How to Pick the Best Welding Technical School near Fairfax Virginia
Choosing the ideal welding vocational school near Fairfax VA is an important first step to beginning your new career as a professional welder. But since there are so many schools to pick from, how do you determine which ones to consider? And more notably, once you have narrowed down your choices, how do you select the right one? Most prospective students begin by looking at the schools that are nearest to their residences. Once they have identified those that are within driving distance, they are drawn toward the least expensive one. Yes, location and tuition cost are necessary issues when evaluating welding trade schools, but they are not the only ones. Other considerations include such things as reputation, accreditation and job placement rates. So before beginning your search for a trade school to become a welder, it’s prudent to develop a list of qualifications that your selected school must have. But before we explore our due diligence checklist, let’s cover a little bit about how to become a welder.
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Welding Degree and Certificate Training
There are a number of options available to get training as a welder in a trade or vocational school. You can obtain a a certificate, a diploma or an Associate Degree. Bachelor Degrees are offered in Welding Technology or Welding Engineering, but are more advanced courses than most journeyman welders will need. Some programs are also offered in conjunction with an apprenticeship program. Following are brief summaries of the most common welding programs available in the Fairfax VA area.
- Certificate and Diploma Programs are generally offered by technical and trade schools and take about 1 year to complete. They are more hands-on training in nature, designed mainly to teach welding skills. They can furnish a good foundation for a new journeyman or apprentice welder, or additional skills for experienced welders.
- Associate Degree Programs will take two years to complete and are usually offered by community colleges. An Associate Degree in Welding Technology offers a more extensive education than the diploma or certificate while still furnishing the foundation that readies students to enter the workforce.
Some states and municipalities do have licensing prerequisites for welders, so make sure to check for your location of future employment. If needed, the welding school you pick should prepare you for any licensing exams that you will have to take in addition to providing the proper training to become a qualified welder.
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Welding Certification Alternatives
There are a number of institutions that provide welder certifications, which test the knowledge and skill level of those applying. Many Fairfax VA employers not only demand a certificate or degree from an accredited welding program, but also certification from a highly regarded organization such as the American Welding Society (AWS). A variety of certifications are available based upon the type of work that the welder performs. Some of the skills that certification can attest to are the welder’s ability to
- Work in compliance with specific codes
- Work with specific metal thicknesses
- Work with certain types of welds
- Operate based on contract specifications
As formerly stated, some states, cities or local municipalities have licensing requirements for welders. Of those mandating licensing, a number also require certification for different kinds of work. Certification is also a way to demonstrate to employers that you are an exceptionally skilled and experienced welder. So just as with licensing, check the requirements for your local area and make sure that the welding tech school you choose readies you for certification if needed.
What to Ask Welding Technical Schools
When you have chosen the credential you would like to obtain, a certificate, diploma or degree, you can start to assess schools. As you are no doubt aware, there are many welder trade and vocational schools in the Fairfax VA area. That’s why it’s important to determine in advance what qualifications your chosen school must have. We have already covered two significant ones that many people look at first, which are location and the cost of tuition. As stated, although they are very important qualifications, they are not the only ones that must be considered. After all, the program you choose is going to provide the education that will be the foundation of your new career as a welder. So below are some additional factors you might need to evaluate before picking a welder tech school.
Accreditation. It’s very important that the welding trade school you select is accredited by either a regional or a national organization. There are 2 basic kinds of accreditation. The school may attain Institutional Accreditation based on all of their programs. Programmatic Accreditation is based on an individual program the school has, for instance Welding Technology. So make certain that the program you select is accredited, not just the school alone. Additionally, the accreditation should be by a U.S. Department of Education recognized accrediting agency, for example the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT). Besides helping make sure that you get a superior education, the accreditation can also assist in getting financial assistance or student loans, which are in many cases not offered in Fairfax VA for schools that are not accredited. Also, for those states or municipalities that require licensing, they may require that the welder training program be accredited as well.
Apprenticeship and Job Assistance Programs. A large number of welder diploma or degree programs are provided combined with an apprenticeship program. Various other schools will help place you in an apprenticeship or a job after graduation. Ask if the schools you are considering help in placing students in apprenticeships or have a job assistance program. These schools must have relationships with local unions and various metal working businesses to which they can place their students. Older schools may have a larger network of graduates that they can utilize for referrals. These programs can assist students in finding employment and develop associations within the Fairfax VA welding community.
Completion and Job Placement Rates. The completion rate is the portion or percentage of students that enroll in an academic program and complete it. It’s essential that the welder school you pick has a high completion rate. A reduced rate could indicate that the students who joined the program were dissatisfied with the instruction, the teachers, or the facilities, and dropped out. The job placement rate is also an indication of the quality of training. A high job placement rate will not only confirm that the school has a good reputation within the industry, but additionally that it has the network of Fairfax VA employer relationships to assist students obtain apprenticeships or employment after graduation.
Up-to-date Equipment and Facilities. After you have limited your selection of welder schools to two or three possibilities, you should consider visiting the campuses to inspect their facilities. Confirm that both the facilities and the equipment that you will be trained on are up-to-date. Specifically, the training equipment should be comparable to what you will be working with in the field. If you are uncertain what to look for, and are currently in an apprenticeship program, ask the master welder you are working under for guidance. Otherwise, ask a local Fairfax VA welding contractor if they can give you some tips.
School Location. Although we already briefly covered the importance of location, there are a few additional issues that we need to deal with. You should bear in mind that unless you are able to relocate, the welding school you pick needs to be within commuting distance of your Fairfax VA home. If you do decide to enroll in an out-of-state school, in addition to relocation expenses there could be higher tuition fees for out-of-state residents. This is particularly true for welding degree programs offered by community colleges. Also, if the school provides a job placement or apprenticeship program, often their placements are within the school’s regional community. So the location of the school needs to be in an area or state where you ultimately will wish to work.
Small Classes. Individualized training is essential for a hands-on trade such as welding. It’s easy to get overlooked in larger classes and not obtain much individualized training. Find out what the average class size is for the welder programs you are reviewing. Inquire if you can sit in on a few classes so that you can observe how much individual attention the students are receiving. While there, talk with several of the students and get their feedback. Also, speak with a couple of the trainers and ask what their welding experience has been and what credentials and certifications they have earned.
Convenient Class Scheduling. Many people learn a new trade while still working at their current job. Make sure that the class schedules for the schools you are reviewing are convenient enough to satisfy your needs. If you can only attend classes in the evenings or on weekends near Fairfax VA, make sure that the schools you are reviewing offer those alternatives. If you can only attend part-time, verify that the school you pick offers part-time enrollment. Also, ask what the policy is to make up classes if you you miss any because of illness, work or family responsibilities.
Online Welding Schools
Welding is very much a manual kind of vocation, and for that reason not extremely compatible with online training. However, there are some online welding courses offered by certain community colleges and technical schools in the greater Fairfax VA area that may be credited toward a certificate or degree program. These classes mainly deal with such topics as reading blueprints, safety,, and metallurgy. They can help give a beginner a basis to initiate their training and education. However, the most important point is that you can’t learn how to weld or use welding materials until you actually do it. Obviously that can’t be done online. These skills must be learned in an on-campus setting or in an apprenticeship. Online or distance learning is more appropriate for experienced welders that desire to advance their knowledge or perhaps obtain a more advanced degree. So if you should discover an online welding certificate or degree program, be extremely careful and make sure that the bulk of the training is done on campus or in a workshop type of setting.
Guide to Accredited Trade Schools for Welders Fairfax VA
Picking the ideal welding school will probably be the most critical decision you will make to begin your new profession. You originally stopped by our website because you had an interest in Guide to Accredited Trade Schools for Welders and wanted more information on the topic Guide to Weekend Trade Schools for Welders. However, as we have discussed in this article, there are several things that you will need to assess and compare between the programs you are looking at. It’s a prerequisite that any welding school that you are evaluating includes a considerable amount of hands-on instruction. Classes need to be smaller in size and every student must have their own welding machine to train on. Classroom teaching needs to offer a real-world context, and the course of study should be up-to-date and in-line with industry standards. Programs differ in length and the kind of credential provided, so you will have to determine what length of program and certificate or degree will best satisfy your needs. Every training program provides unique possibilities for certification as well. Probably The ideal approach to research your final list of schools is to go to each campus and talk with the students and faculty. Take the time to monitor some classes. Tour the campus and facilities. Make sure that you are confident that the program you pick is the ideal one for you. With the right training, hard work and commitment, the end outcome will be a new trade as a professional welder in Fairfax VA.
Other Virginia Welder Locations
Fairfax, Virginia
Fairfax (/ˈfɛərfæks/ FAIR-faks), colloquially known as Fairfax Courthouse, Downtown Fairfax, or Fairfax City, and officially named the City of Fairfax, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States.[5] As of the 2010 census the population was 22,565,[6] which had risen to an estimated 24,574 as of 2018.[2]
The city of Fairfax and the area immediately surrounding the historical border of the city of Fairfax, collectively designated by Fairfax County as "Fairfax", comprise the county seat of Fairfax County. The city is part of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as a part of Northern Virginia. The city is 17 miles (27 km) west of Washington, D.C. The Washington Metro's Orange Line serves Fairfax through its Vienna station, which is a mile northeast of the city limits. CUE Bus and Metrobus operate in Fairfax. Virginia Railway Express's Burke Centre station is situated three miles southeast of the city's boundaries. Virginia's largest public educational institution with 35,189 students in 2017 is George Mason University, which is located in unincorporated Fairfax County, along the city's southern border.[7]
The city derives its name from Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, who was awarded 5,000,000 acres (20,000 km2) of land in northern Virginia by King Charles.[8] The area that the city now encompasses was settled in the early 18th century by farmers from Virginia's Tidewater region.[9] The town of "Providence" was established on the site by an act of the state legislature in 1805.[10]
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