1) If you mean change companies, More than 30 times. If you mean moving to something non welding related- None.

2) Changed Companies when the job was done. Worked for many of the same companies more than once. I have "Drug up" 3 times. Once I left a Welding Managment position to go back on my tools. Once I left for a job closer to home. And the other was an opportunity to work as a consultant.
3) Yes
4) No if you mean from a "Counselor". Yes if you mean from what I learned from my Father.
5) No.

1. I have changed jobs about 8 times since becoming a welder in 1982.

2. About half the time Projects just ended and when this happens a welder needs to find another project. The other half of the time I changed jobs for the reason of experiencing greater opportunity, greater pay, and in the last two cases, less pay but more consistancy in benefits.

3. Absolutely, I have enjoyed my career from beginning to the present.

4. Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established. Pro 15:22

5. I have taken courses in career and decision making steps. In fact I teach courses with components that include making career decisions. It almost sounds as if you think if such a course had been offered to me I would have never chosen welding.

mo64,
1) Been with the same company 20 years.
2) Haven't been there yet, however, not saying it won't happen.
3) Yes, and No. The only disappointments I have are the fact that there is so much more to learn and the opportunity here at this plant is limited to further my working experience with other welding processes. FCAW and SMAW are the only processes in use here.
4) Prayer and also see answer to question #3.
5) Maybe, but if you want an honest answer, I feel the Lord has led me down the path I'm on now.
John Wright

Check out the video that AWS has on their site,
( http://aws.org/wemco/video.html ).

1) I have changed trades 4 times. I have changed jobs 14 times.

2) Usually lay-off due to lack of work. The last few times were because of a better job offer.

3) Yes, construction and fabrication has many areas to branch into. I will never lack for new things to learn and opportunities to use what I have learned. My limits are due to my own ambitions.

4) Yes, from 3 hungry young mouths to feed. Many of my earlier jobs were for whatever supported my family. Other than that, my first foreman on a chicken farm taught me to work hard, have confidence in myself, and that I can learn something from every job task (even shoveling manure).

5) I really don't know. If one were available, I might have looked into it. Looking back from this perspective, I wish I had had the resource and taken advantage of it. I might not have wasted so much time getting to where I am now, or more accurately, taken a more direct route.

Chet Guilford

1. At least 60 in 30 plus years.

2. The usual lack of work. The jobs I have had paid good but didn't usually last very long. Usually by the time the company called me back I was working somewhere else. Quite a few times out of frustration and a few more time to take jobs that paid more. Was fired for misconduct a couple of times.

3. No, the trade hasn't gone up in pay proportionate to the cost of living in the last 20 years or more, making it necessary to work more and more overtime just to TRY to keep up. Welding like most trades here in the southwest have mainly been taken over by hispanics which means you have to complete with people that can do quite good making $10 - $14 and hour which means that on a 40 hour week you're very close to the poverty level.

4. No. But when I first entered the trades over 30 years ago, there was a respect for people that worked with their hands and were good at it like you don't see in America anymore. In addition most welding jobs were paid reasonably well and the cost of living was a lot less.

5. No. For most people, I would say if they don't have a pretty good idea by the time they leave highschool they've got issues that a course like that wouldn't help anyway.