Welding Tips and Tricks

hello, i'm a totally new guy to this forum and new to finding a welding job. im 20, and I've been at job corps for a year learning to weld, and I'm about to graduate and start my career. I'd never been exposed to welding before i came to job corps, but i fell in love immediately as I've always loved working with my hands and creating things. I found i have a natural skill for it, and i've learned the procceses quickly, i am now familiar with stick, flux core, hard wire, aluminum tig, oxyfuel cutting and the various machines and tools that go along with welding. i earned my 3g aws certs for 7018 and flux core, and i'm really confident in my abilities, but i dont really know how to get in the game to get a job. i'm looking to eventually joining a pipe fitters union, but i need to get home and have a job so i can make money and start supporting myself. i've had jobs before, so i'm not totally unfamiliar with interviews and such, but that was mcdonalds and bullshit like that, and i dont ever wanna go back. i lived with my parents and still had barely enough to scrape by with insurance and other bills.. anyway i ramble alot, so basically i just would like some advice on how to find welding jobs in my area, and whats the best way to get that job once ive found it. my instructor here at job corps has been welding for like 25 years and she's awesome, she's totally supportive and does everything to help every one of her students to succeed. She's even on this forum, as romijo. she knows alot of people here around washington, and she says word of mouth is a great way to get a job in the welding community, but i live in idaho and she doesn't really have contacts there that could help me out. so i'm kinda starting blind here. im not even moving back to my hometown, i'm going somewhere new so i definitely dont have any contacts of my own that could point me in the right direction and give prospective employers a reccomendation. none of my family is in the industry either... sorry i know im rambling but i'm also trying to give enough information to breed responses that can really help me. so ya, would any of u have a story or advice from personal experience that could help me? anyone happen to be in pocatello idaho, or know people from there that would at least know where to start looking for a job? i know im a great welder who can learn new things quickly and i'll work my ass off when i get a job, but im not so cocky that i wont listen to other people so any advice will be appreciated.

Hi there.

What ever town you're in, hit the streets. Walk in to the welding shops and talk to em. Tell them your situation and what you are willing to do. Keep it simple, and be ready to work that minute. Keep your welding sheild in the car just in case. You never know when someone might say " can you show us ya skills or can you start right now"

Good Luck.
Mick

It would be nice to see how you could actually start out but it would be tough to get to a good spot right from the get go. Most of the newer blokes need to have quite a good experience for them to be considered though with all the things that you have probably experienced, that would work to your advantage here.

I see that you are really versed with it so that should suit you just fine. Just weed through them and that would be great for you.

Hi, weld_this,

I see from your post you have above average writing skills (ignoring capitalization and such, as happens on message boards, you apparently write, spell, and , by inferrence, speak well), and this will help you. As someone directly out of school, you'll need an impressive resume' to make that first job easy to obtain.

Craigslist is a starting point, but beware. If they don't post wages, the phrase "competitve pay" means they don't pay a nickel more or less than the other shitty shop across the street.

Here's an option: http://constructionworkers.us/super.php
Just put "weld" under "what", and start local under "where" (City, State). Broaden by removing "city". If you're in a position to travel (and are willing to do so), enter "weld per diem" and leave "where" blank. I've made $3K/week travelling.

If you choose a shop job close to home, choose one that does what you want to do with your new skills (pipe, structure, fabrication, automotive, etc.) so it looks good on a resume' later. Let your interests lead you, so that you never hate the work you've chosen.

Best of luck,

Steve

I was in the same boat as you about 3 years ago. The biggest thing that got me hired before any of my peers straight out of welding school was turning in a resume with the application and having samples on hand to showcase my work. Those samples got my foot in the door to take a welding test at places that weren't even hiring.

Going to add two cents worth here, even though it's an old post, for whoever may happen to see it. Over the many years I have worked, we typically always needed new talent. The time span of when upper management started talking about hiring, to the point of when they actually solicited for it, could be as much as 3-6 months! I noticed this a lot. I'd be working and supers would be asking the workers if they knew anyone needing a job etc.

Knowing this, whenever I needed a job local, I would go through the yellow pages and make a list of every welding company in there and just call them and ask. Why? Because I was tired of the application mills. You know the type. They will put an ad out and just keep taking applications for future reference even after the position has been filled. I would show up at an office and be in there filling out apps with 5 other guys. This takes a lot of time and fuel etc. Since I have started just chancing it through the phone book, I typically end up with too many jobs. The most common response I would get from their secretary was, " Yes, we were about to put out an ad for help." This had multiple advantages. First off, I was the early bird. Second, I would get higher pay for them not having to use an employment service. Thirdly, if you have good communication skills with presenting yourself professionally, they want to talk to you and you can get inside information, such as, are they really hiring or just getting slim on their application database.

Whether they know it or not, they are getting a glimpse of a first impression just by talking to you. I have gone in for an interview after I had reverse solicited them and had the person in charge of hiring tell me that their secretary had been impressed and already put in a good word, or at least a good vibe to that effect.

Companies get solicited all the time. If your local paper is slack on ads, there is nothing to lose by trying this. If you have good, or even exceptional communication skills, there is no reason not to sell yourself with it. Especially now, where many people are doing good to even spell their own names, or get thru an entire sentence without saying. . ."dude."

I also wanted to add...

A friend of mine graduated welding school a few weeks ago. He told me when he was halfway through (where I am now) he started emailing the companies who posted jobs. He would introduce himself, tell them he was a current student and interested in the company, and ask for any information on applying. This is only maybe one or two paragraphs.. a short email but after sending maybe 5 or 6 out, a small aerospace company wrote him back and said if he would send some pictures and video of his work, they would interview him. He's doing TIG on a lot of airframe for a pretty decent hourly wage (I think it was 23-24$ something). No per diem but they gave him stock options, full benefits.

It's basically the same idea as looking them up and calling. He's just not a very social person. Market yourself. If you can get a contact number or email for HR or Admin, shoot a message. I've contacted 3 companies so far. One is a subsidiary of Halliburton and they've called back to check on my progress in school. I guess it doesn't hurt that I'm prior service and still have a TS clearance.

You get what you give, searching for any type of job.

Badnewsfl.

I agree, if they do not know you are out there, how can they contact you.

I use to send out about eighty resumes to different companies, three months in advance, from when I planned to start working. One would go to the personnel office and the other to the person that I would probably of been my immediate supervisor. To find out the name of the supervisor, it was necessary to do a some internet poking around and a few inquisitive phone calls.

About one half of them (forty) did not even answer.
About one quarter (twenty) answered diplomatically stating they would get back to me if needed.
About an eighth (ten) were the number punchers from the personnel offices that would want an interview but without serious prospects of work ... a sort of way of documenting their own recruiting work. I quickly learned to avoid those bullshit interviews.

But the last eighth (ten) were serious responses. Most of them from the supervisor himself, or from the personnel office after contacting the supervisor, but with a serious intent. I will only go to an interview if I get a chance to talk by phone with who would be my immediate supervisor. In that way, I filter them by phone, they filter me by phone.

To make a long story short, out of eighty resumes, I get use to get four solid job offers ... about 5% of the resumes.

Another avenue of course is by word of mouth ... and it works. The more jobs we do, the bigger our info network expands. Often a recruiter will request names of potential employees.

Well enough said.
Alexa

Kinda old thread but I hope my experience can help somebody. Otto's right bout letting your interest lead; if the glove doesn't fit don't wear it. I had a humiliating first welding job because I chose the wrong industry to learn in; I dreaded waking up morning and would try to drink myself dead every weekend; don't be that guy. I learned real quickly welding in school is by far no comparison to what is expected of you in the real working world.