In my shop, most students would rather be in the shop than classroom. I completely agree, I would rather be in the shop myself. As far as I am concerned, know one has ever learned to weld just by reading a book. It takes shop time, and plenty of it. The longer I work as a welding instructor, the more need I see for book work. I have always believed we need to cover safety in both the classroom and shop, and cover the very basic machine set up, and then learn everything else in the shop. While I still agree more time should be spent in the shop than in the classroom because the skill is learned in the shop. I often get to talk to industry and try to get a feel for changes that need to be made from the comments I hear back. I have a good reputation for turning out good welders, unless someone ask them a question about why they do something a particular way. "Because Keeton said so" isn't the right answer. In the last two years I have expanded my use of the classroom. We don't necessary spend more time in the classroom, but we spend more time covering material I feel is important, and less time covering what a book publisher thinks is important. A contractor called me the other day, and told me he had hired one of my former students. He was impressed because his new employee asked to see a WPS (Welding Procedure Specification) prior to starting to weld. None of our text covers how to read, write, or follow a WPS, but I think its important to know what process your welding with, amperage or voltage range, and the type of material you are welding on. Seems pretty important right. I would like some comments on other things that are important, that are not covered in welding text.
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As little as 5 years ago, I would advise welding students to take the 48 credit hours offered in welding and go get a job. Welding jobs are everywhere, so why spend the extra time and money to take all of those other classes? The answer is the difference between a job and a career. A welder that can pass a qualification test won't be unemployed long, if they show up for work. The problem is, in most cases they will always be under the hood, because they only have the ability to weld. Learning math and English wasn't important to them. I tell my student it's up to them, but if they would like to move up and grow with a company, they will need the education to go with the skill. Tradesman are often supervised by people who have know trade skills what so ever, but they have a degree. Company's jump at the chance to hire someone who possesses both the trade and education. Chances are you will still be under the hood, until opportunities arise for promotion, but when the time comes, you have the requirements the company really wants.
The most understood word in the field of welding is certification. It all starts with industry, how many times do you see the job posting for a certified welder. A welder is not certified until he or she is hired and the company's certifying official says they are. Does the certifying official have to be a CWI? No. Does the certifying official have to see you weld? No. Does being, or thinking your a certified welder make you a better welder? No. Then why does the company want a certified welder? The questions above have a rather simple answer, and I too have misspoken and used the wrong wording. The wrong wording is currently on my schools website. When a welder takes a welding test, it's not a certification test, it's a qualification test. When a welder takes a welding qualification test here at my school all it does is let an employer know that on a given day, this person welded a test plate or pipe in a way that met the minimum standards of a given code. When someone applies for a job and they have a weld qualification record signed by a CWI, it simply gets your application moved from one stack to the other, and in most cases if the company is hiring you will be the first to take a welding test, since there is documentation that you have already passed a welding qualification test. In some cases the company's certifying official will accept a previous welding qualification without having the welder retest, but in most cases when you go from job to job, you re-qualify. Once hired by a company and a qualification test is given, the certifying official for that company signs off and then and only then are you considered certified and you are only certified for that welding process, for that company. In most cases the certifying official will be a CWI, or the company will have their welders qualified by an independent consultant who is a CWI, and the certifying official will observe the test.
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AuthorI am a veteran, who picked up the welding trade while in the Army. With the exception of a 6 year period of my life, I have pretty much always been a welder. I stared college at 35, and have been going ever since. Pretty soon, I think I will be a smart welder!!! ArchivesCategories |