It has been at least 5 years since I held a metal working job. I've been to two technical colleges, my initial training which I only finished up to SMAW All Positions w/ 6011, 7018, 7024 through GMAW Horizontal and my current technical college which I am almost ready to graduate now. I excel in SMAW except vertical 6011's (Drives me nuts) and GMAW I am currently relearning quickly and expect little resistance in the process. GTAW gave me a huge amount of problems, I was really looking forward to it, but I did not excel in it whatsoever. I plan to retrain GTAW skills ASAP.
My initial goal was to specialize in GTAW Mild Steel to begin with and try to get a job from there, but that is not going to happen anytime soon, I know my limitations. I have never really had issues with SMAW except for vertical 6011 on thick plates (Thinner plates were much faster and easier to control). I can do GMAW, but not very fast. A comfortable range for me is 150-200 WFS. Any higher and my wrist just can't function the way I need it to.
What I want is to get away from home. Just go someplace remote and far away. I am an extremely low maintenance person, only needing the very basics to get by. I used to get into a lot of trouble so I usually just keep to myself now, socializing is not a big need for me. My family keeps urging me to join a Union, but I am not very sure as I keep getting mixed information about them and don't know what is reliable.
What type of pay should I look for as an entry welder for SMAW, GMAW and GTAW? Should I even be looking for a welding position now or a welder's helper (Grinding *****) position? What pay should I look for in that? If the company wants me to sign a contract, what should I be weary of?
Down the road I most certainly will want to expand upon my training as I intend on making this my life. What are some good opportunities to look for? Our AWS meetings nationwide, can I take that knowledge learned from presentations with me or is it enthusiast fluff (Absolutely no disrespect meant here.)
I appreciate any and all help given. Thank you!
Head to North Dakota. What ever happens, you will always be able to say you saw the elephant.
Wages are really good up there but the cost of living is high. Same thing is happening in the Permian Basin. Pull up a Thrifty Nickel, Quick Quarter, etc on the web or do a search for help wanted, welding, odessa or workintexas.com
Wages will be what they be. Single hand entry level is 17 to 22 depending. Lots of opportunity. You will have to hunt it up. But leaving everything you know for what you dont, filters out the sissies really quick.
By OBEWAN 
Date 10-03-2012 13:05
Edited 11-08-2012 22:48
If you have not used it already, www.simplyhired.com is just about the best job search site. There are millions of others but simplyhired is a meta search site and it will save you a lot of time and effort because it searches nearly all the major jobs boards in one single search. I hate going to dozens of sites and seeing the exact same jobs over and over myself.
OB
Check out ship yards as well. The guys I've talked to on the engineering and manufacturing side say they have a hard time finding good welders who have the fortitude to stick with it in that environment. Alot of manual GTAW is done in the pipe shops in the yards.
Also, if your focus is GTAW, you might want to try to find a place that does mechanized GTAW and get your hands on some equipment. That is one of the more promising paths forward in the GTAW world. Jetline, AMI, Liburdi, Polysoude are the big names in that game. If look up their equipment and watch videos on Youtube to see how the stuff runs, you'll know what you're looking at when you see it which is the first step to learning to use it.
Sir,
I would utilize the interviews at you college or other college resources to look for work. Hopefully you have more than one opening going that way. Me I left college and University without a job. What worked for me was sending a resume with a cover letter. The military might have something of interest, been in North Dakota ( not Georgia weather in the winter ) . The details on your welding skills are of less interest than other aspects in my view. They will give you there test and grade it. AWS local meeting do get you answers and friends and were worth my time. Good luck!
Sincerely
Len Andersen CWI - Engineer weld@spemail.org
914-536-7101 , 212-839-6599 8-4 New York Time , 914-237-7689 (H) www.lenandersen.com
Thank you very much for the replies!
When are you graduating? Just hired two welders in the Elko NV area for mining equipment related work. There will be more positions soon; and this part of Nevada may be just what you are looking for!
