Mightymoe I have been welding strictly in power plant shutdowns going on four years. I have been using GTAW, SMAW, and FCAW processes. I'm located here in the Tri-Cities, WA area but am willing to travel anywhere. The one year contract at $18/hr would be a serious pay cut but as I understood guarunteed employment upon successful completion of the school. Please correct me if I'm wrong. As you have mentioned a few pros I see nothing but positive things from a formal education of this type.
Lawrence I am in total agreement with you that a one year contract at $18/hr is not a big sacrifice for the education I'd be recieving in return. From what I understand Westinghouse is building plants all over the world utilizing its new AP1000 pressurized water reactor system. I'm hoping WEC Welding Institute would be a great way to get my foot in the door. I understand the raised bar with unions and a more selective process for accepting new apprentice's. I suppose there are a lot more well qualified individuals than I thought trying to get into apprenticeships.
I also wanted to add I appreciate everybody's helpful information and opinions. Keep them coming I am all open ears. Thank you
Tyson
Hello Tyson, I see by one of your comments that you are in the Tri-Cities, Wa. area, have you ever had any experience with Columbia Basin College? In the past, the folks at the school there have been considered one of the premier pipewelding facilities around and have had some pretty strong ties with the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. Many of their graduates were pretty much guaranteed placement in the union upon completion of schooling or proof of talent in the pipewelding area. If you haven't looked into their training options before you might want to do so. Best of luck to you on your future and best regards, Allan
aevald CBC is right down the street from me. I was enrolled there for the winter quarter to complete my Nuclear Engineering Technology degree but was unable to attend due to financial issues. I was not aware of the renowned pipewelding program you speak of. I will look into it. Thank you so much.
Tyson,
Four years experience in shut-downs is great. Have you been welding hangers and pipe? Carbon and stainless? How many hours a day are you actually welding?
I worked at a nuke plant for 2 outages and the inage in between (9 months) right out of tech school. I learned alot and grew as a welder but I could have learned so much more had I been able to weld every day. Now I'm in a fab shop welding pipe for the nuke jobs, welding all day, my skills and confidence have greatly improved.
WEC in Rock Hill has a very nice school/shop. They give you the chance to make welds that most Tech schools can't afford to let you make. You say you are willing to travel anywhere and that's what WEC expects. If you can survive during the 5 months of school and one year at $18/hr it would likely open up some great opprotunities.
Mightymoe I still consider myself entry level in the trade. I have had the opportunity to work with and learn from some very skilled craftsman who I show the utmost respect to. Most of my welding is boiler tubes and piping with the occasional structural. As for amount of time spent actually welding it varies throughout the job. My job title is a boilermaker so I demo, install, fabricate, rig sort of do it all. I have learned an overwhelming amount of information since I first started and have had plenty of time welding. There is no shortage of welding when replacing panels in the boiler. I expect to travel as a welder so it will be no surprise always being on the move. I'm interested if anybody here has been through the program or maybe knows someone that has been through the program to give some insight?