How to Find the Best Welder Certificate Program near Germantown Tennessee
Finding the right welder technical school near Germantown TN is an essential first step to beginning your new occupation as a professional welder. But since there are a lot of schools to pick from, how do you determine which ones to consider? And more significantly, once you have fine tuned your alternatives, how do you pick the best one? Most prospective students begin by reviewing the schools that are nearest to their homes. Once they have identified those that are within commuting distance, they gravitate toward the least costly one. Yes, location and the cost of tuition are important considerations when examining welding technical schools, but they are not the only ones. Other considerations include such things as reputation, accreditation and job placement rates. So before starting your search for a trade school to become a welder, it’s sensible to develop 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 Degree and Certificate Training
There are multiple options available to receive 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 offered in Welding Technology or Welding Engineering, but are more advanced degrees than most journeyman welders will need. Some programs are also made available in conjunction with an apprenticeship program. Following are short explanations of the most typical welding programs available in the Germantown TN area.
- Diploma and Certificate Programs are normally offered by trade and technical schools and take about a year to complete. They are more hands-on training in scope, designed primarily to teach 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 2 years to finish and are most often offered by community colleges. An Associate Degree in Welding Technology furnishes a more well-rounded education than the diploma or certificate 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 be sure to find out for your location of future employment. If needed, the welding school you choose should prep you for any licensing exams that you will need to pass in addition to supplying the appropriate training to become a qualified welder.
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Welding Certification Options
There are several organizations that offer welder certifications, which assess the knowledge and skill level of those applying. Numerous Germantown TN employers not only expect a degree or certificate from an accredited welding program, but also certification from a highly regarded agency such as the American Welding Society (AWS). Different certifications are available dependent on the type of work that the welder does. Just some of the things that certification can acknowledge are the welder’s ability to
- Operate in compliance with specific codes
- Work with specified metal thicknesses
- Work with certain kinds of welds
- Work based on contract specifications
As earlier stated, many cities, states or local municipalities have licensing requirements for welders. Of those calling for licensing, some also require certification for various types 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 technical school you select prepares you for certification if needed.
Questions to Ask Welding Trade Schools
Once you have decided on the credential you would like to earn, a diploma, certificate or degree, you can begin to evaluate schools. As you probably know, there are a large number of welder vocational and trade schools in the Germantown TN area. That’s why it’s important to determine in advance what qualifications your selected school must have. We have already discussed 2 important ones that most people look at first, which are location and the cost of tuition. As mentioned, although they are very important qualifiers, they are not the only ones that need to be considered. After all, the school you choose is going to provide the education that will be the foundation of your new profession as a welder. So below are some additional factors you might want to consider before picking a welder tech school.
Accreditation. It’s essential that the welding tech school you select is accredited by either a regional or a national organization. There are two basic kinds of accreditation. The school may earn Institutional Accreditation based on all of their programs. Programmatic Accreditation is based on a specific program the school offers, such as Welding Technology. So verify that the program you pick 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). In addition to helping ensure that you get a superior education, the accreditation might also help in acquiring financial assistance or student loans, which are often not offered in Germantown TN for non-accredited schools. Also, for those states or municipalities that mandate licensing, they may require that the welder training program be accredited also.
Apprenticeship and Job Placement Programs. A large number of welder diploma or degree programs are offered combined with an apprenticeship program. Other schools will help place you in a job or an apprenticeship upon graduation. Ask if the schools you are looking at help in placing students in apprenticeships or have a job placement program. These schools must have associations with local unions and other metal working businesses to which they can refer their students. More established schools may have a more substantial network of graduates that they can rely upon for placements. These programs can help students find employment and develop relationships within the Germantown TN welding community.
Job Placement and Completion Rates. The completion rate is the portion or percentage of students that begin an academic program and complete it. It’s crucial that the welder school you choose has a high completion rate. A low rate may signify that the students who joined the program were dissatisfied with the training, the instructors, or the facilities, and quit. The job placement rate is also an indication of the quality of training. A high job placement rate will not only affirm that the school has an excellent reputation within the industry, but also that it has the network of Germantown TN employer relationships to assist students obtain employment or apprenticeships upon graduation.
Up-to-date Equipment and Facilities. After you have decreased your selection of welding schools to 2 or 3 options, you should consider going to the campuses to inspect their facilities. Verify that both the equipment and the facilities that you will be instructed on are up-to-date. In particular, the training equipment should be similar to what you will be using on the job. If you are unsure what to look for, and are currently in an apprenticeship program, consult with the master welder you are working under for guidance. If not, ask a local Germantown TN welding contractor if they can give you a few suggestions.
School Location. Although we previously briefly talked about the relevance of location, there are a few additional points that we need to address. You should bear in mind that unless you can move, the welding program you choose must be within commuting distance of your Germantown TN home. If you do decide to enroll in an out-of-state school, in addition to relocation costs there could be higher tuition fees for out-of-state residents. This is particularly the case for welding certificate programs offered by community colleges. Additionally, if the school provides an apprenticeship or job placement program, most likely 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 subsequently will want to work.
Smaller Classes. Individualized training is essential for a manual trade such as welding. It’s possible to be lost in larger classes and not receive much personalized training. Ask what the typical class size is for the welder schools you are considering. Ask if you can sit in on a few 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 opinions. Similarly, talk with some of the teachers and ask what their welding experience has been and what certifications and credentials they hold.
Flexible Class Scheduling. Lots of folks learn a new profession while still working at their present job. Check to see that the class schedules for the programs you are reviewing are flexible enough to fulfill your needs. If you can only attend classes in the evenings or on weekends near Germantown TN, make sure that the schools you are assessing provide those options. If you can only enroll on a part-time basis, make sure that the school you decide on 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 Welding Degree and Certificate Programs
Welding is very much a hands-on kind of profession, and therefore not very suitable for training online. Having said that, there are a few online welding programs offered by certain community colleges and technical schools in the greater Germantown TN area that can count toward a degree or certificate program. These classes mainly deal with such topics as reading blueprints, safety,, and metallurgy. They can help provide a novice a basis to initiate their training and education. However, the most critical point is that you can’t learn how to weld or handle welding materials until you actually do it. Clearly that can’t be accomplished online. These skills need to be learned in an on-campus setting or in an apprenticeship. Online or distance learning is more appropriate for seasoned welders that desire to advance their knowledge or perhaps earn a more advanced degree. So if you should discover an online welding degree or certificate program, be extremely cautious and confirm that the greater part of the training is done on campus or in a workshop type of environment.
Affordable Fast Track Welding Colleges Germantown TN
Picking the best welding school will probably be the most critical decision you will make to launch your new career. You originally stopped by our website because you had an interest in Affordable Fast Track Welding Colleges and wanted more information on the topic Affordable Evening Welding Colleges. However, as we have covered in this article, there are many things that you will need to examine and compare between the schools you are looking at. It’s a necessity that any welding school that you are assessing includes a considerable amount of hands-on instruction. Classes need to be smaller in size and each student must have their own welding machine to train with. Classroom education should offer a real-world frame of reference, and the curriculum should be current and in-line with industry standards. Courses differ in length and the kind of credential offered, so you will need to determine what length of program and certificate or degree will best fulfill your needs. Each program provides unique options for certification as well. Probably the best way to research your final list of schools is to go to each campus and speak with the teachers and students. Take the time to attend some classes. Inspect the campus and facilities. Make sure that you are confident that the program you pick is the right one for you. With the proper training, hard work and commitment, the final result will be a new occupation as a professional welder in Germantown TN.
Other Tennessee Welder Locations
Germantown, Tennessee
Germantown is a suburb of Memphis, bordering it to the east-southeast. Germantown's economy is dominated by the retail and commercial service sectors; there is no heavy industry in Germantown. In the city center is the "Old Germantown" neighborhood, anchored by a railroad depot (a 1948 reproduction of the 1868 original) and railroad tracks that recall the community's earliest days of development as an outpost along the Memphis and Charleston Railroad.
The city hosts many horse shows and competitions annually, most notably the Germantown Charity Horse Show in June. Other major annual events include the Germantown Festival, an arts and crafts fair, in early September.
Germantown has the lowest crime rate for any city its size in the State of Tennessee and the police and fire departments have average emergency response time of five minutes (police just under 4 minutes & fire department 5.2 minutes).[6] The parks and recreation department is nationally accredited. The Arbor Day Foundation has designated Germantown a "Tree City USA" for 23 consecutive years.[7] Also, only 3.2% of Germantown citizens are below the poverty line.[8]
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