Daniel
I am dismayed to read your posts about the CWI Exam and your experience at the Hobart CWI training course. You are the first person I have ever heard say what you did about this course. I sure would like to speak to the "several people" you spoke to who failed this test after taking the same classes you did. I do not believe you are telling their side of the story!!!!
I take issue with your contention that "AWS doesn't want every Tom, Dick and Harry to be a CWI so they purposely make it hard to pass..." Almost half of the Society Membership is made up of CWIs!?!?! I can tell you that the AWS does NOT want unqualified persons to be CWIs. Your statement sounds like sour grapes to me!
In another post you said that you taught various welding processes in some school??? Do you really, really have the necessary background and experience with a code to even qualify to take the CWI Exam? Did you really really weld to a code, or were you just a general type welder???? No one is supposed to take this test "Cold" as you put it! They are supposed to have the minimum experience and the minimum level of knowledge about the various subjects listed in AWS B5.1.
You said; 'Part B is a crock. You must get a handle on this before taking the test. Measuring welds, defects and so on..." Why is measuring weld defects "crock"?!?!?! Don't you think that a person taking a National Examination to perform weld inspection should have to demonstrate their competency to use the tools and perform a proper evaluation of a weld? Do you think that this is all you will do as a practicing CWI?
If you were a teacher of welding subjects, did you make your course and test so simple that no one would fail your course???? If you look at the AWS B5.1 "Qualification document", you will see that many subjects listed in that document are not covered on the CWI examination that you took. The CWI Exam is not that comprehensive, so, your contention that "...AWS doesn't want every Tom, Dick and Harry to be a CWI so they purposely make it hard to pass..." is really specious. It is more likely that you did not have the level of knowledge and the required experience necessary to pass this test or even be a CWI if you accidently happened to pass the examination.
The AWS Certification Committee, of which I am a Member, and the "Test Bank" subcommittee, do review the examination results on a continuing basis and reviews the test questions (Item Analysis) on a regular basis. The program is designed to weed out as many of the obviously incompetent applicants as possible, yet qualify all persons who can demonstrate the competency required to comply with AWS B5.1. The Committee uses various analytical techniques that are common to most other educational and testing programs around the world.
The AWS is a Not For Profit organization, (Not a Non-Profit organization), which tries to serve the welding industry and the general public interest. There are no stock dividends for the staff and the board members because you (and any number of others) have to retake the examination after failure. The money AWS makes from the examinations and seminars go to support the other activities of the Society and the "Administrative Costs of Operation" of the Society. The Certification Committee does not get paid anything for it's work. All members are volunteers, who pay their own travel, hotel, meals and office expenses. The Qualification Committee Members who say what the required body of knowledge subjects will be, are also total volunteers. The only satisfaction the various committee members get out of anybody failing the exam, is the knowledge that their hard work prevented some "INCOMPETENT" from staining and polluting the profession.
I hope that "using the cert that you have", does not mean that you are using a CAWI Certificate outside of the close supervision restrictions found in AWS QC-1!!!!!!!!
Joseph P. Kane
Here are the most common reasons someone will have difficulty with the test.
#1: The test IS difficult. It is not supposed to be easy.
#2: People doubt and question the information given in the prep course.
#3: Poor test taking abilities.
#4: Not dedicated to study time. They give homework at the course. If you do not do it and spend your time at the beer joint after class, you may very well have problems with the test.
#5: Limited welding experience. Due to the wording AWS uses, one can qualify to take the test and never have welded a bead. This is a little exaggerated, but if you were the janitor in a welding shop for 5 years, you could probably word it in a way so as to qualify to take the test.
#6: The person thinks they already know it all. This is a big downfall. If you already know it all you don't need the course now do you.
#7: Not following all the footnotes and references to insure the correct answer.
#8: They do not pay attention in class. Maybe an extension of #6?
#9: They lack confidence in themselves.
Now if one answers themselves HONESTLY and falls into one or more of these, especially the big ones like #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, and #8 you most definitely will have problems on test day.
Now I know that Hobart has a 60% to 80% pass rate even with the test being more difficult than it used to be.
Just food for thought.
jrw159
The CWI prep course is just that, a prep course. It should be mostly review for a qualified individual, not a two week shake and bake inspector course. No one should ever be taking this course "cold". Just my opinion though.
I don't usually post on here but, I can't help responding to bad mouthing of Hobart. We are allo entitled to our own opinion however, I took the Hobart course back in 02 and liked it so much that I have sent as many people as possible to it. A very good friend of mine recently attended the course and had nothing but good things to say about the course (and he failed part B the first time). Elmer, Nelson and Chuck were all very helpful to him when he returned to retake part B. Thanks to them and his hard work, he easily passed part B the second time. Based on my experience and the feedback I have received over the years, I would have to say that you were either not experienced enough for this test or did not put it the study time that the test requires.
JMO,
Jeff
The two week CWI prep class was the second trip to Hobart for me. The first was the one week CWS prep. Three days in, I felt the same way about the instructors. I felt that we were covering subjects that didn't pertain to the test at hand. I felt we were spending to much time on basic knowledge and not enough on the "important" stuff. When i started answering questions on the exam, I realized Elmer and Nelson knew what they were doing. The subject matter of the course was right on track to help prepare for the exam.
As far as the CWI, I already had faith in the school and Instructors so I simply did all the homework, (five to six hours a night) and paid attention to them when they said "This could be on the exam". For the record, with 12 years as a welder, I had never even held a code book in my hand before I attended the class. I passed with an 87%.
My wife and I went to HIWT this weekend and took the tour and Elmer showed us around. I thought the man was very informative and knowledgeable . I plan to take the CWI examination around April of next year at the HIWT and I plan to study the material that Elmer suggested ever day untill I take the test.
MG
Milt
I use Hobart training material to suppliment everything we do at the college. Every process as well as Bluprint reading and Inspection.. Their materials are a super foundation, and without a solid foundation it is really impossible to become a servicable expert (which is what I think a CWI ought to be)
You won't be dissapointed if you follow their guidence.
Milton,
You be sure to say hi to those guy's for me next time your there.
jrw159
I've never been to Hobart but would go. The CWI is a good hard test of knowledge. I wouldn't recommend a one or two week preparation course as the main body of your study. It should probably represent 20-30% of your test preparation study.
In a perfect world, a CWI candidate would have studied before hand and used the course as a brush-up prior to taking the test. They should have a working knowledge of welding and inspection.
I find it hard to blame the instructor for failing. They're there to guide, fine tune, and help with your weaknesses. The CWI candidate should pretty much "know" the information.
Good Luck,
Keith
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