How to Select the Best Welder Trade School near Reston Virginia
Locating the right welder technical school near Reston VA is an important first step to beginning your new occupation as a professional welder. But since there are so many schools to pick from, how do you know which ones to consider? And more importantly, once you have narrowed down your choices, how do you select the best one? Many prospective students start by looking at the schools that are closest to their residences. Once they have located those that are within commuting distance, they gravitate toward the cheapest one. Yes, location and the cost of tuition are crucial concerns when reviewing welding trade schools, but they are not the only ones. Other considerations include such things as accreditation, reputation and job placement rates. So before starting your search for a trade school to become a welder, it’s sensible to establish a list of qualifications that your selected school must have. But before we examine our due diligence checklist, let’s talk a little bit about how to become a welder.
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Welder Degree and Certificate Training Classes
There are multiple options to get training as a welder in a technical or trade school. You can obtain a a certificate, a diploma or an Associate Degree. Bachelor Degrees are available in Welding Technology or Welding Engineering, but are more advanced courses than most journeyman welders will need. Some programs are also made available along with an apprenticeship program. Below are brief explanations of the most typical welding programs offered in the Reston VA area.
- Diploma and Certificate Programs are generally made available by technical and trade schools and take about one year to finish. They are more hands-on training in nature, designed largely to teach welding skills. They can furnish a good foundation for a new journeyman or apprentice welder, or supplemental skills for working welders.
- Associate Degree Programs will take 2 years to finish and are most often offered by community colleges. An Associate Degree in Welding Technology provides a more well-rounded education than the certificate or diploma while still supplying the foundation that readies students to enter the workforce.
A number of municipalities and states do have licensing requirements for welders, so make sure to check for your location of potential employment. As needed, the welding school you choose should prepare you for any licensing examinations that you will need to pass in addition to providing the proper training to become a professional welder.
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Welder Certification Options
There are a number of institutions that offer welding certifications, which test the skill level and knowledge of those applying. A large number of Reston VA employers not only require a degree or certificate from an accredited welding program, but also certification from a respected agency such as the American Welding Society (AWS). Different certifications are offered based upon the kind of work that the welder performs. A few of the skills that certification can acknowledge are the welder’s ability to
- Operate in compliance with specific codes
- Work with certain metal thicknesses
- Work with certain kinds of welds
- Perform in compliance with contract specifications
As formerly mentioned, some states, cities or local municipalities have licensing mandates for welders. Of those mandating licensing, some also require certification for various kinds of work. Certification is also a way to demonstrate to employers that you are an exceptionally skilled and knowledgeable welder. So just as with licensing, check the requirements for your location and make sure that the welder vocational school you choose readies you for certification as needed.
Questions to Ask Welder Technical Schools
As soon as you have decided on the credential you want to earn, a diploma, certificate or degree, you can start to compare schools. As you can imagine, there are many welder vocational and trade schools in the Reston VA area. That’s why it’s important to establish in advance what qualifications your chosen school must have. We have previously covered two important ones that most people look at first, which are location and the cost of tuition. As mentioned, although they are very important qualifications, they are not the only ones that need to be considered. After all, the program you pick is going to furnish the training that will be the foundation of your new career as a welder. So below are more factors you may want to evaluate before selecting a welder technical school.
Accreditation. It’s extremely important that the welder trade school you decide on is accredited by either a national or a regional organization. There are 2 basic kinds of accreditation. The school may receive Institutional Accreditation based on all of their programs. Programmatic Accreditation is based on a single program the school has, for instance Welding Technology. So verify that the program you choose is accredited, not just the school alone. Additionally, the accreditation should be by a U.S. Department of Education acknowledged accrediting agency, for example the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT). Besides helping make sure that you receive a quality education, the accreditation can also assist in obtaining financial aid or student loans, which are often not available in Reston VA for non-accredited schools. Finally, for those states or local governments that mandate licensing, they may require that the welder training program be accredited also.
Apprenticeship and Job Assistance Programs. Many welding certificate or degree programs are provided combined with an apprenticeship program. Other schools will help place you in a job or an apprenticeship upon graduation. Find out if the schools you are reviewing help in placing students in apprenticeships or have a job placement program. These schools must have partnerships with local unions and other metal working businesses to which they can place their students. Older schools may have a larger network of graduates that they can rely upon for referrals. These programs can help students find employment and establish relationships within the Reston VA welding community.
Completion and Job Placement Rates. The completion rate is the percentage of students that start an academic program and finish it. It’s important that the welder school you pick has a high completion rate. A reduced rate may signify that the students who were in the program were unhappy with the training, the teachers, or the facilities, and quit. The job placement rate is also an indication of the caliber of training. A higher job placement rate will not only confirm that the school has an excellent reputation within the trade, but also that it has the network of Reston VA employer relationships to help students obtain apprenticeships or employment upon graduation.
Modern Facilities and Equipment. Once you have narrowed down your choice of welder programs to 2 or 3 possibilities, you should think out visiting the campuses to look over their facilities. Confirm that both the equipment and the facilities that you will be taught on are modern. In particular, the training equipment should be comparable to what you will be using in the field. If you are not sure 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 Reston VA welding professional if they can give you a few tips.
School Location. Even though we previously briefly talked about the significance of location, there are a few additional issues that we need to deal with. You should keep in mind that unless you can move, the welder program you select needs to be within driving distance of your Reston VA home. If you do choose to enroll in an out-of-state school, apart from moving costs there might be higher tuition fees for out-of-state residents. This is particularly the case for welding degree programs offered by community colleges. Furthermore, if the school provides a job placement or apprenticeship program, more than likely their placements are within the school’s regional community. So the location of the school should be in an area or state where you ultimately will wish to work.
Small Classes. One-on-one training is important for a manual trade such as welding. It’s possible to be lost in larger classes and not obtain much one-on-one training. Ask what the usual class size is for the welding programs you are considering. Inquire if you can attend a couple of classes so that you can witness how much individual attention the students are getting. While there, talk with several of the students and get their feedback. Also, chat with some of the instructors and ask what their welding experience has been and what certifications and credentials they have earned.
Convenient Class Schedules. Some people learn a new trade while still employed at their current job. Confirm that the class schedules for the programs you are reviewing are flexible enough to satisfy your needs. If you can only go to classes in the evenings or on weekends near Reston VA, make sure that the schools you are considering provide those choices. If you can only attend on a part-time basis, confirm that the school you decide on offers part-time enrollment. Also, check to see what the policy is to make up classes should you miss any because of work, sickness or family emergencies.
Online Welder Training Programs
Welding is very much a manual kind of profession, and consequently not extremely suitable for training online. Having said that, there are a few online welding courses offered by various community colleges and trade schools in the greater Reston VA area that can count toward a certificate or degree program. These classes mainly deal with such subjects as reading blueprints, safety,, and metallurgy. They can help provide a novice a foundation to start their training and education. However, the most critical point is that you can’t learn how to weld or work with welding materials unless you actually do it. Obviously that can’t be performed online. These skills need to be learned in an on-campus environment or in an apprenticeship. Online or distance learning is better suited for experienced welders that want to advance their knowledge or possibly earn a more advanced degree. So if you should discover an online welding certificate or degree program, be extremely careful and make sure that the greater part of the training is done on campus or in a workshop type of environment.
Welding School Reston VA
Picking the ideal welding training program will probably be the most important decision you will make to start your new profession. You originally stopped by our website because you had an interest in Welding School and wanted more information on the topic How Long To Become A Welder. However, as we have addressed in this article, there are a number of factors that you will need to assess and compare between the programs you are considering. It’s a necessity that any welding school that you are assessing includes a good deal of hands-on instruction. Classes need to be smaller in size and each student must have their own welding machine to train on. Classroom teaching needs to offer a real-world frame of reference, and the training program should be current and in-line with industry standards. Courses differ in length and the type of credential provided, so you will have to determine what length of program and certificate or degree will best serve your needs. Every program provides unique possibilities for certification as well. Probably the best approach to research your final list of schools is to visit each campus and speak with the faculty and students. Take the time to monitor a few classes. Tour the campus and facilities. Make sure that you are confident that the training program you decide on is the right one for you. With the right training, effort and commitment, the final result will be a new occupation as a professional welder in Reston VA.
Other Virginia Welder Locations
Reston, Virginia
Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia. Founded in 1964, Reston was influenced by the Garden City movement that emphasized planned, self-contained communities that intermingled green space, residential neighborhoods, and commercial development.[3] The intent of Reston's founder, Robert E. Simon, was to build a town that would revolutionize post–World War II concepts of land use and residential/corporate development in suburban America.[4] In 2018, Reston was ranked as the Best Places to Live in Virginia by Money magazine for its expanses of parks, lakes, golf courses, and bridle paths as well as the numerous shopping and dining opportunities in Reston Town Center.[5] Beginning in 2017, however, high-density commercial and residential developments along the Dulles Toll Road began to spark concerns among residents about local government's ability to ensure that key infrastructure, including roads, schools, and parks, would remain in sync with the accelerating pace of new construction.[6]
In the early days of Colonial America, the land on which Reston sits was part of the Northern Neck Proprietary, a vast grant by King Charles II to Lord Thomas Fairfax that extended from the Potomac River to the Rappahannock. The property remained in the Fairfax family until they sold it in 1852.[8]
Carl A. Wiehle and William Dunn bought 6,449 acres in northern Fairfax County along the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Railroad line in 1886, later dividing the land between them, with Wiehle retaining the acreage north of the railroad line. Wiehle envisioned founding a town on the property, including a hotel, parks, and community center, but completed only a handful of homes before his death in 1901.[8]
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