Hey I am a 24 year old Iron worker/ fitter in south east pa. My work just decided about a month ago to send me to the week long class in the second week in november for the CWI course. The exam following the day after. I have been asking for books to study with not really any help from them. The class schedule is 3 days general review 1 day d1.1 code clinic and 1 day hands on clinic. I am a certified welder not sure if that will help at all. What math skills should I brush up on? I know I really need to study symbols as I am horrible in that area. What am I looking at, most things I have read so far people have studied for months and barley passed. I have 2 weeks till the class. Please help, what am I in for???
First, do you know for sure you have been excepted and that you are going at that time? They will send you a packet detailing all reservations, dates, things you need to bring, etc. Read it carefully.
Second, if you have been excepted for a class that soon- you're in for trouble is what you are in for. You do not have time to order any study materials and pre-study.
Do not stay with relatives or friends in the area of the test. Stay at the motel and STUDY. Listen carefully at all the sessions. Follow in the books. Do all the questions at the end of the chapters and get to know them thoroughly. I generally tell people to even get the books that are included in the cost of the exam months early and start studying then give or sell them to someone else later. The added study time makes things so much easier.
See if someone you know, hopefully close by, has at least some of the study material and a copy of whichever code you are planning to test to.
There are previous posts on this site as to material needed and it is listed in the materials you can download on the original application (if your company signed you up they may not have given you this, but you can get it yourself off this site. Problem is, you don't have time. Poor planning if they really want you to pass to dump this on you with so little notice.
Good Luck, Best Wishes, and Have a Great Day, Brent
whitezy,
"I have 2 weeks till the class.
Please help, what am I in for??? "
A migraine is probably in your future.
You can use the search feature and enter CWI test for lots of info on the test and studying for it.
Download the body of knowledge if you haven't done so yet. AWS website under Certification
Your welding experience will help you but in and of itself will not be enough to pass the test.
No study aids is not good this late, you should find something relevant and begin there.
Are you a good test taker? That will help. There is a lot of info to comprehend at the seminar. At night continue to study. TV and night life can wait.
There are seminars all year long, if you are not ready maybe it will be better to take it later. Sounds to me the employer isn't giving you enough time and support to prepare for it. It is not a cheap certification.
In my seminar many had the deer in headlights look.
INHO you will need to postpone the seminar. Sit your company people down and explain to them that most everyone studies for 8-10 weeks, an hour a day minimum and then does the seminar on top of that. Take them a copy of the list of books included in the body of knowledge on the AWS website. It's not impossible to pass after studying only a couple weeks with what sounds like very limited material but it is highly improbable. Even if your testing skills are very good you have to have the material ahead of time. Your welding experience will help you on the welding portion. However a good portion of the 3 test is also geared towards NDE which is the part most welders at my seminar were weak in and vice versa of course. If you cannot postpone the seminar, then go and postpone the test. This might be your best bet, take the seminar, get all your study material and go home and study for a few weeks, than take the test. It shouldn't be a big deal to change your test date. Quite a few people did it at my seminar. Study your material, get on here and ask questions. . . . . then study some more. This website helped me as much or more than any book I read. Some of the best and brightest minds in the industry are right here and will answer your questions freely. I would take the practice test(s) and then when you miss an answer write it out. For the symbols and vocabulary I recommend making flashcards. I realize this sounds elementary but it works, they use this technique in medical schools for vocabulary everywhere. You need to be averaging in the mid 80's on the practice exams etc. to be ready for the exam in my opinion. When you take the exam USE all your time. Don't get hung up on questions you don't know, skip them and come back (but don't lose you place on the answer sheet) if you get done early double and yes triple check your answers for DUMB mistakes. I don't recommend changing an answer unless you are 100% sure. More likely than not you are right the first time with gut instinct. Leave no blanks, and pay attention to the FOOTNOTES you will understand why that is in caps later trust me. READ the whole question and ALL the answers, some are very close but only one is "most" right. Good luck, your in good company in this site believe me, holler if you need anything. . . .
Here is the place I will be attending
http://www.welderinstitute.com/cwi_enroll.html Anyone have any experience with them? I am a so so test taker. Def. catch on very quick I think that was the thought of them sending me there. But in no way do I feel I am ready for all this. I did receive something that confirms my test date place and time. Also confirms my enrollment in the class. If I can talk them into waiting I think that would be the best to allow me to study up on all this. i have heard of people who have gone in not knowing jack and somehow passing it but I really dont want to make an ass out of myself. Tomorrow would be the 2 week cut off period for getting a full refund so hopefully I can talk them into it.
1) Breathe in then breathe out.
2) Keep repeating step 1
When I was 15, I broke my leg in 2 places. Many, many people offered comments like "Your leg will never be the same again". If I had listened to them, I should have just cut my own leg off and thrown it away because there was no hope for it. It healed up just fine and it does not ache when bad weather is approaching.
My point is: Don't listen to any negative talk (but soak up all the good encouragement you can). At this stage of the game, you already know much of what you need to know. The math is not all that difficult. See if you can borrow the certification manual, and if you can, I would take the quizes in the back of each section first - then read the text. You'll pick what you need out of it easier.
Look over your code book - get used to using the index, and remember to chase down the fine print notes in the tables. If you don't have any practice questions handy, make up some of your own and remember to look at sections that you don'ty normally use every day.
I suspect that you'll do just fine.
http://www.aws.org/cgi-bin/mwf/topic_show.pl?pid=120049;hl=Geraldwhiteyz,
Give this thread a look and see how you do. If this is way over your head then perhaps you should postpone. If this is something you can comprehend (seminar will help alot)
then go for it.
Personally I think your employer should have given you more time and study material to increase your chances to pass.
None of us were trying to be negative. Sorry if it came across that way. We were just being realistic.
It's the employers money and if they want you to attempt it then it is on them.
Let us know if you proceed with the test.
Well I sat down with the senior project manager at my work today and pretty much told him I would be way better off if we postponed it a couple months so I can be more confident with everything. We are in the process of getting our aisc cert and I am the new qc guy so thats why they are pushing for it. Its not needed for the audit they are coming to due in the next month but would help out. So Im gonna go out and get some study material and get to work for the next couple months. I think I am much better off that way. I feel in no way an idiot or anything like that but take my work pretty seriously and dont wanna be looked at like a dummy if I would fail. Thanx for the help guys def. appreciate it.
Heat input calcs, and converting fractions / metric to inch/inch to metric will be the lions share of the math you will need. the metric is really simple 25.4mm per inch.
And don't sweat any of the calcs either as they will give you the conversion factors and formulas for each question. Just do it according to what they ask for. You can challenge some questions if you don't think the answers available match the question, but I didn't have time. Don't try to go from memory or a previous question, let each equation stand on the formula given for itself. With a simple calculator they don't take that long to work out. Just be careful.
Again, Good Luck, Have a Great Day, Brent
Well its been awhile and I have been going over Welding Inspection Technology for alittle while. My seminar and test are not till the end of Feb. One thing I still dont get is that I have 4 years 9 months total on this job doing this type of work and I was told that I needed 5 which I found out in the qc.1 portion. I am signed up for the seminar and the test should I just go ahead with everything or should I speak up. Also I am being told to take API 1104 which is much easier than d1.1 is this true? and should I see if I can have it switched? Any idea's ??? Thanx Again Oh also we just passed the AISC audit which we have been trying to get. I am the qc at the company so I had quite bit to put into action in the past couple months. Man am I glad that is over with.
I took my test to D1.1, though I was quite comfortable with the book. They did up the number of questions in the 1104 exam to make them more equal. I don't think either is easier at this point.
By whiteyz
Date 01-13-2009 21:57
Edited 01-14-2009 00:48
well I went through the exam acceptance for when my company signed me up back in november and saw that in test level it says cawi. Is this because I dont have the required 5 years work history. Also if I were to pass the test above a 72 percent as soon as my 5 years would be up (4 months) would I automatically jump from cawi to cwi??? I just dont wanna bother taking the test if I cant aquire the cwi cert due to lacking 3 or 4 months of work history.
well maybe you should postpone the exam until you have reached the 5 yrs. or it could be the company only wants you as a cawi so they dont have to pay you the rate of a cwi. ask about a site change request.
From what I understand from my CWI exam confirmation which I got today says this:
CAWI APPLICANTS: "If you successfully pass the CWI exam but were unable to achieve the CWI certification due to the fact you lacked the five years work experience requirement, you will be eligible for CWI upgrade without re-examination once the qualifying work experience is met. You will be required to submit a CWI upgrade application along with the applicable upgrade fees to AWS. The application can be obtained by contacting the AWS Certification Department of by downloading the application for the website www.aws.org/certification."
Hope that answers your question. Good luck!
I have 3 books as of now I am reading (4 counting d1.1). Should pay special attention to any one section or book. Welding Technology, AWS A2.4 Standard Symbols, and AWS A3.0 Standard Welding Terms And Definitions. I just dont want to be skimming over things that I really need for the test and paying extra attention to things that are prolly not helpful. Any help is greatly appreciated.... this damn test is really worrying me.
I am about to test in Denver in Feb. I don't know what to expect. I'm trying to read anything and everything right now.
same here testing in allentown pa in Feb. I am reading so much I am forgetting half the stuff I read 2 days ago.
How good are you at General welding knowledge?
well when i took 1104 there was alot of nde questions everything and some other things i never saw in my life, i think thats why i missed 19 on the general knowledge test. but terms and definitions didnt hit that hard. a2.4 hit pretty good you get asked alot of questions on symblols, in genaral knowledge as for the welding technology book i got but never even opened it. i went through real education they give a good class if you pay attention. i think thats what helped me. i barely studied and still passed with over 80% overall average. thats how good the class was. they ask you thousands of questions and you will scratch your head alot but it works. the ones that try and be funny and class clowns dont do so well so i suggest keep ya eye on the ball and you should be alright. i passed first go. oh yeah read part b very good alot of words are very close and could be firgured to mean the same as the other very tricky wording. so read it 2 or 3 times before you answer each question. dont worry about time you should be good with that i had over 30 minutes left on each test and read every question more than once. happy trails.
Do you think if the "Qualifying Work Experience" was NOT under the supervision of a CWI and involved inspecting welds, it would still be considered for "Work Experience"
I would think so, there is nothing that states you can only get experiance working under a CWI even if inspecting welds.
My work experience was a combination of service tech work and welding instruction, inspection isn't the only ticket.
The application package that verifies your 5 years of experience that you got notarized has a list of publications that will be handy come test time.
