Welding Schools - Welding Training

At first thought, welding may seem a pretty simple concept. It is indeed the most common way of permanently joining metal parts. Heat, applied to metal pieces, melts and fuses them to form a permanent bond.

As basic as it may seem, welding is central to industries as varied and important as shipbuilding, automobile manufacturing and repair, aerospace applications, and thousands of other manufacturing activities. Welding is also used to join beams when constructing buildings, bridges, and other structures, and to join pipes in pipelines, power plants, and refineries.

Because of this ubiquity, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, job prospects for welders should be excellent in the upcoming years.

Welding Schools Training

Welding involves many types of processes, all taught at welding schools that are increasingly turning up in trade school curriculums around thecountry.

Training at welding schools can range from a few weeks of school to several years of combined school and on-the-job training for highly skilled jobs. Formal training is available in high schools, vocational schools, and post secondary institutions, such as vocational-technical institutes, community colleges, and private welding schools.

The Armed Forces operate welding schools as well. Courses in blueprintreading, shop mathematics, mechanical drawing, physics, chemistry, and metallurgy are all potentially taught at welding schools. Knowledge of computers is gaining importance, especially for welding machine operators, who are becoming responsible for the programming ofcomputer-controlled machines, including robots.

Job Prospects for Welding School Graduates

Job prospects for welding should be excellent, as many potentialentrants who could be welders may prefer to attend college or mayprefer work that has more comfortable working conditions. While welding jobs may proliferate, they usually involve working outdoors or in difficult working environments.

In 2002, the middle 50 percent of welders earned between $11.41 and $17.34, a pretty decent median of wage.