Is it foolish to try to train for a career as a welder at age 45?
July 22, 2015 8:52 AM Subscribe
I quit the corporate life and I'm not interested in going back. I've always thought welding was an awesome skill, so I found a school in Ohio called Hobart that has an 18 month certification course in welding. It's not cheap but I'm willing to invest the money if I have a good chance of finding employment as a rookie 45 year old welder. Is this unwise? Will my age make it impossible to find an entry level welding job? Will I be discriminated against indefinitely or do skills matter more than age?
I work at a community (technical) college in the Southeast, and our welding students get hired before they even complete their programs. Some of it may depend on industry demand in your area, but our "advanced manufacturing " sector is clamoring for skilled labor. We have older students in our programs and I'm not aware of any issues with them being hired; in fact, some may see older workers as more reliable or mature than kids just out of high school. Some states have workforce retraining funds available to cover the cost of tuition. Check with your local community college to see if you can get the program you need at a lower price point than the program in Ohio.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 9:35 AM on July 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by Sweetie Darling at 9:35 AM on July 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
Best answer: Could you may "intern" at a place that deals with welding to help out, see what life is like for a welder, and maybe they could sponsor your certification? I would try to ask around on your own what the job prospects are like, and also make sure you're clear on what your day-to-day life will be like, what sort of income you can expect, etc. I think you could see if any welders would be willing to talk to you about a career change, and maybe you'll make some professional contacts.
I see you're in New York City. Look into the Office of Adult and Continuing Education and see if they offer any cheaper classes for welding. They may not offer it for free, but where I live (not NYC) I took free classes on things like web design, graphics design, etc. as part of a workforce development program.
posted by AppleTurnover at 9:47 AM on July 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
I see you're in New York City. Look into the Office of Adult and Continuing Education and see if they offer any cheaper classes for welding. They may not offer it for free, but where I live (not NYC) I took free classes on things like web design, graphics design, etc. as part of a workforce development program.
posted by AppleTurnover at 9:47 AM on July 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Bear in mind that welding jobs (location dependant, of course) tend to pay less than other skilled trades.
posted by ssg at 11:13 AM on July 22, 2015
posted by ssg at 11:13 AM on July 22, 2015
Response by poster: Oh, I wasn't aware of that. Why is that? What trades pay more - plumbing? carpentry?
For what it's worth I just talked to a counselor at Hobart (www.welding.org) and she said average entry level salary for their graduates is 15 to 17 dollars an hour. All dependent on which industry you go into. Also, the program is only 9 months, not 18.
posted by spicynuts at 11:22 AM on July 22, 2015
For what it's worth I just talked to a counselor at Hobart (www.welding.org) and she said average entry level salary for their graduates is 15 to 17 dollars an hour. All dependent on which industry you go into. Also, the program is only 9 months, not 18.
posted by spicynuts at 11:22 AM on July 22, 2015
As a high school and college welder I found that it was not something I wanted to do as a career specifically because of the money and lack of advancement.
If you can go all out and get into underwater welding there is good money there.
Plumbing/Electrician pays a lot more. (as for why? Welding is not that hard and robots do a lot of it at the higher level)
posted by French Fry at 11:58 AM on July 22, 2015
If you can go all out and get into underwater welding there is good money there.
Plumbing/Electrician pays a lot more. (as for why? Welding is not that hard and robots do a lot of it at the higher level)
posted by French Fry at 11:58 AM on July 22, 2015
Electricians, plumbers, gasfitters, millwrights, even heavy equipment operators can earn more than welders. Supply and demand is the difference. There isn't that much welding work and there are plenty of people who can weld.
posted by ssg at 12:28 PM on July 22, 2015
posted by ssg at 12:28 PM on July 22, 2015
My father (60) took a welding course because he wanted to learn how to weld. Recruiters visited the classroom all the time and kept trying to hire him because he got pretty good and was more mature than the 19 year old yahoos in the class. The pay was quite good if you got hired into one of those large companies that send you to the field. This was in canada a few years back.
He did make me some really nice furniture legs.
posted by captaincrouton at 1:02 PM on July 22, 2015
He did make me some really nice furniture legs.
posted by captaincrouton at 1:02 PM on July 22, 2015
My husband used to be a welder, and you're right, it is a cool skill to have. It was a horrible job to have though for various reasons, many of which might be region dependent. In general, we found there were fewer and fewer jobs available (you could watch employment sites in your area to see if there is actually work available), and what jobs there were were in companies that almost invariably treated welders like cannon fodder: doing physically dangerous work (risk of injury, poor safety, plus much welding produces toxic fumes), in hot workshops, for poor pay (locked into endless cycles of permanent casual positions that never pay benefits) with the constant threat of being suddenly laid off.
In the hierarchy of metal trades "welder" is pretty close to the bottom. From what I heard, experience and competence is more important than qualifications, but a lack of qualifications can exclude you from better positions.
posted by mythical anthropomorphic amphibian at 10:09 PM on July 22, 2015
In the hierarchy of metal trades "welder" is pretty close to the bottom. From what I heard, experience and competence is more important than qualifications, but a lack of qualifications can exclude you from better positions.
posted by mythical anthropomorphic amphibian at 10:09 PM on July 22, 2015
Best answer: There are many different types of welding, and some are significantly more sought-after than others.
There are zillions of people who "can weld" but there are significantly fewer who can, for example, execute structural-quality welds in the overhead position. There are even fewer who can do a 6GR (which is a type of unbacked tubular joint). If you can do a 6GR, you have a job basically anywhere. It's all skill.
So, much depends upon your local industry. If you are in a worthwhile construction market, you could go into structural welding -- this does not necessarily mean hanging off a beam somewhere at the 45th floor, it could be in a fabrication shop. To do structural welding (that is to say, the kind that goes into buildings) you will need to be certified. AWS has a whole process for this, and it's basically mandatory. If you're interested in structural welding (again, by this I mean welding together the beams, columns and other items that go into a building), then consider contacting local fabricators to get a feel for the local market conditions. One place that lists them is aisc.org (leave the company name field blank, and search by state or ZIP).
Another side to welding is ASME-type stuff, which is process piping, boilers, that sort of thing. I'm really more familiar with structural welding (disclosure: I'm in construction engineering), but there's a reasonable overview of some differences between ASME & AWS online although it assumes some familiarity with the topic. I'm not as familiar with the demand for ASME welding, but right now is probably not a good time for that due to the petrochemical downturn.
If you haven't gone through the AWS website yet, I'd recommend it. They have a lot of info in there. Personally, and this is in the abstract since I don't know anything about your market conditions or talent, I'd consider learning structural welding (this would be according to AWS D1.1). There's opportunity to work in an enclosed environment (ie., not hanging off the end of something), and the work is reasonably varied (every building is different) so you're not competing against robots or the semi-automated rigs they use to weld bridge girders, but at the same time you could maybe get involved in outside stuff from time to time if you're interested (to do that you'd want to work for a fabricator that also did erection themselves).
On the down side, structural shops will need you to be certified, but at least the certification process does not have prerequisites -- it's test-driven ("prove that you can do this weld, right here and now in front of me"). You might be able to find a copy of AWS D1.1 in a local library or community college -- you don't need the latest one to see what you'd be getting into. It's written in code-speak, but still it's useful for learning about PQRs, WPSs, and the like.
Also, look at Lincoln Electric and Miller (they both compete with Hobart). I'm not sure about Miller, but Lincoln also runs classes of various types. You might also want to see if you can find a copy of Blodgett's "Design of welded structures" just to get a grip on what's happening on the engineering side (so you'd know why someone is asking for a particular weld); Lincoln Electric has it pretty cheap. Blodgett also has a book on design of weldments (also available from Lincoln), if you're more interested in the machines aspect -- both books are older, but they're still very well-respected.
posted by aramaic at 7:30 AM on July 23, 2015
There are zillions of people who "can weld" but there are significantly fewer who can, for example, execute structural-quality welds in the overhead position. There are even fewer who can do a 6GR (which is a type of unbacked tubular joint). If you can do a 6GR, you have a job basically anywhere. It's all skill.
So, much depends upon your local industry. If you are in a worthwhile construction market, you could go into structural welding -- this does not necessarily mean hanging off a beam somewhere at the 45th floor, it could be in a fabrication shop. To do structural welding (that is to say, the kind that goes into buildings) you will need to be certified. AWS has a whole process for this, and it's basically mandatory. If you're interested in structural welding (again, by this I mean welding together the beams, columns and other items that go into a building), then consider contacting local fabricators to get a feel for the local market conditions. One place that lists them is aisc.org (leave the company name field blank, and search by state or ZIP).
Another side to welding is ASME-type stuff, which is process piping, boilers, that sort of thing. I'm really more familiar with structural welding (disclosure: I'm in construction engineering), but there's a reasonable overview of some differences between ASME & AWS online although it assumes some familiarity with the topic. I'm not as familiar with the demand for ASME welding, but right now is probably not a good time for that due to the petrochemical downturn.
If you haven't gone through the AWS website yet, I'd recommend it. They have a lot of info in there. Personally, and this is in the abstract since I don't know anything about your market conditions or talent, I'd consider learning structural welding (this would be according to AWS D1.1). There's opportunity to work in an enclosed environment (ie., not hanging off the end of something), and the work is reasonably varied (every building is different) so you're not competing against robots or the semi-automated rigs they use to weld bridge girders, but at the same time you could maybe get involved in outside stuff from time to time if you're interested (to do that you'd want to work for a fabricator that also did erection themselves).
On the down side, structural shops will need you to be certified, but at least the certification process does not have prerequisites -- it's test-driven ("prove that you can do this weld, right here and now in front of me"). You might be able to find a copy of AWS D1.1 in a local library or community college -- you don't need the latest one to see what you'd be getting into. It's written in code-speak, but still it's useful for learning about PQRs, WPSs, and the like.
Also, look at Lincoln Electric and Miller (they both compete with Hobart). I'm not sure about Miller, but Lincoln also runs classes of various types. You might also want to see if you can find a copy of Blodgett's "Design of welded structures" just to get a grip on what's happening on the engineering side (so you'd know why someone is asking for a particular weld); Lincoln Electric has it pretty cheap. Blodgett also has a book on design of weldments (also available from Lincoln), if you're more interested in the machines aspect -- both books are older, but they're still very well-respected.
posted by aramaic at 7:30 AM on July 23, 2015
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posted by blue_beetle at 9:32 AM on July 22, 2015 [4 favorites]