Welding Tips and Tricks

I've had my certifications for the past 3 months and I keep either hearing that i'm "not qualified enough" or I "don't have enough experience". There's a fab shop (sweat shop) in my area but I really don't want to work there. Any ideas as to what I should do?

Well, I guess you are stuck in he place along with many. That's the hard part about welding. You have to start somewhere. Look at any job for welding. At least 1-2 years experience if by more. As much as it will suck working in a sweat shop, it will give you something to live on and experience. The other thing to do is while you're working is keep lookin for jobs until you get another one and keep moving up the ladder.

I worked lots of sweatshops. I'd spend 6-14 months at each one, until I'd learned all they were ever going to teach me without me marrying the boss' sister, and I'd move to the next one.

I've kept all the knowledge gained along the way, and parlayed it into a job I look forward to going to each day.

Steve S

Gotta start somewhere,

I would take it and if it's horrible, then quit. Maybe you'll like it and get the years under the belt that you need.

Even if you take a job you may not like, as others have said "gotta start somewhere" you never know that shop may be a great stepping stone in advancing your knowledge, keep a good attitude.

A persons reputation is more valuable then silver or gold..old proverb

With the companies you would like to work for, go back every month or so and ask about any openings, when one is available they'll remember the guy who really wants to work there.

What kind of certs do you have? Do they cover several different processes? Sometimes it's useful to get a 6G pipe cert or something like that because then you're qualified for all positions for pipe and plate. There's several places in my area that will give a pipe welder a chance because of the high demand, even without much experience. It's all about being able to pass the company's test.

I've also found it's useful to be able to use different machines and techniques. I recently got bit by a test where I had to use scratch start Tig which I had never done before. I was also using a passive shade helmet, so it was tough to learn on the spot. After getting over being pissed off (the foreman assured me the day before it would be an xmt machine with lift-arc), I just went back to school and got my teacher to hook up an old rig and I went to town for two weeks learning how to scrape my filler rod over my tungsten on all positions on the pipe. Now I'll be covered on the next test whether I'm able to use a high freq setup or something more akin to field work.

A cert for a 2G plate test with a backing bar is pretty worthless for instance. It's nice to say "I'm certified" but it doesn't really transfer to any real type of welding out there. Any structural job that pays anything will require 4G and 3G and usually open root. And if you could pass a 4G Plate test, there's work out there. I recently read there was a 200,000 welder deficit world wide and that number only increases year over year so don't give up yet.

Take the sweat shop job. I wish I had a sweat shop job. I'm currently mig welding uphill in the snow both ways .

I'm currently working for a mechanical contractor. We do the maintenance at a plant that grinds coal into powder and then leaks half of it out. The plant shut down for Christmas and there was a thaw on Christmas Eve, so I got to lay in a little river of coal and clay sludge to put patches on a rusted out auger with a little bit of mud rain from the snow melting off of all the shoots and ladders above me. The title for the job listing was "Welder/Fabricator." I wish I would have hung up the phone when he asked me if I was ok with heights.

Thank you!

Try to find other job opportunities while you work in the sweet shop.

As a former employer, it is easier to find work if you have work. Being unemployed raises questions like "If you are so good or valuable, why are you unemployed?"

I eventually made everybody unemployed and went back to being a 1 man show.

I have the opposite problem. I have ~6 years experience in dual shield MIG, 5 years in stick, 2 years in TIG, no certs but I certainly have the experience. Everyone I talk to and test for ends up picking someone with certs but no experience. I also am having a VERY hard time finding anyone in the Puyallup, WA area that still runs spray arc dual shield which is my biggest strength, they've all cheaped out to short circuit transfer.

Unit562 wrote:I have the opposite problem. I have ~6 years experience in dual shield MIG, 5 years in stick, 2 years in TIG, no certs but I certainly have the experience. Everyone I talk to and test for ends up picking someone with certs but no experience. I also am having a VERY hard time finding anyone in the Puyallup, WA area that still runs spray arc dual shield which is my biggest strength, they've all cheaped out to short circuit transfer.

Then do yourself a favor and get some DOT certs with those processes. You’ll be very employable that way for higher pay and longer stretches.

I think sometimes employers want experience but are only willing to pay for someone who has just enough experience to be starting out. Having certs is a bench mark they use to justify this decision. It proves the basic knowledge to run a machine, but not enough to demand for the pay that they deserve.

Probably a stupid question, but for those of us outside the US, What are certs and how can you get certs without experience. We got "certs" but you wanna be damn good to have a crack at doing one cause if its not perfect then you just donated 2000 dollars to the tech college. minimum couple of yrs or so experience before enrolling in it.

I would say that’s general pretty much the way it works in the US as well.

Hey!
I'm a bit late to the game, but I'd say the same things as everyone: take the sweatshop work!

I had certs too when starting, but they served just as a proof I knew my way around a welding machine.
I had only access to entry-level jobs (and entry level pay) but it didn't lasted long.

My advice would be to go for temporary work with weekly contracts, so you can leave easily, and keep looking for something else when you're already working.

I don't know how it works where you are, but in France we have a ton of employment agencies (intérim agencies, dunno if the word exist in English), I would just go to each of them, asking if they were searching for welders and offering to leave a my CV.
The good thing is you can state your conditions ( minimal pay, duration of contract, mobility...) and they will do the search for you.
Then you just wait for a call, while searching jobs offers online. I never waited more than 3 weeks.

At first, I took everything, as long as it payed better than the previous, it helps a lot to see what the welding world is really about. Now I can be more picky, as I want to go deeper in the piping trade, but I'm still raising my hourly rate with each contract (usually around 1 or 2 month).

Also, I've been offered more permanent positions in almost every company I went, so it's a good way to get hired too.

Finally, on working with certificates, I'm reaching a point where my current agency will probably agree to pay me a certification for pipe if I ask for it, as it would allow them to send me on more paying jobs (for me and thus for them), and after a few contracts, they know me and how I work.

I wish you good luck, hopefully you'll find soon an exciting and fulfilling job!