I have been welding in fab shops for the last few years, and recently I have been thinking about working in the field, but when I tell a company I have been working in shops they seem to get less interested and say they will call me back if something comes up. I have passed many test at my current job such as 2" tig all the way out, 5" sch. 160 stick all the way out, and various stick plate test. I also have to weld chrome and stainless regurlarly, but this seems like it doesn't matter. A friend of mine has been welding less time than I have, but he works in the field, and he gets called back immediatly or is told to come test right away. Is shop worked looked down upon?
WOW!!! that's seriously retarded :-)
its exactly this retarded attitude that gets me called back to every field and shop job I've ever had and gets me lead hand positions. hardcore is what the field is all about, maybe the shop is for you.
i also work in a high end pressure vessel shop on some exotic stuff with some very exotic metals, i am subject to vt, ut, rt, mpt, dye pen. every day all day. i work hand in hand with qc and the project designers and modify things as we go based on my experience
i am elected to represent the men and women of our shop and spend a lot of my time consulting very skilled people to solve some very complicated problems.
I run projects and select those who will be working with me and what they will be doing. i was trying to give you a real time perspective of what makes a successful field worker and you come back with an insult. it think that maybe the reason you don't get call backs. good luck in finding the job you want.
darren
I can work anywhere I choose, pal. Shop or field, makes no difference to me, I can weld damn near anything.
Seems you have an pretty inflated view of whatever it is you do.
I never much cared for being on fire, I have to admit. Must be a knuckledragger thing.
Mr. Darren,
Do you have problems with the sparks burning your Superman Cape?
JTMcC :)
nope.when i bought the cape i paid for the extended warranty and upgraded to the paint sealant, undercoating, and fabric protection package so its all under warranty. and although it doesn't burn i have stepped on it and tripped on it a few times.
i just know as well as some and not as well as some of the other welders out there that being on the "a" team on a project takes an intense nature. there are plenty of welders better and plenty worse than me in all aspects of life. i enjoy the hardcore aspect of being on the tough projects, big lifts, critical welds, and finding guys that are willing to go the extra mile to get the job done is getting harder and harder. i was trying to be encouraging to the younger guys to tear of a piece. there isn't too much in life that is as rewarding as doing a very hard job successfully. sometimes i fall on my face but i dust myself off, learn from my mistakes and try even harder next time.
to all the guys who work in the field on tough projects they know what its like to work with hardcore tradesmen that know what they are doing, always trying to learn and be better. i try to be one of these kind of people.
hey sorry if i offended anyone of my contemporaries i just know where i fit in on a job site or shop and i am in the welding game to be the very best i can be.
i would do anything in my power to keep my coworkers and myself safe, do my share and then some.
i have been accused of being a hardcase, insensitive and very competitive but never of being incapable or incompetent.
i take great pride in being one of the guys that the bosses on projects can count on.
darren
i can take it as well as dish it so no problems here.
as always i enjoy your posts JTMcC
im not smart enough to figure out how to put one of those smiley faces on here so you will just have to accept the old school :)
Mdu,
Just from what you said, It seems like your a pretty valuable hand. I would say be patient and look for a good opportunity... Keep trying to get a field job if that's what you want to explore.
A guy with qualifications like yours and a current job in the bag is really in a good position. In reality you are interviewing potential employers just as much as they are interviewing you.
Stop, take a breath, and think a bit about what a good position you are actually in right now.
Let us know when the dream job comes through.
Many of the field companies want welders. Period. Show up at the jobsites, take the welding tests, pass, get hired. That is all I have ever had to do. If you show up and pass a test with obvious skill, you will not have any problem in my opinion.
Many people with nothing more than a bucket of tools get hired in the field. Sometimes the skill level varies greatly in the field. Usually in time your reputation gets around.
Many of the people that put down shop work are often the ones drooling over the welds in the pipe stands. I wouldn't worry about it. The field does have some work conditions that in my opinion are sometimes more difficult. Those fine blue outhouses when it 98 degrees and 95% humidity can sometimes put things in perspective. Field work is NOT for everyone.
Gerald
Sometimes it is just being at the right place at the right time. Your friend may already be connected. i.e. a group of friends that know what job site to go to or what company is hiring. Don't get discouraged too easily in this business. Sounds like you have good skills. Just make the most of it when you get the chance. Get phone numbers from people on jobs that seem to know where all the work is. Some of those guys can be lifesavers. When it is your turn return the favor to those that need your help.
For more than a decade I did nothing but outage work in nukes, boilers, refineries, trash burners etc., often 7-12's, then I started a welding business locally. When some of my customers employees (fitters) heard that I had worked in nuclear plants they immedietly stereotyped me as lazy, slow, spoiled etc. They had either worked with someone or heard from someone to give them this notion about nuclear welders. They pre tacked the joints and said if we can tack it you can weld it. They tacked three sides. After digging my own bell hole and using a mirror for the areas impossible to see (4 pipes in 1 ditch 18" spread) I changed their mind by the end of the day. This was the case with a few of my customers. There were plenty of lazy workers at nuclear plants but all large projects have them.
My point is that you may have encountered the same thing from an anti-shop person. I've seen some great shop workers. I've had some customers that after finding out about my nuclear background said "you must be good to have welded in a nuclear plant." I then faked a phone call and left w/out striking an arc so they would'nt find out otherwise :)
Hope your next attempt is a successful one and maybe change a mind or two about shopworkers.
I love the ol ruffled feather thing........keep it going!
MDU, don't give up on looking for the job you want. Keep going back to the same places, that will not hire you.. Maybe at the time you visited them, they were not hiring or somebody else had come by with more certs than you. My first job after finishing welding school was to weld on heavy equipment, but i was determinded to get a better job. So every week for the whole summer, i went to the boilermakers to look for work. Finally, they saw i was persistance and they hired me and gave me a chance. I proved to them that i could do the work, end of story!
Now 30+ years later, i do the evaluating. If i see a welder who is persistance, then i will give him a chance. But, anybody who makes a phone call to see if i need welders will never get a chance (unless they are not within a days driving). I believe one needs to go in person to look for work and be persistance.
If you think you are good, don't give up on your dream.
Haha, before I read your post, thats exactly what me an my brother said we are going to do, go to the job site and see if we can get a test. Most good jobs seem to be 6 to 10 hours away. Being the negative thinker that I am it just makes me a little more nervous because of shop pay and gas prices, but I know it will be worth it in the end.
absolutley sourdough
we are welders arent we and who better than you can speak to the fact that sometimes we catch fire and keep on welding. your a true 1%er
the only way i can keep my knuckles from getting too hairy is to drag them.
hope things are healing up and your court troubles go your way. never give up
darren
Thanks for the replies everyone. I worked a couple shut downs before i started working in the shops, but it was just small welding jobs. I'm just getting bored with the shops and want to do something different. I'll keep trying.
MDU
I agree with a lot of the above posts...be persistent.....If you can show up burn a coupon and get that first job then the next will be easier to get and so on and so on. I learned a helluva lot in job shops especially with repair work. Field work offers a lot more adversity if you want to call it that...weather, contractors with bugs up there XXX, breaking crap and not having any backups, having to get somthing done cause your 180 miles out and you don't have the tool that you really need. You get somthing from both experiences but field work = more$$$$$ almost all the time.
Be persistent it will come along
This job I'm on now is hiring welders straight out of trade school to weld heavy wall steam lines. That's how desperate they are. The guy that does the preheat setup said two welders took 14 days to weld a 28" that's only about 1-1/4" thick. I asked him if they got fired, he said no.
They even let structural welders weld on the pipe once they get a decent amount of filler in there. One welder told me they have been trying to repair a slag line for almost a month, now. LOL, times have sure changed.
Yeah i'm seeing the same thing up here. We're getting so desperate for welders that we're allmost settleing for just about anything. This may be flying right now, but when ISO comes into play with our company we're gona need to figure something out quick. One of my fitter buddies is working a new Coal Fire out in Reno and they need welders bad. They are giveing the welders 105$ a day perdium to keep them out there and when working a 12 hour day they're getting 2 hours time/half and 2 hours of double time on top of 34$ an hour. I'd say that companies and contracters are going to have to start coughing up the $$$ to get some decent welders out on their jobs or settle for 14 day 28" welds.
What is the name of this company in Reno?
Ok let me refrase that. They're giveing the fitters that kind of money. I Don't know what kind of deal the Ironheads and the boilermakers have got going on with this contractor. I don't know the name of the contractor, but it's a union one. Do a search on a new coal fire going up in reno.
I did a search but came up with a lot of hits from the sierra club on the evils of coal-fired. Coal has been cleaned up a lot, but nobody seems to get it. Just bought a 1968 Lincoln SA-200 off an old boy for a song. Welds like a dream!! I have a Ranger 250 that I'm probably going to sell. I want to go into rig welding. Seems to be a lot going on around Fort Worth!! My brother is interested in the Reno job, though. Think you can get the name of the contractor? I sure would appreciate it.
Search new power plant in Reno nevada. Apparently there are a few in the area so look for the one thats fairly new and it's a coal fire plant not natural gas.
Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / field companies reluctant to hire shop workers?
