How to Choose the Right Welding Technical School near Green Bay Wisconsin
Selecting the ideal welding technical school near Green Bay WI is an important first step to starting your new occupation as a professional welder. But since there are numerous schools to select from, how do you know which ones to consider? And more significantly, once you have narrowed down your alternatives, how do you select the best one? A number of prospective students begin by looking at the schools that are nearest to their homes. When they have located those that are within commuting distance, they are drawn toward the least costly one. Yes, location and tuition cost are crucial concerns when evaluating welder trade schools, but they are not the only ones. Other concerns include such things as accreditation, reputation and job placement rates. So before beginning your search for a trade school to become a welder, it’s sensible to create a list of qualifications that your selected school must have. But before we examine our due diligence checklist, let’s cover a little bit about how to become a welder.
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Welding Certificate and Degree Training Programs
There are a number of options to obtain training as a welder in a trade or technical school. You can earn a a certificate, a diploma or an Associate Degree. Bachelor Degrees are available in Welding Engineering or Welding Technology, but are more advanced courses than most journeyman welders will need. Some programs are also made available along with an apprenticeship program. Following are short summaries of the most typical welding programs available in the Green Bay WI area.
- Certificate and Diploma Programs are usually made available by trade and technical schools and require about one year to complete. They are more hands-on training in scope, created largely to develop welding skills. They can provide a good foundation for a new journeyman or apprentice welder, or supplemental skills for working welders.
- Associate Degree Programs will take two years to complete and are usually offered by community colleges. An Associate Degree in Welding Technology provides a more well-rounded education than the certificate or diploma while still furnishing the foundation that readies students to enter the workforce.
Many states and municipalities do have licensing requirements for welders, therefore make sure to check for your location of potential employment. If required, the welder school you choose should prep you for any licensing exams that you will have to take in addition to providing the proper training to become a professional welder.
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Welder Certification Choices
There are various institutions that provide welding certifications, which assess the skill level and knowledge of those applying. A large number of Green Bay WI employers not only require a degree or certificate from an accredited welding school, but also certification from a highly regarded organization such as the American Welding Society (AWS). Different certifications are offered based upon the kind of work that the welder does. A few of the things that certification can attest to are the welder’s ability to
- Work in compliance with specific codes
- Work with specific metal thicknesses
- Work with specific types of welds
- Perform according to contract specifications
As already stated, many cities, states or local municipalities have licensing mandates for welders. Of those calling for licensing, many additionally require certification for different types of work. Certification is also a way to prove to employers that you are an extremely skilled and knowledgeable welder. So similarly as with licensing, look into the requirements for your local area and verify that the welding tech school you decide on readies you for certification if needed.
Subjects to Ask Welding Tech Programs
Once you have decided on the credential you want to earn, a diploma, certificate or degree, you can begin to assess schools. As you probably know, there are numerous welder vocational and trade schools in the Green Bay WI area. That’s why it’s necessary to establish up front what qualifications your selected school must have. We have already covered 2 significant ones that most people look at first, which are location and tuition cost. As stated, although they are essential qualifiers, they are not the only ones that should be considered. After all, the program you decide on is going to provide the instruction that will be the foundation of your new vocation as a welder. So below are more factors you might want to consider before choosing a welding trade school.
Accreditation. It’s essential that the welder vocational school you select is accredited by either a national or a regional 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 a specific program the school offers, such as Welding Technology. So confirm 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 organization, such as the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT). Besides helping make sure that you obtain an excellent education, the accreditation might also assist in acquiring financial assistance or student loans, which are often not offered in Green Bay WI for non-accredited schools. Also, for those states or local governments that mandate licensing, they may require that the welding training program be accredited as well.
Apprenticeship and Job Placement Programs. Numerous welder diploma or degree programs are offered in conjunction with an apprenticeship program. Other schools will assist in placing you in an apprenticeship or a job after graduation. Find out if the schools you are looking at help in placing students in apprenticeships or have a job assistance program. These schools must have relationships 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 placements. These programs can help students find employment and develop associations within the Green Bay WI welding community.
Job Placement and Completion Rates. The completion rate is the percentage of students that enroll in an instructional program and finish it. It’s crucial that the welder program you select has a higher completion rate. A low rate may indicate that the students who joined the program were unhappy with the training, the instructors, or the facilities, and quit. The job placement rate is also an indication of the quality of training. A higher job placement rate will not only affirm that the program has an excellent reputation within the field, but also that it has the network of Green Bay WI employer relationships to assist students obtain apprenticeships or employment after graduation.
Up-to-date Facilities and Equipment. Once you have narrowed down your selection of welder schools to 2 or 3 possibilities, you should consider visiting the campuses to look over their facilities. Make sure that both the equipment and the facilities that you will be taught on are up-to-date. Specifically, the training equipment should be similar to what you will be working with in the field. If you are not sure what to look for, and are already in an apprenticeship program, ask the master welder you are working under for guidance. Otherwise, ask a local Green Bay WI welding contractor if they can give you a few pointers.
School Location. Although we already briefly covered the importance of location, there are a few additional points that we should cover. You should remember that unless you have the ability to relocate, the welding school you select must be within commuting distance of your Green Bay WI home. If you do opt to attend an out-of-state school, in addition to relocation costs there could be higher tuition fees for out-of-state residents. This is especially true for welding certificate programs offered by community colleges. Furthermore, if the school offers an apprenticeship or job placement program, often their placements are within the school’s regional community. So the location of the school needs to be in a region or state where you ultimately will want to work.
Small Classes. Personalized instruction is important for a manual trade such as welding. It’s possible to be lost in larger classes and not obtain much individualized instruction. Find out what the usual class size is for the welding programs you are looking at. Inquire if you can sit in on some classes so that you can experience just how much individual attention the students are getting. While there, talk with some of the students and get their evaluations. Similarly, talk to a couple of the trainers and ask what their welding experience has been and what certifications and credentials they have earned.
Convenient Class Schedules. Lots of folks learn a new profession while still working at their current job. Verify that the class schedules for the schools you are considering are flexible enough to meet your needs. If you can only go to classes at night or on weekends near Green Bay WI, make sure that the schools you are reviewing provide those alternatives. If you can only attend part-time, confirm that the school you select offers part-time enrollment. Also, find out what the policy is to make up classes should you miss any because of illness, work or family circumstances.
Online Welder Classes
Welding is very much a hands-on type of vocation, and consequently not very compatible with training online. However, there are a small number of online welding classes offered by various community colleges and technical schools in the greater Green Bay WI area that can count toward a certificate or degree program. These courses primarily cover such subjects as safety, reading blueprints, and metallurgy. They can help provide a novice a foundation to begin their education and training. Nevertheless, the most critical point is that you can’t learn how to weld or handle welding materials until you actually do it. Obviously that can’t be performed online. These skills have to be learned in an on-campus environment or in an apprenticeship. Online or distance learning is more appropriate for seasoned welders that would like to advance their knowledge or perhaps obtain a more advanced degree. So if you should find an online welding certificate or degree program, be extremely careful and confirm that the majority of the training is done on campus or in a workshop type of setting.
Affordable Accelerated Welding Training Green Bay WI
Selecting the right welder school will undoubtedly be the most critical decision you will make to start your new profession. You originally stopped by our website because you had an interest in Affordable Accelerated Welding Training and wanted more information on the topic Low Cost Local Welding Training. However, as we have addressed in this article, there are a number of things that you will need to examine and compare between the schools you are reviewing. It’s a must that any welder training that you are evaluating includes a good deal of hands-on instruction. Classes should be smaller in size and each student must have their own welding machine to train on. Classroom education should provide a real-world context, and the training program should be up-to-date and in-line with industry standards. Training programs vary in duration and the kind of credential provided, so you will need to determine what length of program and certificate or degree will best serve your needs. Each program provides different possibilities for certification as well. Probably the best approach to research your short list of schools is to go to each campus and speak with the teachers and students. Take the time to monitor a few classes. Inspect 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, effort and commitment, the end result will be a new career as a professional welder in Green Bay WI.
Other Wisconsin Welder Locations
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin,[8] at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It is 581 feet (177 m) above sea level and 112 miles (180 km) north of Milwaukee. The population was 104,057 at the 2010 census.[6] Green Bay is the third-largest city in the state of Wisconsin, after Milwaukee and Madison, and the third-largest city on Lake Michigan's west shore, after Chicago and Milwaukee. Green Bay is home to the National Football League's Green Bay Packers.
Green Bay is the principal city of the Green Bay Metropolitan Statistical Area, which covers Brown, Kewaunee, and Oconto counties;[9] the MSA had a combined population of 306,241 at the 2010 census.[6]
Green Bay is an industrial city with several meatpacking plants, paper mills, and a port on Green Bay, an arm of Lake Michigan known locally as "the Bay of Green Bay". Green Bay hosts the Neville Public Museum, with exhibitions of art, history, and science; the Children's Museum; and the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay.
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