We just had 5 students from our local community college(4 guys and 1 gal) serve out 140 hours of internship here in our shop . As far as I'm concerned this was a great adventure/experience for both the students and us as a fab shop. These kids came in and had some weld training in college so they really progressed quickly. The first week we spent sort of feeling each other out as we didn't really know what to expect nor did they. I had them working over by themselves so not to disturb the shop. I saw pretty quickly that these students would pick up quickly so I gave them weld qualification/certification tests. I showed them what I wanted and went over the welding procedures and gave them the raw materials. They fitted and welded the test coupons all by themselves. I tested them using SMAW on 1/2" A36 plate in the 2G position with a 5/32" E7028, and FCAW using 1/16" E71T-1 on the same thickness/position. They all passed and I felt comfortable putting them in among our regular employees. By the end of the first week(actually 3 days due to their school schedule) they were able to fill in for any employees that we had out sick or on vacation. I am very impressed with how quickly these kids learned what was required and was able to jump right in. Each kid came in with a great attitude and greatful for every comment or suggestion to make their work better and worked hard all day, everyday that they have been here. My boss was also impressed and even though they were to work out their internship without any compensation from us, he saw fit to pay them a wage and I feel they earned every penny of it.

If any of you have a chance to take on a couple of kids, it will no doubt help some kid get a leg up when they finish their schooling and go out looking for a job. As far as I'm concerned, when these kids finish school, we can hire any or all of the five kids we had here. They are ready to go to work. Our shop guys have taken a real liking to these kids and hate to see them go.