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Started By
Message
re: Welding Entry Jobs
Posted on 3/14/26 at 6:20 pm to Zephyrius
Posted on 3/14/26 at 6:20 pm to Zephyrius
First, make sure he has plenty of pearl snap shirts. That's a requirement apparently. Then he has to have a self inflated ego but that may come with experience. After that, the jobs should come rolling.
In all seriousness, he may way to look at www.laworks.net.
In all seriousness, he may way to look at www.laworks.net.
0
Posted on 3/14/26 at 6:32 pm to Zephyrius
Do a couple of months as a helper...he will pick up valuable info.
Also...look at trailer manufactures...they always need welders.
Also...look at trailer manufactures...they always need welders.
Posted on 3/14/26 at 6:56 pm to Zephyrius
quote:
My son is getting his certification in welding. He sees some welder helper job listings and talked with some fabrication shops but the fab shops is more grunt work than welding starting out.
Yes
quote:
Where should he look to get work with no experience?
If a place hires him he definitely shouldn't work there
Posted on 3/14/26 at 7:39 pm to F1y0n7h3W4LL
quote:
learned to weld in ankle deep water on an offshore oil rig. The welder I was learning from turned to me and said, "Tickles a bit, don't it?!
I’ve welded on aerators in my catfish ponds in chest deep water with no gloves and the handle guard was broken
Got zapped more than a few times
Posted on 3/14/26 at 7:55 pm to Zephyrius
Take the first thing he can get and upgrade
Posted on 3/14/26 at 8:21 pm to Purple Spoon
He should skip the grunt work and learn to fab up truck nuts. With $5 a gallon diesel the oilfield is about to boom and the demand for them will be high. Welding on lift kits and custom exhaust work will boost his pay to at least 350K a year
Posted on 3/14/26 at 9:34 pm to cubsfinger
quote:
Northshore?
Yes
Posted on 3/14/26 at 9:41 pm to Zephyrius
Posted on 3/14/26 at 10:16 pm to Zephyrius
If he wants to work in the refineries:
1) get hired on as a helper
2) test and move to structural welder when a spot opens up
3) keep practicing on some spare pipe coupons during slow times
4) Eventually get his name put in to go do the required pipe tests
Really just needs to get on with that first company then easy to break through.
1) get hired on as a helper
2) test and move to structural welder when a spot opens up
3) keep practicing on some spare pipe coupons during slow times
4) Eventually get his name put in to go do the required pipe tests
Really just needs to get on with that first company then easy to break through.
Posted on 3/14/26 at 10:40 pm to Zephyrius
The certifications and community college training really mean nothing, coming from an employer of those trades.
Several of my great welders started as helpers and apprentices during welding school and never had any reason to finish.
If he won’t do shop monkey work to start, then he may not be cut out for the trade.
Several of my great welders started as helpers and apprentices during welding school and never had any reason to finish.
If he won’t do shop monkey work to start, then he may not be cut out for the trade.
Posted on 3/15/26 at 6:44 am to Zephyrius
Currently good demand for entry/low rate welders. The big buck jobs aren't desperate in most places.
Posted on 3/15/26 at 6:47 am to redneck hippie
quote:
Shop welders don’t get paid much, around $20-25/hr
Depends on the shop, welding type, and region.
Posted on 3/15/26 at 6:59 am to UKWildcats
quote:
You gotta pay your dues if you wanna play the blues, And you know it don't come easy. OP, I decided at 38 yrs old I was miserable doing what I was doing, even if I was making real good money and had excellent benefits. I hated where I was at and decided to change my career and thus my life. I decided on trade school and plumbing. I went to UK in my 20s, I'm educated, not some down and out baw who can't put 2 and 2 together. I went back to school at night and worked during the day. I was hauling material, equipment, tools, grabbing parts, digging ditches, etc, for guys who were in their late 20s early 30s. But I did what I had to do to establish myself and earn my spot. Your son isnt too good to be a helper at a fab shop. Tell him to sack up and put in the work. You don't get to just jump ahead in line.
This. Had to be said again.
Posted on 3/16/26 at 2:23 pm to Zephyrius
Most kids that go to school for welding learn stick only.
It`s better to start in a fab shop as a helper and practice on his time. Those schools are just making money without giving the students any real experience.
There are other processes that you have to pass a test for to weld in shops and in the field, that just stick welding.
He needs to be the grunt and show that he can work with and be able to gain the respect as a worker to the guys who have been in the field for years. Those welders will show him the ropes and help him be a better welder if he is cut out for it.
It`s better to start in a fab shop as a helper and practice on his time. Those schools are just making money without giving the students any real experience.
There are other processes that you have to pass a test for to weld in shops and in the field, that just stick welding.
He needs to be the grunt and show that he can work with and be able to gain the respect as a worker to the guys who have been in the field for years. Those welders will show him the ropes and help him be a better welder if he is cut out for it.
Posted on 3/16/26 at 2:32 pm to redneck hippie
quote:
Shop welders don’t get paid much, around $20-25/hr.
The guys that are knocking down $75-85 typically specialize in a specific industry, like pipelines, refineries or aerospace. These jobs typically require a lot of travel
My shop pays welders who can pass all 3 of our processes $36 an hour.
Most fab shops pay around the same if they are in neighboring cities.
This post was edited on 3/16/26 at 2:34 pm
Posted on 3/16/26 at 3:25 pm to Zephyrius
quote:
Thanks, he is just trying to figure what he can expect starting out.
I've been moonlighting as a welder over the last year or so. Been a hobby welder for 15 years now and have accumulated tens of thousands of dollars in equipment. When I show up to a job, I bring the kitchen sink because I don't want to stop working for something I need. Knowing how to run a bead is maybe 10% of what makes a good welder. Working in a shop is child's play. The worker is told what to do and probably not bothered with the why you're doing it. Depending on what he wants to do, I'd encourage him to take a job welding in the field (not in a shop), and not only pay attention to what he's doing, but why he's doing it. I framed up a shop this weekend and my helper is a 60 year old guy. Dude does what I ask him to, and I'm teaching him why we do it. It's interesting that he's as productive as he is. He's better than the helpers I've used in their 20s and 30s.
There is good money in pipe fencing. The job requires you to know how to operate machinery, know a little more than average about painting, welding, cutting, how to use a fence stretcher and technique on how to tie the fence up. Lots of fences look like hot garbage the day the job is done. Know how to frame gates in, know when and where to use what kind of gates. It IS NOT rocket surgery, but it does require the ability to see the complete project before it begins and head off problems. For reference on the finances, I've done several fences that are just post and top rail with no climb where the job total was $30k and may have had $10k in material. I was charging $26 a foot last summer and had maybe $6 in material expense.
If he wants to do structural stuff, he needs to learn some basic form of physics. Not necessarily structural loads, but what is normal and what isn't. The "blueprint" I was working with this weekend didn't show a vertical support, but looking at it, I could tell it needed one so I added it. You can't span a 4" Cee Purlin 20 feet. Without experience he wouldn't know to look at this. And with structural stuff, one weld could cost someone their life in extreme circumstances, and at a minimum carries a liability in the thousands.
Posted on 3/16/26 at 3:29 pm to deltaland
quote:
Got zapped more than a few times
I reworked our boat dock from ladders and in swimsuits. A buddy jumped up to grab the lead and grabbed the business end. His muscles clenched around the electrode holder and he couldn't free himself until the other guy standing next to him yanked it out of his hands. Scariest shite I've had happen.
Posted on 3/16/26 at 4:15 pm to Zephyrius
If he already knows everything then he’ll make a good pipeline weldor.
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