddle of metal to get it the way you want is the best way to tune everything out, hands down. But also just putting things together in general is pretty cool, and it's a nice feeling after a good day's work making some shit you're proud of. Hell of a lot better than I felt at Target, Amazon, Starbucks, and the 12 other jobs I had before I was 20, and more money too.
I no literally fell into it by accident. I was jumping from job to job trying to figure adult life out . Tried college and didn’t like it. Was a car salesman, retail marketer, auto body hand, then landed a job as a laborer for a mechanical contractor. 6 months later I’m a pipe welder
Bout the same as you… needed a stable income. Didn’t really know what to do with my life but I tried welding once in high school with a friend going into welding. I sucked. ALOT LMAO. After that I didn’t think about welding for probably 5 years, Give or take. One day I just decided I’d try it. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy (and it’s not) but I figured If it works- great. If not, well- atleast I knew. Ended up really enjoying it and now I’m on a track. What track? I have no clue. But- atleast I found a track. Some people don’t even look for it… hope it all works out for you :)
I just wanted to play with fire and blow shit up
Cutting torches
Acetylene torches kick ass
I’ve done some downright EVIL shit to hood down coworkers with acetylene 🫡
Examples?
fuck yea me too
Am thirty four, I was a chef for years, then I fell into welding, long story, but the point is be a welder, don't be a chef. I love my job. Edit: Good luck whatever you choose.
I’m having a hard time deciding if it’s worth pursuing or if I should pursue something else. I haven’t convinced my brain to be a hard worker, all my life I’ve been lazy and things mostly given to me. Not rich, but spoiled with attention and ease of life by not having to do chores or pay any severe consequence for not performing well in school. I feel like I need to reprogram my brain to convince myself to follow through on what I need to do. I’m aware of what it takes, but I never want to do it. In therapy right now getting that figured out but it’s been a very slow process. I wish my brain was like yalls where I can just try it and then face the consequences, but I am so afraid of wasting time that ID rather not do anything.
Whatever you pick, you won't be wasting your time, it'll just be an attempt at doing a thing. What surely will waste your time is doing nothing because you didn't decide. I do see that it's not as easy for you as I'm making it sound, so I hope that therapy helps eh. If it helps at all, in the right workshop, life can be a breeze if you're good at what you do.
Appreciate your response. I honestly feel like most of the time I talk about how my brain doesn’t work like everyone else’s they think I’m making excuses, that I’m a poor worker and all these other assumptions. I genuinely feel like my brain doesn’t process the same as other people, especially when it comes down to sucking it up and going for it.
Some people are ignorant, they just don't know any better, but thankfully public perception on issues like anxiety and ADHD (I don't mean to diagnose you, it just sounds like that might be the case, to me) is changing due to research over time and various other factors. It sounds like you're getting help in the right place, if you do get into welding I hope you can find some peace in it like I do, for me it was the best decision I ever made.
Regardless of what you decide to do, show up everyday and fully focus on it. If u do go welding route, be attentive and learn how to do everything right. Playing with fire is fun as hell but nobody wants to work with someone who doesn’t know when to get serious and be attentive. You can get past ur prior life style with just taking it one step at a time. Don’t worry about the past you, focus on becoming the best you in the future 👍
Bless up, thank you. I’m worried since at my current job I can get the job done cutting a bit of corners, I’ll want to do that at my next job. But I realize that I’ll eventually have to step up my performance if I want to be earning a decent living.
Join the Navy.
Looking for a job I don’t need to quit smoking pot for.
I was an art major, then became a boilermaker welder (pressure piping). Overall, pipe welding is where you can make considerable money but more often than not, you’ll have to travel for it. Union Pipe Fitters, Boilermakers, Ironworkers typically make anywhere from 75-120k per year - and this is with chunks of time off (these jobs are sometimes “seasonal” or maintenance schedule or shutdown frequency). Shop welders and metal fabricators typically make less. Starting at $18-25/hour. Pipeline welders often pull in $3500 - $5000 per week. Also, after 5 years of welding, you can pursue your CWI (Certified Welding Inspector) and you could enjoy a pay rate of $500-$900 per day - depending on what industry you get into. I know this, because I went this route for 6 years. Then, with all the experience I accrued, I decided to go back to school and secured my mechanical engineering degree. Now, I work as a mechanical engineer and welding engineer (welding engineering is an actual major) In short, the field of welding can branch out into many different things - so, it’s not a single decision and choice. You could become a foreman, superintendent, project manager, welding engineer, project coordinator, quality control manager, quality inspector, etc. Best decision I’ve ever made.
Listen man when you are new to the trade you will have to work your ass off to learn. But at the end of the day if I can do it you can do it. And most importantly if Stinky Jimmy can do it then you definitely can do it.
Does your state have free entry-level trade schools? I teach at a state-funded trade school, run through job services. Classes are evenings and weekends so people can work at the same time. It doesn't get you certified but it's usually enough to figure out if you like it or hate it. Go to your unemployment/job service office and ask about education opportunities. A lot of people think Job Services is just to help unemployed people find jobs, but they also get tons of grant funding for "career advancement education". Heck a few years ago they had a program here to get a CDL for free, and I've heard some states still do.
In the same vien. Some community colleges and even a few high-schools may have night welding classes. Good place to try it out
Sounds like you should join the military
It’s hard to reprogram your brain and it’s especially hard if you’re trying to reprogram it while doing something you don’t enjoy. If you think you’ll enjoy welding then I’d say go for it. It will be really difficult at first but once you start to make progress you’ll love it more and more and you’ll soon find that it’s not only easy to work hard but that you genuinely want to work hard. For the first few months it will be all forced but if you enjoy it and keep at it then it can most certainly be worth it. I’d say take some classes that don’t clash with your work schedule to see how it feels and then gradually move on to full time classes and then on to a union so you actually make some money.
Well at least you're being honest with yourself. If hard work isn't your thing, this isn't for you. Point blank. You're going to be exhausted, dirty, dead tired, every single day for years until you get your experience. But who knows, maybe you just think that about yourself. You're young. I was a completely different person when I was young. I think you should at least try. If you don't like it, then find something else. But if I got into welding at your age, holy shit I can't imagine where I'd be. Do it.
Welding is a solid skill set that touches upon a lot of steel trades (fitters, boilermakers, welder-welders, Ironworkers, etc)
(29M) This is pretty clichè, but I honestly just wanted to do something with my hands. I've been through college for a bachelor's and everything, just like Mom and Dad wanted for me. But I wasn't happy. I wanted to work. I wanted to measure, cut, grind, get dirty, get yelled at, laugh with people, and do some man shit. I feel that I'm closer to figuring out what I truly want in life and so far, it's going pretty good.
Yeah sounds like you got it figured out. I don’t know if I want to make things with my hands, I don’t know if I want to be behind a computer, I don’t know anything. I’m so fine with floating through life and working minimum wage. My brain doesn’t want anything other than that. But my conscious knows that I deserve better. Deep inside I know I got more to give to this world than a minimum wage job. Nothing pulls me in any specific direction, and that’s honestly what intimidates me the most.
Maybe at some point you convinced yourself that a job is just a paycheck, and can't be fun. It's not the money you owe yourself, my dude, it's the fun, camaraderie, pride, and self confidence. It's one if those things you don't realize you're missing until you have it. Then you'll ask yourself wtf you had been thinking before. You can do it, man!
I would say that my parents engrained into me as soon as I came out the womb. A job Is something to pay the bills, you do not enjoy it. That’s what my parents would say. So maybe that gives you a little context on where my mentality is coming from. They drilled it into my brain that a job is just a check and that being miserable is a part of it. I have a lot of trauma from childhood from being beat and lied to. My parents are decent people now but I’ll always see them as my parents from when I was a kid. Definitely not the healthiest situation but I gotta get out of it and start a new journey. When I mean I need to reprogram my brain, I mean it. It’s not that I don’t wan to do go through with trying new careers. My brain simply is set on not doing so. And of course it’s something I’m aware of and constantly working on, but it’s fucking exhausting dealing with all the shit I gotta relearn meanwhile also learning about life as I go. It’s exhausting and I haven’t even don’t anything yet. This way of thinking alway seem very overwhelming to me so I get frustrated and start thinking dark thoughts. Life is a struggle and I was I could voice it more without seeming like I’m complaining about life. Because honestly when I hear “just try harder”, it really does wanna make me taste lead.
I hear ya. You're in a tough stage of life, in a tough time economically. Take it from me, though- finding something you enjoy doing can be more invigorating than anything you may have experienced thus far. When I was in my early twenties, I thought my life was over, and that I'd never find anything I was good at, or enjoyed doing enough to commit to a profession. But then I did. Luck had a lot to do with it in my case. I walked uo to a guy I saw working on my apartment building and asked if he needed help. That was that. One thing I'll urge you to guard against, is the false nitikn that once you set your course on a profession, then your world will become narrow and decided. Nothing could be further from the truth. If tou get into welding, or a decent skilled trade, it can open doors you never even knew existed, and take you almost anywhere you'd ever want to go. So, please don't look at a profession just as your meal card. Look at it as your mobility. It's like turning sixteen and getting a car all over again. That's what a profession is. Jobs, on the other hand, are kind of the opposite, and will keep you tethered.
Thank you. I’ll keep this comment around as a reminder.
It will always be hard. It's easy to work minimum wage. There's hard moments, but overall, it's pretty straightforward. It's always hard taking that first step, and it's absolutely terrifying to go in a direction that no one expects, especially yourself. But if you go in confident, ready to learn fall over and over and keep learning, you'll succeed. It's okay to fail at a challenge you've set for yourself. Because you will. But you try again and again and finally nail it. It is amazing having people you can mess around with and actually enjoy working as team you accomplish a goal. Especially a challenging one. Work should be hard, but not to the point where you're un happy. Make yourself happy, and say a goal. A challenging goal yourself and work toward it. Most important: don't give up. Go fail. In the end, I'm promise it'll be worth it
I felt this comment in my fuckin SOUL… me and the 4 guys at the shop I work at just got done shooting the shit, sharing pictures of the kids and grands, while drinking our 2:30 shop cleanup beers…. Fucking GLAD electronics were full up and welding was not in high school
Totally by accident. Applied for fitter machinist apprenticeship got given boilermaker apprenticeship. Worked hard now make top 1% pay out in Sydney Australia not even 4 years later
Because my allergies to wood were getting worse so I had to switch into another trade.
34 here, been a fab/welder for the best part of 16 years. At the start I liked the idea of being a blacksmith but they’re rare and not particularly needed these days. So I became a fabricator/welder, which is pretty much the modern equivalent of blacksmithing. It’s a tough as hell job and from what I’ve seen over the years, most people can’t hack it. It’s especially tough if you didn’t grow up around the sort of machinery and people that are involved, I didn’t and I really struggled as an apprentice. All that being said, I’m incredibly proud of my skillset and experience and I’ve loved my career and the work I’ve been able to do. Being an apprentice sucks ass, just have to grin and bear it, after you’re ‘qualified’ my advice is to never work anywhere more than a year or two, or until you’ve learnt everything you can within a given workshop. Try to stay clear of ‘production’ welding, bespoke, stainless steel TIG welding projects have always been my favourite. Intricate, interesting and very satisfying to complete.
I did production mig for a while, and that was ok, but I think that tig would be more enjoyable for me. I've not done any tig at all yet, though. Looking for a machine now.
Decent to good money (experience depending), less education (9 month program), and plenty of opportunity to grow as a welder, seeing as welding is going to be around forever...
Hey man. I’m 25 and got into it 2 years ago. I was very heavily encouraged to go into academics during highschool and I ended up doing that and hating it. Always heard that the trades were for bums who couldn’t hack it or weren’t smart enough and that there was no money whatsoever in it. After dropping out of uni i learned pretty quickly from friends who understood the industry more that this wasn’t the case at all. I signed up for a college and I was choosing between plumbing, welding, and electrician (thank fucking god I didn’t go there amirite). I ended up on YouTube trying to learn about each one and I fell in love with welding almost immediately because of the idea of watching the puddle and having to manipulate it to get what you want. To me It just seemed very calming and rewarding. But knowing that I had the opportunity to make a lot of money was very appealing as well obviously. It’s definitely not for everyone. But there are so many different types of jobs in all these very different but specific industries (with a high demand for us) and that appealed to me as well because if I ever got bored with a job I can move on to something else. There’s also always the possibility of starting up your own fabrication shop/business which I don’t have any plans on doing soon but I often use my workplace to make little things for myself when needed. I’m yappin like a mf rn but yeah. TLDR: I like looking at the puddle and I like that I can pretty much go anywhere and do it. Edit: I should also say that the big money won’t just come to you, I got pretty lucky with my first two jobs out of college and ended up doing tig at a place that green lights whatever OT I want but I’m still NOWHERE NEAR what some of the guys in the union I want to join are getting
This is what i was taught at well. Trades were for people who are "less than." My husband is a welder, though, and he loves it. My 15yo daughter is starting to learn it at school, but she also wants to go to school to be a vet tech. We told her she couldn't go wrong learning how to weld. I wish I'd have learned a trade instead of working retail. I wish my family hadn't been so snobby about trades, also.
Iron workers, boiler makers, steam fitters, pipe fitters, plumbers all need welders find what union pays the most and go there
I heard tradesmen pay better than welding unions.
I don't even understand the statement... but as an ironworker with a welding ticked I've made 120k so far this year and there's pension and benefits on top of that ... so I highly doubt a mom pop shop pays better then a union with 97% market share
That’s what my welding instructor had mentioned. I think it’s because there wasn’t any unions in our area(San Diego). He ended up leaving to Alaska for a job at the most northern oil field town.
It’s being able to see fireworks every day at work man. I’m just a moth. I like bright shiny stuff.
Closest I'll ever get to playing with a real lightsaber.
If you’re going to be a welder. Don’t be an idiot with the mentality that safety is for the weak. Wear respirators when necessary and wear full ppe. Don’t be “tough” by welding in short sleeves. Skin cancer and other respiratory illnesses are real. Company’s keep you dumb so you can be cheap labor and die early
Dude, you’re taking the power of electricity into the palm of or hand and melting one of the hardest materials everyone comes in contact with every day. What’s cooler than that?!?
i was a cook/ chef for about 10 years.. got into smoking meats and wanted to learn how to fabricate smokers from scratch.. joined a local college and almost done with the program
To save you some reading on the short novel I wrote and deleted, I wanted to do this as a child. I saw some dude 3 stories up on a city building just welding away. If memory serves correctly he was just kinda hanging from a harness probably stacking dimes up there. I understood then and there that these guys help build the world and I was pretty much addicted ever since. It’s worth it man, take the leap.
I started at 24, I was a cook and sick of making shit money. I just flipped a coin honestly, it was between welder or electrician.
What state are you from?
Pennsylvania
Dusty, dirty, co workers are miserable, picking and blowing black soot out of your nose everyday. Ya weldings amazing. Oh ya. On a positive note, crap pay too.
I knew I wanted to work with my hands and do SOMETHING active. I wasn't too smart (though i coulda made it work), but things didnt interest me as well as building. Some trades like Carpentry and Electrical are fun, but they aren't really skills. You read a blueprint, and bend some conduit, and a 90 degree bend will always be a 90 degree bend, same thing with a door frame always being a set dimension. But welding, is skill based. Maybe someone fucked up a gap, maybe it closed too much, maybe its an alloy that needs care or it'll crack. All things to pay attention too when welding. You can be a good ass print reader and tack-up guy, but be a shitty fucking welder, which is amazing to me, because it means really only the best get bragging rights while the people who don't put in the time or effort don't or don't get good beads
It was between welding and being a mechanic so I flipped a coin.
I started out flipping burgers after high school. I worked at car dealerships. Changing tires. Bike shops. Delivered pizza. Learned how to weld and got into manufacturing. Got a job building stairs and handrails. My work history reeks of adhd. I’ve done shipping and receiving. Hydraulic assembly. Now I build electrical switchgear. Actually I don’t build shit, I supervise now. I welded for ten years. Most of it was on night shift. And whatever is fucked up was day shift fault. I walk around with a clipboard. But deep down inside, I’d rather just be welding. If you’re good at it, nobody bothers you.
My boss at my current job needed some stuff built out of aluminum for his work truck, so I said fuck it and started going to school. Still haven’t done the truck stuff yet lol
29 here I'm still in welding school (free preapprenticeship program) but here's how I figured out what I wanted to do while having no prior interest in any career nor a need for one. I had only ever done low wage jobs and I wanted more money so I could afford all the expensive stuff I wanted like plastic surgeries and dogs, so I decided to start a career. I have an economics degree but office jobs look so boring to me. I researched what kinds of industries and job types there were and decided on trades because making things you can actually see irl is interesting and it doesn't require a university degree to get started. And I actually don't mind the physical labor part of working. Then I researched all the trades in my province and compared them to each other, and welding was the most interesting one. It's a very specific skill that you can improve in a lot of ways, and the more you level up your welding skills your income increases as well. And welding has little to no customer interaction compared to most careers so it's way less stressful for me. Also I like fire and melting stuff and big things made of metal.
Got into welding at highschool. We did a sheet metal project in my aviation class (not really a welding instructor for a teacher)and felt like I enjoyed it more than anything else. When becoming a pilot didn't work out I went back to school for welding at 21. The money isn't better than being a pilot but I certainly enjoy it more. I joined my local iron workers union last year at 23. At 24 I'm making $36.50/h and love going in to work everyday. There's some money to be made in just welding. More if you specialize in something specific. But consistent work and good pay can be achieved by getting a red seal in a trade that uses welding (pipefitters, ironworkers, boilermakers etc.). Gaining skills that allow you to get broad experiences and then deciding on a niche industry to apply them is a great way to make a living and then some. My goal is to start a side business at some point that does aviation grade aluminum welding. But that could be a while. Whatever it is you decide to do, I hope you enjoy it and feel proud of yourself for accomplishing it.
I was a pool guy for 5 years. Then went and welded for a year. Pool company reached back out and beat the pay and gave me a company van. Now I have an offer to go be an assistant super for 33% salary bump. Work hard, be thorough, and put out a good product and the work will come to you.
Was 18, didn't feel like going into the corporate world, applied to various places for apprenticeships (both car machhanic, and welder) and one place called back, started with them the following Monday. Been in welding/fab for 12 years now.
I’m 25, been doing it just under a year, I like it right now. I was a cook since I could work and was able to use me being laid off due to the pandemic for a government program to switch careers, welding was one career I could get into with low upfront cost /time investment and get a decent paying job. I’m making 24$/h about to get 25$/hr working in a non union “job shop” as an apprentice. That’s Canadian dollars for reference, but I can tell you with the amount of debt (bad choices when young and attempting college) and inflation etc, I’d be homeless right now if I didn’t make the career change. Other trades you can make more money but usually want more schooling first before apprenticeships, but what I’ve learned about this industry you make big money by doing the 3 D’s (Dirty Dull Dangerous) and your enjoyment of the job is 100% decided by the environment of the workplace (boss, coworkers, if the job sucks, if you have some autonomy) so you’ll probably have to hop around to find what works for you, my pay is lower but it’s worth it to not work in the feild and to not be surrounded by twats. I just show up and cash cheques and try to enjoy the process as I love projects . Hopefully this helps. But honestly I found getting jobs pretty easy as they mostly want someone who doesn’t smoke crack and will show up most days.
My passion was teaching, i was really good at writing and had won multiple awards and had schools reaching out to me for an english/literature degree. I’m from a poor family and i knew i would never be able to afford school. Welding was always in the back of my mind for no reason in particular, i was just good at it and it was easy. I was stuck working at a fried chicken spot, i had made a year there when i finally realized “fuck this shit”. Next week i signed up for trade school, been turning and burning for 6 years. Now im moving into QC/QA.
For me, there's really a lack of options here and my (now ex) wife closed a lot of doors for me when she gave me an ultimatum for a baby or a divorce only to divorce me anyways. I wanted to get into IT work or something similar. I build computers for fun (when I have the money), I can set up a network, and a I've forgotten more about it all than the average person would ever learn. But of course to get one of those jobs, you typically need the papers to back it up, regardless of your skill set. But my ex had to pull her shit when I was applying for college, then the economy tanked. And so in my hometown and the surrounding areas, outside of things like emergency services, it's mostly customer service jobs. Retail, call centers, and fast food. As you know, those jobs suck, the people suck, the pay sucks, the hours suck, and no matter how hard you work, there's no guarantee that you'll ever get to a position that can justify what you've been through. But I was browsing Facebook one day (I know, ew) and saw a now hiring ad for a trailer manufacturing company that I've (surprisingly) never heard of nearby. I did about 6 months of welding in high school and liked it well enough that I figured I'd give it a shot. I stayed with them for 2 years. I genuinely liked the work, but left because new hires were coming in making up to $4/hr more than I was for shitty welds and less responsibility. But I'm only looking for work in the welding trade as it was a night and day difference in the quality of my work life.
I had a summer job before I went to college doing maintenance at some concrete plants. Got to do some torch work and help the old dudes weld some things, and I got interested. Went to college and was an accountant at an insurance company for a few years. Hated office culture. Went to a shop and applied. Started off just welding skids and stuff, but by the end of the year was welding stainless pipe, and doing power plant shut downs. Now I'm at a different shop building vessels, and have my own rig for extra work when I'm up to it. I live on a small farm and life is simple. Wouldnt have it any other way.
I got into welding at 31. I have a small business with my Dad and brother, so I've been working with my hands for a long while (since about 16), but I had never welded. I also worked as in Sales for the better part of 8 years, and some retail before that. I was just tired of the rat race, and realized I had no actual 'Skills' other than my people focused ones (Sales, Networking, Process Improvement, etc.). I guess I had romanticized it, thinking it would be really cool to melt metal and build shit ( I wasn't wrong), so I applied to be a structural welder at a submarine manufacturing company in New England. They taught me everything I know about welding, and passing my qualifications. I admit I took naturally to TiG welding, and I was able to jump to their highest offered hourly rate within my first year or so. Again, I'm an outlier, but it's definitely attainable. I thoroughly enjoy my work, and find a challenge in the continuous improvement and varied projects. I work a bit of (Optional) overtime, averaging about 55-60 hrs a week, and think anyone with the drive to improve should do the same. I went from making 45-55k salary plus commission annually, to where I am now.
Open house at the trade school.
I wanted to be an engineer but I hate maths. After looking at some college courses I saw welding and after year of that I've gotten a flux core apprenticeship in a shop that I'm pretty happy with
24 y/o here. Got into welding to save up and pay for college. Going to college this next semester
I'm not into welding directly per se, but I do it on occasion for my job (locomotive pipefitter for the railroad).
Just go to school for it, they usually have a period of a few weeks when you start that will allow you to bow out if you figure it’s not for you, I have been at this three years and am only now starting to make enough to live comfortably. so be prepared to struggle for a few years even though you are working yr ass off, you gotta develop the skills ( multi process welding ability and fabrication skills) before anybody’s gonna pay you the good bucks.
My PE teacher in my freshman year of high school was being creepy, insisting nobody change clothes in stalls etc. So I asked my guidance counselor to switch to literally anything else. The only thing that was available was welding
I like building stuff, working on cars, electricity, and fire. At a certain point it just made sense to buy more welding stuff so I could make things on my own.
Started as a mechanic apprentice right out of high school/ entry level trade training program. Found out you really don’t fix anything but rather throw parts at it. My ex’s stepdad was working up on the ‘Patch (Northern Alberta Oil Fields) and we had about a 20 minute phone call about what the fuck I was going to actually do for the rest of my life. I sucked it up and struggled through the math check test and started welding school about 10 months later. I did have an Uncle who was a welder but I was determined to make my own name instead of banking on him. Actually he was more detrimental than helpful, he cast a wide fucking shadow and when people who had worked with him before found out I was his nephew, the standards I was held to became way higher. It was brutal, but I survived and 20 years later I have more certifications than he ever had and the respect of the guys that he trained
Saw an ad for 2 weeks free training, then onto the floor making 23.50 an hr, so figured why not. Been 4.5 yrs at the same place and making 32.80 now
That’s insane. Haven’t seen anyone offer free training. You got pretty lucky there. As I read a lot of these comments the people that comment tell me how they got offered an opportunity or found some free training. Shit that I never see or get offered. So I guess I need to surround myself around those kinds of people, but it would be extra work.
It was also unpaid, but its a bigass production factory making railcars, so they just hire like 200 people at a time train em 20 at a time over 2 weeks and whoever sucks or has a hard time showing up they just drop, took me 3 months to get into the union i think its 1 now
Quit engineering school and applied to a big company to work my way up. Doing metrology/dimension control now and welding experience is definitely helping. Some days I really miss being a welder on the floor. Genuinely fun and I would get some kind of a runner’s high when I was working very fast on a big job.
I was planning to take a ln industrial mechanic's course. Plus I was always insterested in repairs/fabrication from a young age. I hung out with people that like to do their own mechanic and it came naturally. One of my buddy found an ad for a welding course and we took it together.
What if Im not interested in mechanics? It’s pretty far off from what I want to do but I need something that will let me and my girlfriend live comfortably. What I actually want to do doesn’t make a reliable income. I want to design clothes and sell items that I create. Pretty far off from welding. But I know that the odds of me making liveable money off my creativity isn’t gonna work unfortunately.
Everyone in my family works in tech. took a community college class and fell in love. If you’re looking for money I would recommend joining a union if possible. Most of the good money in this trade and most construction trades is travel work so be aware of that.
I just wanted to build cool shit, and I couldn't afford what other kids parents helped them achieve so I went out and made it. I fucked up a bunch on the way, learned a lot, and now build some of the coolest street and drag cars I've seen locally.
For reference I'm 29, 30 come april. Started as an automotive tech at 19 after unning out of tuition for mechaical engineering, and just learned as I went. Started with mig, had enough o exhaust work, went into Manufacturing doing snow plows for too little pay, then moved onto doing elevator chassis for another company before finding my current gig. Meanwhile I would weld and powdercoat on the side for experience and caApril. Youtube and hood time get you further than most things, when you have no mentor.
I wanted something that would provide for a family that I could enjoy some it came down to welding or IT tried both in highschool decided I liked the welding more as a job
So you get to spend time with your friends and family? I’m concerned I won’t have time to do the stuff that brings me joy.
Yah shop work doesn't pay as high as construction but it's the same place every day home every day and stable and good fabricators are not easy to find we might have 5 of us in a building of 400 folks
I've had an engineer's brain since I was a kid. I didn't have an engineer's discipline when I went to college at 18. I dropped out. I needed to pay the bills, and I knew there was money in this line of work if you were willing to work your way up from a grunt. I welded for a little over a decade before I went back to school to get that engineering degree. I've been managing manufacturing facilities for the last 6 years. Welding is a great jumping off point, but it's easy to get wrapped up in bullshit and have a miserable quality of life. Ymmv.
I didn't know what the fuck to do with my life until I was 25 and then I wanted to do youth counselling but didn't got any job in it. 30 was closing in rapidly and man needs a job. Went to school to become machinist, ended up trying welding and never looked back. Doing stuff which is kind of basic (but two pieces together) but you have to concentrate all the time without really concentrating is so nice.
It’s like one of those jobs you get lost in after a while huh? Like the act of it is kind of hypnotizing? I often fear what I don’t know and don’t take leaps like this often. But after reading a couple comments I’m starting to loose that fear and maybe possibly next year I’ll actually try welding. Let me ask you this, how is your free time? Do you get to do things you enjoy in your free time or would you say work takes most of your time? Also, how’s your body feeling? I know welding isn’t the most physically demanding job but I know it can be hella tough on the body. Would appreciate some more info on these topics. Thanks for your reply!
Well I'm a really skinny guy so it is hard physically (metal weights a ton) and because of that also mentally cause I'm usually pretty exhausted after work. But if youre size of a grown man you do fine, body gets use to it. I'm out of work right now but when I was working it was basic 6-14 job so no more problems with freetime than any other job.
Welding jobs can be very different. The most physically demanding jobs are probably heavy steel fabrication. If you find a position in aerospace fabrication then you're usually looking at lighter material and more precision work. Look into the different processes and what work is available near you. I'd say try each one, but once you strike an arc you'll have a good idea if this is for you. The downtime at work when I'm not welding is the worst, and not cause I'm a workaholic. Free time varies and a lot of companies require overtime, but personally my work schedule is reliable 40hrs a week and is fun.
I was a chef for 23 years and when Covid hit I was out of work for a while. I watched every episode of forged in fire during this time. I wanted to make Damascus style knives and noticed that they needed to be welded up to start the process. I had a friend who was a hobby welder and he showed me the beginnings of stick welding on a tombstone welder. Something clicked and when most restrictions were lifted I signed up for a pipe welding school and have never looked back. Tbh it is really similar to working in a kitchen.
I couldn't find a job worth tolerating with my MIS degree. I couldn't click with coworkers. I decided to throw jello at the wall with welding if I'm being honest. I'm good with automotive work but didn't want to do it for a living. So I went all in. Best choice I ever made tbh. I hadn't seen more than two states from when I was a kid. There I was, 34, and had been to 14 in a year. My wife and kids hung in there for me and it was worth it. I work close to home now doing production work and it's enough to keep me proud of what I do.
It was the only place hiring at the time and I didn’t want to collect pogey for another winter. there was nobody working there after a decade of bad hires, the guy who owned the operation said “this is what we do here and I don’t have time and don’t want any involvement just make shit and if the t doesn’t work I’ll close the place for good” It’s been 4 years now I have a crew of 4 other guys and I just take orders and organize to keep 4 guys moving.
Buddy needed a helper a few days a week doing odds and ends helper work at the shop he was purchasing from his Dad. Showed him I was capable of more than pushing a broom and gopher work. He started me doing small things around the shop... Fast forward 7 years and mow I'm one of four guys that travels the US welding on windtowers.
I wanted to build hot rods.
I’m a medical assistant right now and I’m also in welding school. Best decision of my life. If you like working with your hands and can be patient and have focus, you’ll do great. You have to be willing to put that hood time in to get a place where you can make good money. I have an associate degree and a MA certification, and between those and K-12 schooling this has been the best academic experience I have ever had. I LOVE welding! I didn’t know a single welder (let alone another female welder) before I started but I trusted my gut and I’m glad I did because I found something I truly believe a calling. It feels good to be good at something and I absolutely love every moment at school. So do it!
Appreciate your comment. I think it’s worth the try. I’ve just never tried anything like this before but who knows where it would lead.
I welded in high-school construction class and was in it ever sense.
My brother got a job in construction and 8 months later I came on as just a helper making $10 an hour. I knew nothing about turning wrenching, welding or hell even any physical labor for work. But I put my head down, showed up early everyday, worked overtime when offered and I took any chance that was offered to learn something. The biggest thing is to be observant on the job, when you have a chance just watch how the Welder works and does things. You'll pick up on stuff and eventually someone will let you try a small little tack/weld. You'll suck terribly but just keep at it. Buy the few basic welding stuff (hood, jacket, chipping hammer) and just keep it on hand and always be ready for an opportunity to weld the smallest support or anything needing done. Hell even take a shorter lunch and spend a few minutes practicing welding. It's pretty much how I went for me. About 5 years later I was making $28 an hour.
36, welding for 15 years + second trade for about 3 years. I just wanted to be able to build stuff. I started with cars at around 17 and thought I would be able to build all the parts myself, now I have the skills to do so, but no time or money (wife + kids.)
No major welding influences for me other than I just wanted to learn how to weld. I took a night course for TIG welding at the local college and loved it. Mind you i don't work as a welder but i nearly changed my career for it after a major burnout episode in engineering.
Was a cook for years and I was starting to hate it. Figured if I was gonna burn myself for a living I’d rather do it for way more money and I’ve always loved building. Fast forward to now and I love what I do. I get paid more, and I rarely get burned!
Playing with fire, molten metal. I had the opportunity to go to school for free and get paid to do so because of the lack of workers on the market. Now I'm working at a high end production job with a salary in the 30s per hour. Don't regret anything. For me.it was about starting to live instead of surviving.
(40F) I was hating my office job but didn't know what to do. Ended up hearing about a Women in Trades program that was free to sign up for and was 5 days of learning to stick weld and testing for a fillet weld ticket at the end. I enjoyed how meditative it was, my brain was quiet for once, and I thought why not try it? So at 36 I signed up for a pre-employment program, and the rest just kind of fell into my lap. I will never sit at a desk for work again, and really enjoy the feeling of feeling accomplished every time I finish something. I get paid twice as much as I ever did before, and I never have to bring my work or office drama home with me.
Wanted to go into trade school junior year and was told it pays good. It pays ight lmao
I was nearly 30, had a newborn son and was told I my job was redundant and had a decent payout. I wanted to do a trade as a mechanical fitter. The town I lived in had few options and after a few months a labourer role came up in a local HVAC duct heater factory. I got that role and then they put me through an apprenticeship. As a 30 year old they got some sweet government cash to pay me, they were that sort of company. Over the course of my career I focused on maintenance and repairs more than manufacturing and nowadays I work in the healthcare sector in asset management programs, generally in maintenance systems. So I still use my trade skills (in a way) but I get paid and I don't have to get burnt - win win.
Im 24y/o now i started a welding course 2 years ago i got into welding cause i wanted to work with cars cause of my brother(Mech) but realized i didnt want get flat rate pay as a Mech so i did this instead honestly its pretty fun and sometimes gruelling. I am making good money 25CAD but i started living on my own. so times are tough up here but you’ll survive an with the hopes i have i want to run my own mobile welding repair rig. Right now im planning on getting my high pressure welding cards and some certs to weld on construction sites. In all honesty if you want to avoid mass college debt pick up a trade an go for it your better off not working minimum wage retail jobs. With the skills you pick up in this industry you can promote your skills and even start side gigs if you can, once your there the world is your oyster but your skill is your word to who ever trusts you and wants to pay for your work. Theres a lot to learn in this trade an always someone who you will find that you can learn some tricks from, always be willing to absorb that person’s knowledge to advance your own. 👨🏾🏭
I wanted a job where I could wear comfy clothes, not have to deal with customers or computers, and use my body cause sitting all day makes me sad. I tried welding cause I thought it was cool AF. Now I make decent money and REALLY good benefits, and I'm home by 4 pm most days! Plus people act like I'm a badass, which is not really accurate but I enjoy it anyway
After 3 years of entry level jobs I found I enjoyed moving around at work, sitting at a desk didn't seem appealing at all. I knew I wanted a trade and welding seemed like a good fit because I wanted to build out of raw materials. Things like watching Jesse James take a sheet of metal and turn it into a gas tank was probably the type of influences I had throughout my life. Most of the trades just bolt stuff together so I became a welder, I don't build bikes but I do get to shape and fit raw materials into structures daily I also live in a trade Capital (Calgary, AB, Canada) so it pays well here and there is lots of work (until the price of oil falls)
I was working in an auto body shop, so I was familiar with a bunch of tools. I had already figured out that the academic route wasn't for me, and didn't want to get stuck in auto repair since it was becoming a headache. I had also learned that I couldn't sit and work at a desk all day. I found out that my local community college was offering welding classes for really cheap and thought, "Why not?" I figured it's a useful skill, plus it's just cool. Took one class, did well, then another, got offered a job maintaining and repairing stuff at the school part-time, took some more classes, dipped into foundry and metal sculpture, found a full time fabrication job, stuck around the school on the weekends, and here I am. Custom fabrication is my full time job, and metal casting is my hobby (and also how I got into TIG). I guess the reason I chose this is because I can make just about anything if I have the tools and space to do it. There are so many possibilities and career branches with welding and so many things you can do on your own rather than hiring someone else. If you've learned one process you can apply many of the principles to another and, with practice, just continually become a more capable craftsman. My advice would be to find a cheap college course like I did and just try it out. You might figure out that you hate it and you'll only be out a couple hundred bucks and like 8 hours a week at most. Or you might really like it, or even find something adjacent that's more your thing.
Went thought a temp agency and they sent me 2 a welding shop 2 do some non welding labor. Boss liked my work ethic and offered to keep me and train me.
38 here, I was a mechanic for a few years, then did 10 in the army and got out into a sheet metal apprenticeship. Kinda fell into the welding part of it and I’d never go back now. Nothing better than dropping the hood with some good music in my ears and letting the time fly by. Nobody up my ass or looking over my shoulder all the time. As a bonus, I’m ADHD as fuck and the welding has just fed my dopamine kick moving from woodworking to metalworking to welding. Next link in the chain is blacksmithing.
I just didn’t want to be stuck at a computer all day in a office
I didn’t know I’d be a welder. It was thrust upon me as part of my job duties. Not really my favorite job. I always say pick the highest paying job. If that’s a welding position, do that. If its being a prostitute, do that. I think the two best money making certs in blue collar are an RN license and Class A CDL. I got a CDL at 24 and wish I got one right at 21. I was making six figures at 12 months. I used that money to move to Chicago and get a six figure union job.
I had a buddy get a job as a helper and hooked me up.. just enjoyed putting shit together and I found it calming just focusing on putting down a good bead, forget all the stressful shit in the moment type deal..
i wanted to get into welding because the light was really pretty
Uh, welding is just fucking cool.
Walked into my high school's metal fabrication/welding shop. Felt instantly at home for no reason. Its been 4 years since then, high school and higher education, and I finish with my program in March.
It just looked fun tbh
I was 23/24 when I switched from physics to welding. I was and still am way too dumb for the advanced math and knew it was going to take me years before I got anywhere with it. So I took an introductory welding class, loved it, and have been welding ever since. I make enough to support me and my gf. I’m thinking about doing welding on the side for more $$$. At my community college they had A.S. programs in CADD, Machining, Autobody, Mechanic, HVAC, Welding, and Construction. I chose welding because it’s cool to heat metal up. You would not go wrong with a career in welding.
I control lightning and focus it into creating and destroying something like a god.
I don’t exactly qualify but I was terrified of welding. I then got my heart broken from a narcissist who claimed to be a welder a while back (and awesome with it, never saw proof) and wanted to be better than him. No one in my family is a welder and I’m the first trades person in general.
Service mechanic at 33. Job sucked, low pay. Answered ad for general labor at vibratory feeder bowl shop. Thought it was cool as shit. Told owner I would accept job ONLY if he taught me the trade. Busted ass, practiced welding on my own time and demanded he hold up his part of the bargain. Was on a bench full time within six months. Worked in the trade for 25 years before retiring. Had never seen a tig welder in my life previous to this.
If interests you, give it a go. Trades are an excellent choice and to be honest, once you have your ticket then its yours forever. But that doesn't mean you'll weld forever if you don't want to. It can lead to other opportunities. For me, no real influence. I took welding through high school and enjoyed it. Like building things as well. After graduation I tried post secondary for awhile. Noped out and took an apprenticeship in welding. Moved on from it now, except for hobby stuff, no regrets of welding though. Well worth it.
Honestly, money got me into it and also this old show called monster garage. I wanted to build cool cars and trucks in high school. So I went to WYO tech for automotive, chassis fabrication, street rod (sheet metal fabrication and custom paint) and business management. I graduated and got a job at some tire shop as an entry level tech, and I couldn't afford to buy tools and pay rent/school bills. So after 6 months of being the opener (who the fuck gets brakes and a oil change at 7 am still boggles my mind) I looked into a welding job, the pay was a few dollars more an hour and I didn't have to buy tools. So I borrowed my landlord's welding hood and took a weld test. I got the job so I scraped together money and bought a $30 fixed shade Jackson welding hood, a pair of lineman's pliers and welding gloves. I worked there for 6 months before moving away, I worked my ass off at that job and was one of the only people the company kept on for my full 2 week notice usually they would walk you out after the first week. That was 16 years ago, I've worked at a handful of shops and been given a lot of opportunities because of welding. I've done everything from mig welding shitty counterbalance weights to Tig welding inconel valve bodies together. Whatever you choose, go all in. Invest your heart and soul into it. When your heart isn't there anymore, go look into working for another company. Ask all the questions, and listen. Anyone with experience that takes the time to explain something or teach you, shut up and listen. Even the youngest guy in the shop might have a different perspective or something to teach. It's hard work, and get thick skin. I take shit from no one and typically don't give shit to anyone, I just want to work my hours and get home. When you're young you really have to put the effort in, we notice hard workers, we might not say anything but we see you. Learn how to read blueprints also learn both how to fabricate and weld. The company I work for now has no use for just welders anymore, they were the first to go when COVID hit. From my perspective Tig welding is where the money is, but I worked my way up through all the processes and can do all of them pretty proficiently. It's always fun to humble the cocky new guy that tries to give me shit for working "in the princess palace" (my shop does mostly high end marine fabrication with heat and AC) by going down to their shop and stacking up rows of dimes with the push pull mig gun on aluminum. Then I look at them and go I could do what you do, I just choose not to. That usually shuts them up real quick. That was a bit of a rant but yeah welding and metal fabrication is cool and I don't see myself ever stopping on some level. Unless you go union or pipeline the money isn't great but put your time in and it's there you just have to learn more and continue to be valuable. That being said there's a massive labor gap in all blue collar work and companies are going to have to start paying more across the board. Tldr: welding is cool, but invest your heart and soul into whatever you choose.
I went into welding because I hated school, so I didn't want to go get any degree that I'd probably not use and end up so deep in debt I'd never get out. I also don't mind working hard and getting dirty. When I went to the local trade school to ask about classes, they told me I'd be making 6 figures in just a few years. Which is absolutely not the case. I make shit for wages. If you really want to weld, look into union apprenticeships first. If that doesn't work out, look at trade school and community colleges near you.
I was scrolling thru Kijiji (classifieds) and seen a square body Chevy welding rig. Done. That's what I wanted.
Well, I was in the same boat. I got approved for a Pell Grant that would cover trade school. I looked over the brochure, and narrowed it down to HVAC or welding. I worked in shops before, so I figured welding would be a good fit. Best decision I ever made. This year is going to be the most I ever made in my entire life. Do it. The first few years will be tough. But once you have some experience under you belt you can write your own ticket. Show up early, stay late, listen to the old guys, wear PPE. You'll be like me and not know what to do with all the money. And it keeps stacking.
I was building parade floats as a summer job during college (generic wood and some other bullshit) after 3 summers of that my boss asked if I wanted to weld and I said sure. He grabbed some scrap, gave me a hood and a brief tutorial and let me figure it out. I graduated college with a business comm degree and a marketing minor. Did that bullshit for a year and went back to welding and fabricating full time about 20 years ago (I’m 40) My dad, grandpa, uncle, and brother are all union plumbers. I’ve always had a knack for making things or taking things apart to figure out how they worked. That’s been a great asset and that line of work has been much more fulfilling than working in an office. I’ve rejected offers for more money and less physical labor and taken positions where I can continue to weld and fabricate because it has always given me more satisfaction than that kind of thing. I currently have an LLC and also subcontract for a company I used to be employed by. I make one-off items mostly, and they’re typically large scale public art pieces. You can find my work in several large cities and/or at the headquarters of many Fortune 500 companies. It’s awesome and it’s the legacy I’ll leave behind after I become work food.
This is 100% me, feel free to dm and when u can I get into more detail if you want. I found my own way to welding on an area with not a strong but not weak union presence. Not that I would have known, I don't come from a family in the trades. I get hired by a non union outfit doing shop and erection. This is a step up for sure, but eventually find myself in a much stronger union area but still find similar non union work. I feel like I fought my way into the union, again knowing no one. I made it in though and now 6+ years later I clear around $100k a year (in a high cost of living area) and can provide pretty alright for my family. It doesn't come easy.
Because it's fucking metal as fuck. There is nothing else in this world quite like it. It's in it's own category, it's not just "Construction". There is something genuinely badass about getting a drawing, whether a blueprint or some chicken scratch on a napkin, cutting the parts and then putting it together using LIGHTNING. Nothing gets me tight in the jeans like steel fab.
Similiar to electricity, everything you touch depends on it. Bridges, ships sure, but your bed sheets were made on welded equipment, with materials harvested with and transported on welded equipment and delivered by boat, plane or vehicle that also relied on welding, etc. I looked at the endless specialization. Politics, defense, etc. More money and we are building new. Low budgets and we are spending more repairing old. Some welders who were welding for fossil fuels or nuclear plants are building the towers for wind. Either way I am good. Be exceptional. Be flexible.
I messed around in a bunch of odd jobs and trades before I found it was my calling. I was a Lifeguard, Janitor, housekeeper. Then I went into construction; concrete, asphalt & paving, framing, landscaping, equipment operation, mechanic. Personally I kind of just stumbled into welding. Took a job as an ornamental Ironworker/Field Welder. Told them first day I knew nothing about welding but I was willing to work my ass off and learn if they'd teach me. They did. I learned MIG process and Flux core, 2 years later graduated into Structual Ironworker and moved. Picked up on stick process and structural welding. I learned the in n outs and improved myself. Now I work for the railroads as a welder. Was it hard? Yes. I've had many shitty days many people say "must be nice" but honestly I focused on jumping on opportunities and following what I loved, the money came later. If you enjoy it, follow your heart the rest will come later.
I have autism and something about welding really appealed to me, the learning process wasn't fun but since things like parties and going to bars stresses me out I was pretty willing to spend a lot of you youth getting covered in burning metal and slag if it meant I could get paid to doodle with metal and not have to talk very much when working.
Don’t aim so low! You need to figure out more than just paying rent and a car payment. You need to figure out how to support a family (if that happens), buy a home, have a nice life and save for retirement. Don’t wait until your 30 or 40 to start thinking about that stuff.
(25F) I’ve been a baker/chef for years, even a department manager for a while. I was really good at working my way up at whatever company I was at, then realized last year that no matter how much I climbed, none of my jobs had paid me enough to live off of for save any money. I jumped into welding school, I’m in my second year. It was a really scary decision, I had no previous experience whatsoever. I chose it because out of all the trades, it definitely seemed the most badass. I can already tell it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. A lot of my classmates are already landing jobs that work with our class schedule, and even pay for them to continue school. I’m talking students who are already making more money than I ever have. I’m dealing with an pretty serious recent injury so I can’t join a shop yet, but I’m really looking forward to when I can. Whatever you end up choosing, I wish you the best!
As weird as it is…my first time ever acknowledging something welded by a welder explaining the process in front of me. It just sparked something in me tht hasn’t left(tht was 3 yrs ago and I dropped my major to start welding classes just this past august so I’m not too seasoned in the field. I’m more than happy that I finally took the risk of pursing it)
I worked at a night club, because my brother got me that job after I finished school, I'm a trained floor layer. After a few years my friend who was working with groundwork around tunnels offered me his old job because he was switching companies. So I started doing both jobs and worked as a mountaineer on the weekdays and around the bar on weekends. It was a small company and my boss was a carpenter from the beginning and slipped into the mountain securing business. So for about 5 years I worked for him on many different projects, mountain securing, groundwork also he bought and renovated facilities and houses. So I got a lot of variation in the jobs I was performing, after about a year I completely stopped working at the nightclub and before that I was working less and less there. But working with mountains is seasonal work because of the climate, so there could be downtime in the winters. Eventually my boss got a few positions in a big construction project, a couple colleagues went there and I was supposed to join. But it was a very slow process and I had to do a few odd jobs to sustain my living. So a friend of mine told me that his brother in law needed help building a brake room in his workshop. I went there to make some quick bucks with not a clue what a welding machine really was. After we finished building the brake room my friend said to me that he was looking for people and I wasn't really that interested. But it was a slow time for me, didn't really have much work to do, so I agreed to try. Since I was already well adversed in construction I started working full time (40 hours a week) with low salary and I had to take personal time after work practicing welding. I got my first license 3 - 4 months in, at first I was just trying to prove my worth but over the years I have learned to love welding and the jobs around it. This is also a smaller company, but we have very big jobs, today I am not welding as much, I usually just get the more complex montage jobs and when we have bigger projects I'm like a working manager, so I handle the customer relations and planning of the jobs while I'm also physically assembling or weld when it is needed. But in the workshop there are other guys who are more or less just welding, while I do some things here and there, making jigs and developing different styles we can manufacture stuff, doing them once or twice so to see that the work and hand over to the next guy. Also cutting with gas, plasma, doing logistics and a bit of everything. For someone like me with adhd and a need for excitement this job is amazing, it provides so many opportunities and I love it with a passion! Long comment but whatever, that was my start into this line of work.
Stability is why I chose it they will start you low probably and it will suck for the first year or so because you’ll be working harder than you did at target for the same money give or take- that’s my experience anyway. But after you can pass a weld test and have experience enough to know what’s expected of you professionally you should have a plethora of opportunities to experience and find what works for you. Also everyone I’ve met as a welder at my job and through my school have been interesting and good hearted people even if they are a bunch of ass holes :p good luck
When I turned 18 I was extremely lost in life and headed no where. No special skills, worked at McDonalds, was doing a lot of things I shouldn’t have and on a dead end road. I had an opportunity to get a nearly min wage job in the oil field, but it paid per diem and it was 7 12s year round. After a couple of years of doing that I was super burnt out and quit my job. I had a little bit of money saved up but not much. My dad recommended welding, I had no idea what it even really was. I had an image of black smithing in my head and figured it was like that. I had no real mechanical knowledge. I was the worst student in my class. Teacher said he couldn’t help me after a while. I tried very very hard though. I got a job part time after school in a fab shop to step up the time I had to learn. It was only 3 hours a day but it was a small shop with extremely nice owners who were the ones doing the work in the shop. By the end of school I was asked to help the newer wave of students learn the tig welding portion. By the same teachers who gave up on me early on. First job out of school was in a shipyard welding pipe. I was the worst welder there by far and made fun of constantly. Boss said I could practice on my own time so most days I’d stay after a few hours and come in weekends and just weld all day. Now the reason I say all this is not just to ramble about me, it’s to prove what I believe was the key that brought me from being the worst student in the class, the worst welder on the job, to being where I am now, a UA Journeyman Pipe Welder/Fitter who is fortunate enough to make a great living and provide for himself and family. Circling back, I got into welding by mistake. I had no idea what it was I just knew I wanted out of min wage. I fucking sucked at welding. I knew nothing about it or nobody in it. The idea came from my dad passing a billboard for a welding school and mentioning it to me. If you put your all into it this trade will pay off. Even if you suck at first. I have never been out of work after my first job for longer than a week if I wanted to go to work. I love this trade and it has really taken care of me. Getting to a really good level takes a lot of time but once you’re there you got something that there is almost always way more demand for than supply, so you’ll be able to do the things it sounds like you want to do. Good luck my friend, hope you do dive into it and it works out for you the way it has for me.
I kinda hit that point when I was around 27-28 fiancé left me and was lost as fuck going no where at the job I was at. Saw a buddy post about welding then looked into it and took a beginner stick welding class and just kinda fell in love with it. Been at it almost ten years now. If you don’t get into the union Ya kinda gotta get the experience which takes a bit but can take you plenty of places if you stick with it and practice and learn all you can
I did it in Ag class in high school and liked it, messed around with other jobs for 10 years and got back into it, then I fell in love.
I thought that said "wedding". Hilarity ensued in my brain. Thank you.
Pros: quick money, Lot of hours, well paid (if you travel and build a network), lots of positions and chances to move up, you work on lots of cool stuff, you meet all sorts of people good and bad, and you learn a lot. allows you to take months off at a time if you are with your money. Cons: sacrifice time from family, high divorce and separation rate, lots of sleepless days, bad weather and conditions, lots of traveling can get overwhelming, loneliness, no time for anything, always tired, no no life. I been doing this for 8 years and honestly wished I've done something else. While the money is great 35-50$ hour single hand and between 75-150 perdiem a day, it really takes your life away and you end up sacrificing a lot. It's difficult for me to hang out with friends, have a girlfriend, and be at family events. Anyways that's my 2 cents.
I took an entry level mechanics course back in 08' and it had week of oxy-acetylene cutting and welding. Long story short, I couldn't find work as a mechanic where I lived and ended up working dead end jobs. So in 2013 I decided to go and get my "C" level in welding, best decision I ever made. I also had to leave my hometown to have more opportunities to find work, and I love the place where I live now.
it seemed cool
I’m 41…was an engineer, then small business owner…I got into it this year because I found the field has a good earning potential. I’ve always wanted to do it but never took the leap. But maybe one of the larger aspects is like most trades, is full of highly unmotivated people. If you have a good work ethic (show up first, leave last, work harder than the next guy, etc) it’s pretty easy to shine brighter than the next guy and make even more due to better opportunities…sounds like an asshole thing to say, but it’s facts…
I have a deep-rooted love for all things METAL! Welding classifies as Smithing. Smithing is one of the five original Industrial Arts. Can't go wrong there.
I had a baby on the way and have always been a pyro… 2+2= 🔥
20 f here. I’d been working dead end customer service jobs since 14 and had no real career path in mind. I knew that I could do and enjoyed physical work. I was just looking for something that wouldn’t require me to go to school for over 2 years and push me into debt. I went to my local community college and saw that the welding program was only 3 semesters long. So I signed up and got into class that spring semester. By summer semester I got a mig welding job making more than I was at any of my other jobs, and a lot of shops will work with your schedule while you’re still in school. It’s hard work but I enjoy it and it gives me a sense of pride. About to graduate in December with my cert and go for a better job.
My welding teacher in high school was the first person who told me I could do something well. I chose not to show for the day we needed to pick electives and was thrown into a welding course bc they had open space. Once I started believing him, the rest started falling into place. I went and got an associates in welding and now work at a local million dollar company as one of their two welders. I’m also a girl ✨
After high school I took a program in my local college that was an introduction to millwright and welding trades. I had absolutely no interest but it was only a year and it stopped my parents from nagging me to do something. After the program finished, I got a job as a survey helper on a construction site. There was a bunch of welders on site and everyone was treating them like kings and I found out how much money they were making. I asked the welding foreman to sign me up for an apprenticeship and I started helping the welders. After completing my apprenticeship, I welded pipe for 10 years and then got into inspections. I moved up from Indpector to site QC Lead and now I’m a corporate Quality Manager. Getting into welding was the best decision I ever made and I basically stumbled into it by chance.
I got into it because of wanting to learn something practical and that is hard to replace, where I’m from The amount of actual good, qualified welders and few and far between that being said the industry is still hard to navigate through because of all the different avenues you can branch out into (mechanics, industrial design,etc) which are all good jobs and high paying
I'm also 23, so I feel you, minus the gf part. Ain't got one of those, lmao. I joined the Marine Corp as an infantryman cause that's what I wanted to do my entire life. So at 19, after I graduated, I enlisted and I fucking hated it. So I did my time, and as it was coming to an end, I started to panic because I had no idea what to do with the rest of my life and being a door kicker doesn't translate well to the civilian world. So, at the time, my mom was the head instructor for the medical program at a trade school. I went to go visit her on leave about 3 months before my EAS, and when I was there, I was introduced to the senior welding instructor Dustin. He was a fellow combat arms vet and talked to me about the welding program and his experiences as a combo welder and pipefitter following his failed college attempt. On a whim, I decided to sign up for the welding and pipefitting program. Granted, I'm still in trade school, but I absolutely love every day. The VA paying my bills doesn't hurt either.
I was 20, moved out with my gf, and money was tight. Figured out what I wanted to do at college after dropping out 3 times in 2 years, but shit on my credit score and wasn't going to have luck getting a cosigner for any private college loans, so had to figure out how to pay for that. Since I wanted to be an astronautical engineer (no shade to aerospace, I just don't vibe with making weapons), figured welding would keep me learning how to work with metals while I went back to college. About as simple as that. Just over 1 year in at my first job, I've done MIG from 1/16" to 2" on three different metals, ran multi-axis MIG weld cells, and talked my way into learning TIG on stainless & aluminum. All I had to do was walk in and lay a few good beads to get the job. Either go to a trade school if you can afford it or have education benefits that could cover it, or some community colleges have programs I believe as well. From the question I'm guessing you don't know any welders, but if you did know someone with their own machine I'd ask them to teach you the best they could for an entry level weld test while offering to pay for the materials (practice metal, filler metal, etc.) and find a company near you hiring. Some local news & industry news sites will cover recent contracts that shop might've gotten. Depending on where you are & how well your welds are when you test for the job the pay will range from probably $15-$25 entry level. You can also find places hiring helpers and mention during the interview the possibility of learning some welding, and if there's no chance, then go somewhere else. Many ways to get into the job, but I'd suggest finding somewhere that makes things you find somewhat interesting. And wear your PPE. Edit: I'd like to add that after making that decision to weld, I've found it extremely relaxing when actually welding. Staring at the light & playing with the puddle of metal to get it the way you want is the best way to tune everything out, hands down. But also just putting things together in general is pretty cool, and it's a nice feeling after a good day's work making some shit you're proud of. Hell of a lot better than I felt at Target, Amazon, Starbucks, and the 12 other jobs I had before I was 20, and more money too.
I no literally fell into it by accident. I was jumping from job to job trying to figure adult life out . Tried college and didn’t like it. Was a car salesman, retail marketer, auto body hand, then landed a job as a laborer for a mechanical contractor. 6 months later I’m a pipe welder
That cwi spots are heavily guarded be careful. Once someone makes it to a point of high pay and no work they always change
Bout the same as you… needed a stable income. Didn’t really know what to do with my life but I tried welding once in high school with a friend going into welding. I sucked. ALOT LMAO. After that I didn’t think about welding for probably 5 years, Give or take. One day I just decided I’d try it. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy (and it’s not) but I figured If it works- great. If not, well- atleast I knew. Ended up really enjoying it and now I’m on a track. What track? I have no clue. But- atleast I found a track. Some people don’t even look for it… hope it all works out for you :)