Hello all,
My son has completed his 12th grade and now he’s in search of a good career for his future. I was searching Colleges for him but he told me that he’s interested in welding. He is interested in attending Flux core arc welding courses.This is the turning point in his life, so I want to make sure that the decision which I’m going to take will help him in his future. Is welding a career?? I would like to get suggestions from you all?? Has anyone’s son chosen welding as his career?? Is this a good decision??
Yeah, it’s a decent career, with salaries from $15-25/hour.
Is this a serious inquiry or are you are trying to advertise a for profit school? Check out “plumbers and fitters” unions. and “union apprenticeship programs.” We toured our county’s Tech high school a couple of years ago during an open house. They were offering high school graduates about $25k per year with benefits and paying for school. The rep said they are losing welders to retirement and the demand exceeds the supply. He told us they need welders so badly they will pay for training. Don’t pay a for profit school. You should be able to find a community college near where you live and tuition will be much cheaper. We found out an underwater welder can make $100k/year but they retire at about age 25. My son had welding as part of a small engine repair class in 10th grade and decided he’s afraid of it. Two other free training sources are Newport News Shipbuilders School (they pay student a salary) and the U.S. Navy.
Our community college has a program that combines scuba diving and welding into a marine diving technology program. The graduates are paid well by oil companies, but it is more of a young person’s career.
My niece’s husband is a welder. They got married about 3 years ago, but because he is (gasp)Canadian, it took him a few years (yes years) to get a work permit. Until he got that, he worked in Canada and she worked in Washington (for a time in Montana) and they traveled between the two. He easily had work in Canada and as soon as he got his green card with permission to work, he got a job at the first place he applied. He usually works four 10’s, and has all the overtime he wants too. He is currently working on passenger ferry sized boats. Niece has a fairly flexible job too, so they are always traveling, skiing, kite surfing. They really like their life.
I worked in the aerospace world where we did a fair amount of welding. Although that was not my field, those that were welders were considered artisans of their trade. It was good work and they were well paid. So, yes welding can be great field.
There would be nothing stopping him from becoming a welder now and if he decided on later to go to college, a career as a weld engineer would be a logical growth path.
My husband is a welder. He actually runs a family business doing something else and welds as a side job. He builds and fabricates custom race cars/hot rods. He has so much work that he can’t keep up. We have been looking to hire someone to help out but can’t find anybody. There is a huge demand for good welders! From what I’ve heard, Tulsa’s welding school is one of the best.
My husband does remodeling, and he can never find a welder when he needs one – they are always so stacked up with work. If your son has an artistic streak, he can do other things with his skills too. I know a local woman (a stay at home mom) who took welding classes. She now charges $600 to make coffee tables!
I have a family member that works at a multinational company that hires welders. They make a good salary and there is a career path for those who wish to become supervisors and trainers.
I’m a structural engineer - I just attended a seminar on welding! It sounds like a great career. I know welders are much in demand in Maine.
PS - I deleted the link to the welding course, in case it was spam. 
My daughter’s boyfriend is a welder. He took an 8 month welding course at a for-profit school (I think because there was a backlog at our community college - it didn’t seem the wisest choice to me). The kids from his school who found jobs took jobs that paid $12-13/hour. While there were a lot of welding jobs advertised, most wanted 5 years of experience. He chose to move to the gulf coast and work at a big shipyard right out of school - it was much better money and great experience, as they had more “under the hood” time than most welders and worked with a wider variety of metals. It was physically demanding. They have since moved back to the midwest and he is working for a company here. They matched his shipyard salary, but most of the welders he works with (even the more experienced ones) are making $13-14/hour. They have a lot of mandatory overtime at time and a half, though. I think a lot depends upon where you live, what jobs are available there and whether you’re willing to relocate. There seem to be plenty of good paying welding jobs in Mississippi and North Dakota and I’m sure there are in other places as well. In my immediate area, though, the market for entry-level welders isn’t great.
Check the demand in your area. We’re in probably one of the few areas that offers votech high school, and the job placement rate for tthe welding program is only around 50%; much lower than HVAC or Auto mechanic programs.