Are Welding “Boot Camps” The Answer?
In Racine, Wisconsin, the brainchild project of a local employer and a local technical college took 15 eager students and made them certified welders in an 8-week, 320-hour course. Click here to read the full Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article.
The graduates, some of them nearing 50 years old, can now look forward to a better life. The employer has all the qualified welders he needs and access to more as his business expands. The technical school eliminated its program waiting list and generated powerful reputational credit for being an innovator in meeting workforce demands, which will certainly pay dividends in its enrollment figures.
The silver lining to the current skilled labor shortage, as demonstrated here, is that the solution can be a win-win scenario. All the necessary ingredients are present: people who want a better life and are willing to work for it; companies with good jobs to offer skilled workers; and training programs to bridge the gap. All that’s needed are more creative and motivated “chefs” to get those ingredients into the mixing bowl.
Do you have a similar story to share about a company or training program finding unique ways to meet their business challenges? Or maybe you have an idea for another creative solution to the welder shortage. Either way, share it here.
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February 20th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Isn’t this what Hobart Brothers did over 50 years ago? They started a training program for their welders that eventually turned into one of the most respected welding schools in the nation. I don’t think that this is a new idea.
February 23rd, 2007 at 3:22 am
what i think as a “seasoned welder/fitter/ all around fabrication shop guru is that out of 100 “graduates from tech schools most have little motivation.there is more than books to learn in my field.
February 23rd, 2007 at 11:31 am
I am 34 yo and am currently going to school to learn metal fabrication and, mostly, welding, with no prior experience. The Boilermaker’s union has been recommended as an apprenticeship. I considered the Ironworker’s, but honestly, I’m no hothouse flower, but that is just too physically intense.
Any suggestions on how (besides books) to build up physical strength and drafting/welding/shop skills would be appreciated.
February 23rd, 2007 at 11:27 pm
The comment about the Hobart brothers doing this is true as far as it goes, but I have been to that school and while its a good example of a current training model it is not exactly the direction we need to go at this point.
We need to intensify training and dramatically reduce the total investment of time needed to attain an acceptable level of skill.
We as an industry, also need to start embracing new technogy that can and does allow us to produce more than our competition from overseas.
If you look at the companies that are growing the fastest in places like London you see that the Chinese are working dillegently at becoming the new America. We have only one thing that has made us and kept us a world economic power, INGENUITY! But for some reason in the welding industry I have seen such a stagnation in our industry its pathetic really.
Our average age of skilled workers in the welding industry is 54 and we have little interest in the 18 to 30 demographic. This is an obvious opportunity for those that want to actually do something instead of just talk about it.
I have been training welders for ten years both as an instructor at a community college and in my own business and I have found that in the the traditional course of study required by most colleges and technical schools we still teach people essentially the same things we were teaching them 40 years ago and taking just about the same amount of time to do it.
Community colleges must also face the fact that while technical training has for many decades been the main service they have provided, it is very difficult to make the number crunchers in administration see that technical training is thier core mission. It pretty hard to survive when you have a 12/1 student teacher ratio mandated by the state for safety reasons, a comparativley large need for space and an operational budget that stays the same no matter how many students we have if we are lucky and dont get funding cut. Not to mention the fact that we cant really teach this skill too well over the internet which makes technical programs look like a hugely unprofitable department.
In my own business I have found it is possible to train a raw, inexperienced but highly motivated person to be technically proficient in as little as three weeks, but only if I aproach it with a different expectation. I train for the future not the past and while Hobart and the other schools train well they produce graduates with a clear understanding of yesterday’s technolgy, but they also instill a fear of the progress that our industry needs if we are going to survive and not end up selling hamburgers to each other in a fiscal circle jerk.
The businesses that utilize welders are going to have to make an investment very soon in the training of new welders if they want to continue to enjoy the highly skilled workforce at the relatively cheap hourly rate they have for the last 50 or more years. If business fails to do this soon they will find greatly increased hourly wages for those with skill and experience and also a need to invest in new technology that allows a given worker to produce more high quality weldments per hour. The future my fellow Americans, will look nothing like the past we are used to and I for one can hardly wait!
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:15 pm
Im a recent graduate of recongnized college in the feild of welding and i now work for a fence and railing company. I noticed that while im working some of the things ive learned at school does apply to the jobs that i do. i must say also that school is school but in the fast paced environment that i work in, its not the time to flip the pages from a book and figure out what settings are for a certain materials when it comes to using machines. For the young starters in this field you should go to school and what you learn there apply it to your future work it will be beneficial.
March 4th, 2007 at 11:19 pm
While there are many jobs that pay very little there are also many jobs that pay quite well. Within an earshot on any day you could hear a statement that claims a degree will not guarantee you a good paying job. People believe that all the local employers are farming out the “less skilled” jobs to those not edjucated and do not want to pay for skilled labor. I say welding is an art and either you have it or you don’t. Three weeks or eight weeks might be enough to teach a necessary skill but really the qualified employee can start out a janitor and find himself running the company if he is a company man with no formal training. I not being the company man will seek self employment and follow my daydreams where they may take me.
March 7th, 2007 at 1:25 am
Yes boot camps!! I welded for 15 years on ASME vessels and I saw guys that “said” they did this and that. I have not welde in 2 years and still can out weld these jokers. I learned on the job, no formal schooling and I still get calls to put the hood back on. On the job training is better than any school with a good mentor, and I had had the best. He has since passed on.
March 24th, 2007 at 6:51 am
I was taught to weld by my father who taught himself before going to school shortly after WWII. He taught me to torch weld first by wrapping his arms around me and controlling my movements and the he would do that once in a while after that. I then learned stick on my own…both about the time I was 13 years old. May the lord bless my dad for the insight to share this with me!!
Since then I have done many things but have always been a welder in some capacity and always perfecting my craft. I am now 48 myself own my own aluminum welding biz and hold a tig welding job also, I have shown my 2 oldest boys in the same method my father showed me but then let them learn stick , TIG, and then last mig. The oldest used his skills to keep a summer job while in college which makes me proud. He is now a Geologist but remembers his roots and still holds a interest when he comes around.
My second son attended Tulsa Welding School with a buddy (who was fast becoming a loser) and both of them graduated with honors at the top of their class. They have a system that lets you return and “brush up” on any technique as long as you live as long as you are a graduate.
They now work for a large constuction company and because of the economy in our area make a much better wage than I do at my regular job. They both have risen to the next level and I am very proud of both of them.
My youngest boy is 13 now and he has played with tig and mig and the torch and believes he holds knowledge and skill in all of those areas (half the battle in my mind)
I have a 6 year old grandson I can hardly wait to get him alone in my shop!!
If we all showed those closest to us our skills when we can it would make a difference…. esp. when they are young and impressionable.
April 26th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
FusionKing has it dead right. NOTHING beats a good mentor.
April 29th, 2007 at 7:31 am
>>Hello I’am Fetullah şen.I live in Turkey in the city of Van.. I
>>have been working in Argon(tig)+(electrot)+(mig)welder.I have been
>>working as a welder in Turkey and some foreign countries since last
>>9 years.but I am disturbed by the bad attitudes of the Turkish
>>companies towards their workers. Our job is so dangerous and
>>harmfull to human health but I believe that we can not take a just
>>salary despite this. There are to many things to write but I hope
>>you understand me. I know that foreign companies has good attitude
>>towards their workers that is why I send my Cv to you. I hope you
>>will help me. I want to work in any department of your company in
>>any country as a welder. I want to work in a country as a welder or
>>inspector in which there indistrial energy, contruction and
>>platform assembly are being made. Either myself or with my team. I
>>have been working in this job for many years so I have a large
>>groups of friend. All of the members of my team have worked at
>>least four different countries. They are expert and serious in
>>their job.
>>All of them have certificates and references. I can send copies of
>>them to you and can bring enough men together if you demand. I hope
>>you will give me an opportunity. We all have cunefee, stainless
>>steel, carbonstil certificates and we can send them to you if you
>>demand. Ä°f you are not interested in my cv please direct it or me
>>to the departmens which are interested in.
>>Best Regards
>>
>>Fetullah ÅŸen
>>
>>References
>>
>>1-(Foster wheeler) Mobile energy industry- Turkey
>>1999
>>2-(Set) Birlik machine Cement factory -Turkey
>>2000
>>3-(Mitsubishi)Gama Termical industry -Turkey
>>2001
>>4-(Bechtel) Enka Combine transition industry- Turkey
>>2002
>>5-Bomak Energy tribune -Turkey 2003
>>6-(Agip gas) Gama Gas refinary-Libya 2004
>>7-Gap construction Dung factory-Turkmenistan 2005
>>8-(Technip) Gas platform -Azerbaican 2006
>>
>>Name: Fetullah ÅŸen
>>Country: Turkey / Van
>>weldfetullah@hotmail.com+weldingfatih@hotmail.com
>>E mail: weldingfetullah@hotmail.com.+.weldfatih@hotmail.com
>>Telephone: +90 05334967580
>>Date of born: 27-12-1977
>>Job: Welder
>>School: Indistrual engineering school
June 2nd, 2007 at 7:56 pm
fusion king has it right a good mentor is half of the battle but it is up to us expirenced guys to show the young how to perform better and to be confident at the jobs they do we have all been there and we need to support them
July 6th, 2007 at 8:36 am
Could anyone please provide me with the address of a reputable welding training institute in London. I am a nigerian, who has just got a visa to travel to London. I would like to train as welder when i get there.
September 17th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
I got a job MIG welding construction equipment at a large company and I love it. It’s production which is good for me right now, to build up my skills and I’m learning more than ever. It’s really physical but I like that part of it, too.
October 21st, 2007 at 6:47 am
i learned to weld when i was little, and my dad recently visited me and showed me another procedure thats much faster than stick. thats all i use in field now. younger people lack drive in many instances. most of ones i work with just want a check. its frustrating but what are you gonna do. we have 1 20 yr old kid that just wants to weld where he has good positioning. never mind where you have to use your non dominant hand several feet in air and bent over. if not that he wants to sit in our 35 ton crane and try to run that. parents need to take x box away from them and kick them outside to play
February 20th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Without the old school mentors that taught me to weld and fab, I would never be as proficient as I am now. It was possible for me to learn the basics of welding in school, but I learned most of my skills from an older welder who refused to give up on me. The best way to get better is to use an old saying that was told to me. HOOD DOWN !!!