How to Pick the Best Welder Vocational School near Jenkintown Pennsylvania
Finding the right welding trade school near Jenkintown PA is an essential first step to launching your new occupation as a professional welder. But since there are a lot of schools to select from, how do you know which ones to consider? And more importantly, once you have fine tuned your alternatives, how do you select the best one? A number of people begin by reviewing the schools that are closest to their homes. When they have located those that are within driving distance, they gravitate toward the cheapest one. Yes, location and the cost of tuition are crucial issues when reviewing welding technical schools, but they are not the only ones. Other considerations include such things as accreditation, reputation and job placement rates. So before initiating your search for a vocational school to become a welder, it’s prudent to establish a list of qualifications that your selected school must have. But before we explore our due diligence checklist, let’s talk a little bit about how to become a welder.
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Welder Certificate and Degree Training Classes
There are multiple options available to get training as a welder in a trade or technical school. You can earn a diploma, a certificate or an Associate Degree. Bachelor Degrees are available in Welding Engineering or Welding Technology, but are more advanced programs than most journeyman welders will need. Some programs are also offered along with an apprenticeship program. Below are short descriptions of the most typical welding programs available in the Jenkintown PA area.
- Diploma and Certificate Programs are usually made available by trade and technical schools and require about 1 year to finish. They are more hands-on training in nature, fashioned primarily to develop 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 finish and are usually offered by community colleges. An Associate Degree in Welding Technology provides a more well-rounded education than the diploma or certificate while still furnishing the foundation that prepares students to enter the workforce.
A number of states and municipalities do have licensing prerequisites for welders, therefore make sure to find out for your location of future employment. If needed, the welder school you pick should prep you for any licensing exams that you will need to pass in addition to supplying the proper training to become a professional welder.
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Welder Certification Alternatives
There are various institutions that provide welder certifications, which test the knowledge and skill level of those applying. A large number of Jenkintown PA employers not only demand a degree or certificate from an accredited welding program, but also certification from a highly regarded agency like the American Welding Society (AWS). Different certifications are available based upon the kind of work that the welder performs. Some of the things that certification can attest to are the welder’s ability to
- Operate in compliance with specific codes
- Work with specific metal thicknesses
- Work with specific types of welds
- Perform according to contract specifications
As earlier stated, various cities, states or local municipalities have licensing mandates for welders. Of those mandating licensing, many also require certification for various types of work. Certification is also a means to demonstrate to employers that you are an extremely skilled and experienced welder. So just as with licensing, look into the requirements for your location and verify that the welding technical school you decide on prepares you for certification if needed.
Points to Ask Welding Tech Programs
When you have decided on the credential you would like to attain, a certificate, diploma or degree, you can start to assess schools. As you are no doubt aware, there are numerous welder vocational and trade schools in the Jenkintown PA area. That’s why it’s necessary to determine in advance what qualifications your school of choice must have. We have already discussed 2 important ones that most 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 need to be looked at. After all, the school you select is going to provide the training that will be the foundation of your new vocation as a welder. So following are more factors you may need to evaluate before selecting a welder tech school.
Accreditation. It’s essential that the welding vocational school you decide on is accredited by either a national or a regional agency. There are 2 basic types of accreditation. The school may earn Institutional Accreditation based on all of their programs. Programmatic Accreditation is based on an individual program the school offers, such as Welding Technology. So verify that the program you choose is accredited, not just the school alone. Also, 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 ensure that you get an excellent education, the accreditation may also help in obtaining financial assistance or student loans, which are often not offered in Jenkintown PA for schools that are not accredited. Finally, for those states or local governments that require licensing, they may require that the welding training program be accredited also.
Job Assistance and Apprenticeship Programs. Many welder degree or certificate programs are provided combined with an apprenticeship program. Various other schools will help place you in a job or an apprenticeship upon graduation. Ask if the schools you are looking at assist in placing students in apprenticeships or have a job assistance 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 larger network of graduates that they can utilize for placements. These programs can help students find employment and establish associations within the Jenkintown PA welding community.
Completion and Job Placement Rates. The completion rate is the portion or percentage of students that begin an educational program and finish it. It’s essential that the welder program you pick has a higher completion rate. A lower rate might mean that the students who were in the program were unhappy with the instruction, the teachers, or the facilities, and quit. The job placement rate is also an indication of the caliber of training. A high job placement rate will not only verify that the program has a good reputation within the industry, but additionally that it has the network of Jenkintown PA employer relationships to help students obtain employment or apprenticeships upon graduation.
Modern Facilities and Equipment. After you have narrowed down your choice of welder programs to 2 or 3 possibilities, you should think out visiting the campuses to inspect 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 comparable to what you will be using in the field. If you are uncertain what to look for, and are currently in an apprenticeship program, consult with the master welder you are working under for guidance. Otherwise, ask a local Jenkintown PA welding professional if they can give you a few pointers.
School Location. Although we previously briefly talked about the relevance of location, there are a couple of additional points that we should cover. You should remember that unless you can relocate, the welding school you choose must be within commuting distance of your Jenkintown PA home. If you do choose to attend an out-of-state school, in addition to relocation costs there may be higher tuition fees for out-of-state residents. This is especially true for welding diploma programs offered by community colleges. Additionally, if the school offers an apprenticeship or job placement program, most likely their placements are within the school’s local community. So the location of the school should be in an area or state where you ultimately will desire to work.
Smaller Classes. Personalized training is important for a manual trade such as welding. It’s easy to get overlooked in bigger classes and not receive much one-on-one instruction. Ask what the usual class size is for the welder schools you are considering. Ask if you can attend a few classes so that you can witness how much personal attention the students are receiving. While there, talk with a few of the students and get their opinions. Similarly, talk to a couple of the trainers and ask what their welding experience has been and what certifications and credentials they hold.
Convenient Class Schedules. Some people learn a new profession while still employed at their present job. Check to see that the class schedules for the schools you are reviewing are flexible enough to fulfill your needs. If you can only go to classes in the evenings or on weekends near Jenkintown PA, make certain that the schools you are considering provide those alternatives. If you can only attend part-time, make sure that the school you decide on offers part-time enrollment. Also, find out what the policy is to make up classes if you you miss any because of work, illness or family emergencies.
Online Welding Certificate and Degree Programs
Welding is very much a manual kind of trade, and consequently not very compatible with online training. Even so, there are a small number of online welding courses offered by certain community colleges and technical schools in the greater Jenkintown PA area that can be credited toward a certificate or degree program. These courses mainly deal with such subjects as reading blueprints, safety,, and metallurgy. They can help give a novice a basis to initiate their education and training. However, 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 must be learned in an on-campus setting or in an apprenticeship. Online or distance learning is better suited for seasoned welders that want to advance their expertise or perhaps attain a more advanced degree. So if you should discover an online welding certificate or degree program, be extremely cautious and verify that the majority of the training is done on campus or in a workshop type of setting.
Compare Fast Track Welding Schools Jenkintown PA
Selecting the best welding training program will probably be the most important decision you will make to start your new trade. You originally stopped by our website because you had an interest in Compare Fast Track Welding Schools and wanted more information on the topic Compare Evening Welding Schools. However, as we have covered in this article, there are several factors that you will need to evaluate and compare among the programs you are looking at. It’s a must that any welder school that you are evaluating includes a lot of hands-on training. Classes should be smaller in size and every student should have their own welding machine to train on. Classroom education needs to provide a real-world frame of reference, and the training program should be current and in-line with industry standards. Programs differ in duration and the type of credential provided, so you will have to determine what length of program and degree or certificate will best serve your needs. Every program provides different possibilities for certification also. Perhaps the best approach to research your final list of schools is to check out each campus and speak with the students and instructors. Take the time to attend a few classes. Inspect the campus and facilities. Make certain that you are confident that the training program you choose is the right one for you. With the proper training, effort and commitment, the final result will be a new occupation as a professional welder in Jenkintown PA.
Other Pennsylvania Welder Locations
Jenkintown, Pennsylvania
Jenkintown is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, about 10 miles (16 km) north of Center City Philadelphia. "Jenkintown" is also used to describe a number of neighborhoods surrounding the borough, which also are known by names such as Meadowbrook, Rydal, Crosswicks, Fox Chase Manor, Jenkintown Manor, Noble, and Switchville. While the post office will deliver "Jenkintown"-addressed mail to these areas, they are not part of the political entity of Jenkintown; they are within Abington Township. Jenkintown is surrounded by Abington Township to the north, west, and east, and borders Cheltenham Township to the south.
The Borough of Jenkintown is located just outside Philadelphia along the Route 611 corridor between Abington and Cheltenham Townships. The Borough was settled in about 1697 and incorporated on December 8, 1874 when approximately 248 acres (1.00 km2) was taken from Abington Township. Today, the Borough is approximately 0.58 square miles and is home to 4,500 residents.
The Borough is a mostly residential community that is separated into East and West by the Business District that runs along and surrounds Old York Road (Route 611) corridor. On the east side of Old York Road, residential development is predominantly characterized by larger detached single-family homes on lots larger than the Borough average. On the southeast side of York Road, there is a small mixed concentration of row homes, duplexes, and single-family residences. The majority of the residential development, however, is located to the west of York Road. This area consists of a traditional small town mix of detached single-family homes, duplexes, and row homes. Located throughout this area are several multi-family apartment buildings that are residential rental properties. At the center of this residential area are the Jenkintown Elementary School and the Jenkintown High School.
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