How to Find the Right Welder Vocational School near Pontiac Illinois
Locating the right welder technical school near Pontiac IL is an important first step to launching your new career as a professional welder. But since there are so many schools to choose from, how do you determine which ones to consider? And more importantly, once you have fine tuned your options, how do you select the best one? Many people begin by checking out the schools that are closest to their residences. Once they have identified those that are within commuting distance, they gravitate toward the least expensive one. Yes, location and tuition cost are necessary concerns when reviewing welding trade schools, but they are not the only ones. Other concerns include such things as reputation, accreditation and job placement rates. So before initiating your search for a trade school to become a welder, it’s sensible to establish a list of qualifications that your chosen 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 Classes
There are multiple options to obtain training as a welder in a trade or technical school. You can receive a a certificate, a diploma or an Associate Degree. Bachelor Degrees are available in Welding Engineering or Welding Technology, but are more advanced degrees than most journeyman welders will need. Some programs are also offered along with an apprenticeship program. Following are short summaries of the most common welding programs available in the Pontiac IL area.
- Diploma and Certificate Programs are normally offered by trade and technical schools and take 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 specialized 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 furnishes a more extensive 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 prerequisites for welders, so don’t forget to check for your location of future employment. As required, the welding school you choose should prepare you for any licensing exams that you will have to pass in addition to providing the suitable training to become a professional welder.
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Welding Certification Alternatives
There are several institutions that offer welding certifications, which test the knowledge and skill level of those applying. Many Pontiac IL employers not only demand a degree or certificate from an accredited welding school, but also certification from a respected organization such as the American Welding Society (AWS). Different certifications are available based upon the kind of work that the welder does. Some of the skills that certification can acknowledge are the welder’s ability to
- Work in compliance with specific codes
- Work with certain metal thicknesses
- Work with various types of welds
- Work according to contract specifications
As earlier mentioned, various states, cities or local municipalities have licensing mandates for welders. Of those requiring licensing, many additionally require certification for various types of work. Certification is also a means to prove to employers that you are a highly skilled and experienced welder. So just as with licensing, check the requirements for your location and confirm that the welding tech school you select prepares you for certification if needed.
Subjects to Ask Welder Tech Programs
After you have chosen the credential you would like to attain, a diploma, certificate or degree, you can start to compare schools. As you are no doubt aware, there are a large number of welder trade and vocational schools in the Pontiac IL area. That’s why it’s essential to decide up front what qualifications your selected 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 mentioned, although they are essential qualifications, they are not the only ones that should be looked at. After all, the school you pick is going to provide the training that will be the foundation of your new profession as a welder. So below are more factors you may need to evaluate before picking a welder vocational school.
Accreditation. It’s extremely important that the welder trade school you choose is accredited by either a national or a regional agency. There are 2 standard 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 has, for instance Welding Technology. So make sure that the program you choose is accredited, not just the school alone. Additionally, the accreditation should be by a U.S. Department of Education recognized 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 aid or student loans, which are frequently not available in Pontiac IL for schools that are not accredited. Also, for those states or municipalities that mandate licensing, they may require that the welding training program be accredited also.
Apprenticeship and Job Placement Programs. A large number of welder degree or certificate programs are offered in conjunction with an apprenticeship program. Various other schools will assist in placing you in an apprenticeship or a job after graduation. Find out if the schools you are looking at assist in placing students in apprenticeships or have a job assistance program. These schools must have partnerships 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 utilize for placements. These programs can assist students in finding employment and establish relationships within the Pontiac IL welding community.
Completion and Job Placement Rates. The completion rate is the percentage of students that begin an academic program and finish it. It’s important that the welder school you select has a higher completion rate. A reduced rate may mean that the students who joined the program were dissatisfied with the training, the teachers, or the facilities, and dropped out. The job placement rate is also an indication of the quality of training. A higher job placement rate will not only affirm that the school has a good reputation within the industry, but also that it has the network of Pontiac IL contacts to help students secure employment or apprenticeships upon graduation.
Up-to-date Facilities and Equipment. Once you have limited your selection of welder programs 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 modern. Specifically, the training equipment should be comparable to what you will be working with on the job. If you are unsure 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 Pontiac IL welding professional if they can give you a few tips.
School Location. Even though we previously briefly covered the relevance of location, there are a few additional points that we should address. You should keep in mind that unless you have the ability to relocate, the welding school you choose must be within driving distance of your Pontiac IL home. If you do decide to enroll in an out-of-state school, apart from relocation expenses there may be higher tuition fees for out-of-state residents. This is particularly the case for welding diploma programs offered by community colleges. Furthermore, if the school offers a job placement or apprenticeship program, often their placements are within the school’s local community. So the location of the school needs to be in an area or state where you subsequently will wish to work.
Smaller Classes. Personalized training is essential for a hands-on trade such as welding. It’s possible to get lost in bigger classes and not obtain much one-on-one instruction. Find out what the average class size is for the welder programs you are looking at. Inquire if you can sit in on a few classes so that you can experience how much personal attention the students are getting. While there, speak with several of the students and get their opinions. Similarly, talk to some of the teachers and find out what their welding experience has been and what credentials and certifications they hold.
Flexible Class Schedules. Some people learn a new trade while still working at their current job. Confirm that the class schedules for the schools you are looking at are flexible enough to satisfy your needs. If you can only go to classes at night or on weekends near Pontiac IL, make sure that the schools you are considering offer those alternatives. If you can only attend part-time, make certain that the school you decide on offers part-time enrollment. Also, check to see what the protocol is to make up classes if you you miss any due to work, illness or family responsibilities.
Online Welder Degree and Certificate Programs
Welding is truly a hands-on kind of trade, and therefore not extremely suitable for training online. Even so, there are some online welding classes offered by various community colleges and technical schools in the greater Pontiac IL area that may count toward a certificate or degree program. These classes mainly cover such subjects as reading blueprints, safety,, and metallurgy. They can help give a novice a foundation to begin their training and education. 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 accomplished online. These skills need to be learned in an on-campus environment or in an apprenticeship. Online or distance learning is better suited for seasoned welders that desire to advance their knowledge or possibly earn a more advanced degree. So if you should come across an online welding degree or certificate program, be very careful and verify that the greater part of the training is done on campus or in a workshop type of setting.
Best Local Welding Schools Pontiac IL
Selecting the right welding training program will undoubtedly be the most important decision you will make to launch your new career. You originally stopped by our website because you had an interest in Best Local Welding Schools and wanted more information on the topic Best Night Welding Schools. However, as we have addressed in this article, there are many things that you will need to examine and compare among the schools you are looking at. It’s a must that any welder training that you are evaluating includes a good deal of hands-on training. Classes should be smaller in size and every student should have their own welding machine to train with. Classroom teaching should provide a real-world context, and the course of study should be up-to-date and conform with industry standards. Courses differ in duration and the kind of credential offered, so you will need to ascertain what length of program and degree or certificate will best satisfy your needs. Every training program offers unique options for certification also. Perhaps the best approach to research your final list of schools is to visit each campus and talk with the teachers and students. Invest some time to monitor some classes. Tour the campus and facilities. Make certain that you are confident that the training program you pick is the right one for you. With the proper training, hard work and dedication, the final result will be a new trade as a professional welder in Pontiac IL.
Other Illinois Welder Locations
Pontiac, Illinois
Pontiac is a city in Livingston County, Illinois, United States. The population was 11,931 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Livingston County.[3] The town is also the setting of the 1984 movie Grandview, U.S.A.
According to the 2010 census, Pontiac has a total area of 7.87 square miles (20.38 km2), of which 7.73 square miles (20.02 km2) (or 98.22%) is land and 0.14 square miles (0.36 km2) (or 1.78%) is water.[4]
Pontiac lies on the Vermilion River. On December 4, 1982, Pontiac had the worst flood in the town's history, cresting at 19.16 feet. The most recent flooding occurred on January 9, 2008, cresting at 18.85 feet, the second worst in the town history.[5]
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