WHAT IS WELDING?

Welding is the joining of materials with or without the application of heat, filler material, and/or pressure.

WOULD I LIKE WELDING?

You might like welding if you:

• Want lots of job opportunities.
• Want good, competitive wages.
• Like to be physically active.
• Like to be challenged.
• Want your work to be diversified.
• Need to feel a sense of accomplishment.
• Want to travel in the U.S. or abroad.
• Take pride in your workmanship.

WHAT SKILLS MUST I POSSESS TO BECOME A WELDER?

• Manual dexterity.
• Good eyesight.
• Good eye-hand coordination.
• The ability to concentrate on detailed work for prolonged periods of time.
• The ability to stoop, bend, climb, and work in awkward positions.
• Patience.

WHAT ARE EMPLOYMENT PROSPECTS AND WAGE POTENTIAL?

Close to a half-million people hold jobs as welders, cutters, or welding machine operators. Approximately three fourth of them are in manufacturing and service industries. If other trades, such as boilermakers, ironworkers, and pipefitters are included, then the total climbs to about 2 million or 10% of our national workforce. In an industry valued at more than $5.5 billion, the need to replace aging, skilled welders is acute. According to Dave Manning, president of the Hobart Institute of Welding Technology, "The need for skilled welders will become more of a problem in the next three to five years, as 50% of the welders in North America retire."

Welders will be needed in manufacturing for industries such as transportation equipment; industrial machinery; and fabricated metal products; at construction sites; and in repair shops and personnel supply agencies.

According to Freddy Torres, coordinator for the American Welding Society's Schools Excelling through National Skills Education, a welder's average weekly earnings were $742 in the summer of 2000. The average annual earnings for a welder is between $30,000 and $46,000 per year.