The answer to this fact or fiction is: fiction. There are many different career paths for welders which spans several industries (careersinwelding.com). In welding, there are jobs for people who like to work outdoors, work underwater, work indoors, work close-to-home, travel, teach, and more. Education is the key to movement in the industry. Many opportunities exist to learn new welding skills and techniques. In fact, the more skills you acquire the more money you can earn. You can even receive advanced college degrees in welding and engineering (careersinwelding.com).
Careersinwelding.com interviewed a welding specialist at an engineering firm in Jamestown, PA who says, “A lot of very intelligent people are coming into the welding community. There is money to be made… Welding is not just about working on a manufacturing line anymore. Once in the industry, people know they can find a niche.”
Learn as many skills as you can
My advice to welders, or prospective welders, would be to seek out learning opportunities. Take classes at the local colleges and get as many certifications as you can. The start pay for a beginning welder out of high school is about 12-14 dollars an hour. As you increase your knowledge, skills, and experience, your work becomes much more valuable. “If you have math and science skills, going to college to become a welding engineer just about guarantees good pay—more than $50,000 a year to start and thousands more a year after that,” (careersinwelding.com). More than knowledge, by acquiring experience in different types of welding, you can discover what type of welding you’ll love to do.
For more information about welding salaries and to learn the stories of successful welders go to http://www.careersinwelding.com/salary_information.php and read the article. These welders started at the bottom, just like everyone else. Through hard work and learning opportunities they found a “niche” for themselves in the industry.
How much money do welders make?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Statistics the median salary of welding related jobs in the U.S. are as follows (taken from chart on http://www.careersinwelding.com/salary_information.php):
- Commercial diver: $47,000
- Welding Inspector: $50,000
- Welding Sales Representative: $50,000
- Structural metal worker: $40,000
- Welder, cutter solderer and brazer: $47,000
- Welder, cutter solderer and brazer aide: $29,000
- Sheet-metal workers: $67,000
- Structural metal fabricator and fitter $43,000
- Welder, cutter, solderer and brazer: $44,000
- Boilermaker: $47,000
- Materials engineer (including welding engineer): $84,000
- Welder, cutter, solderer and brazer: $37,500
*Most of the information for this post was taken from careersinwelding.com under the “Why Welding” and “Salary Information” tabs. To learn more about welding careers visit careersinwelding.com.