i agree move to where the work is. second decide what you want to do, weld, fab, or inspector. if welding start off as a helper where ever there is a pipe welding atmosphere. there you can get a feel of where it starts and some exsperience. its hot, it burns, and you have to go to the work, work isnt coming to you. take your time and take all the advice somebody has to offer. never assume you already done it and know how. you have to have patience and when your ready to break out, you will know. i never went to classes to learn how to weld. i always asked questions and watched what the other welders did and didnt do. there is plenty of work going on right now, so you couldnt go wrong with inspecting or welding. metal will never disaper and a welder will always be needed. if there is welding there will be quality control. i have been welding for 7 years now, rigged out for 3. i started as a helper in the shop, then tacking, then welding, after a year of seeing the same walls day in and day out it was time for me to roll out on my own. i like what i do. i dont always like the money, but my son has to eat. if you want to do it just for the money, then get into inspecting. inspectors make damn good money and mostly pushes a pen. i like pushing medal. pipeline isnt for everbody eathier(you just need to be related or have a good buddy thats related) to get on now days. pipeliners travel 98% of the time. are you close to your family? wife? kids? i thought i was ready before i had my son. after he came its hard for me to wanna work overtime. my wife said she wants to travel after this year so we will see what happens. my advise is decide what you want to do and take that road. move where all the work is and get ya a taste of the cool morning smell of 6010 at 6am and go from there. starting out is going to be ruff, hard, angry, and miserable, but if you can get through all that, you wont have to worry about s# it!