How to Find the Best Welding Trade School near Gurnee Illinois
Selecting the ideal welding trade school near Gurnee IL is an essential first step to starting your new occupation as a professional welder. But since there are a lot of schools to select 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? A number of prospective students begin by looking at the schools that are nearest to their homes. Once they have located those that are within driving distance, they are drawn toward the least expensive one. Yes, location and the cost of tuition are necessary concerns when examining welder trade schools, but they are not the only ones. Other factors include such things as accreditation, reputation and job placement rates. So before initiating 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 delve into 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
There are a number of alternatives available to obtain training as a welder in a technical or trade school. You can earn a diploma, a certificate or an Associate Degree. Bachelor Degrees are offered in Welding Engineering or Welding Technology, but are more advanced courses than most journeyman welders will need. Some programs are also offered along with an apprenticeship program. Below are brief summaries of the most common welding programs available in the Gurnee IL area.
- Certificate and Diploma Programs are usually made available by trade and technical schools and take about one year to complete. They are more hands-on training in nature, created primarily 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 2 years to complete 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 providing the foundation that prepares students to enter the workforce.
Some municipalities and states do have licensing requirements for welders, therefore be sure to check for your location of potential employment. If needed, the welder school you select should prep you for any licensing exams that you will have to take in addition to furnishing the appropriate training to become a professional welder.
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Welder Certification Choices
There are various institutions that provide welder certifications, which test the skill level and knowledge of those applying. Many Gurnee IL 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 dependent on the kind of work that the welder performs. Just some of the skills that certification can acknowledge are the welder’s ability to
- Operate in compliance with specific codes
- Work with specific metal thicknesses
- Work with specific types of welds
- Operate based on contract specifications
As already mentioned, some states, cities or local municipalities have licensing mandates for welders. Of those mandating licensing, a number also require certification for different kinds of work. Certification is also a means 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 verify that the welding tech school you select preps you for certification as needed.
Points to Ask Welding Trade Programs
After you have chosen the credential you would like to attain, a degree, certificate or diploma, you can begin to compare schools. As you probably know, there are numerous welder trade and technical schools in the Gurnee IL area. That’s why it’s necessary to decide up front what qualifications your chosen school must have. We have already covered 2 significant ones that most people look at first, which are location and the cost of tuition. As stated, although they are very important qualifiers, 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 vocation as a welder. So following are more factors you might want to evaluate before picking a welder tech school.
Accreditation. It’s very important that the welding tech school you select is accredited by either a national or a regional agency. There are 2 basic kinds of accreditation. The school may receive Institutional Accreditation based on all of their programs. Programmatic Accreditation is based on an individual program the school offers, for example Welding Technology. So confirm that the program you pick is accredited, not just the school itself. Also, the accreditation should be by a U.S. Department of Education recognized accrediting agency, such as the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT). In addition to helping make sure that you obtain a quality education, the accreditation might also help in acquiring financial aid or student loans, which are frequently not offered in Gurnee IL for non-accredited schools. Finally, for those states or local governments that require licensing, they may require that the welding training program be accredited as well.
Job Placement and Apprenticeship Programs. A large number of welder certificate or degree programs are offered combined with an apprenticeship program. Some other schools will help place you in a job or an apprenticeship 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 should have relationships with local unions and various 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 assist students in finding employment and establish relationships within the Gurnee IL welding community.
Completion and Job Placement Rates. The completion rate is the portion or percentage of students that enroll in an educational program and finish it. It’s essential that the welder school you select has a higher completion rate. A reduced rate might mean 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 trade, but additionally that it has the network of Gurnee IL contacts to assist students secure apprenticeships or employment after graduation.
Up-to-date Facilities and Equipment. After you have narrowed down your choice of welder programs to two or three possibilities, you should think out visiting the campuses to look over their facilities. Confirm that both the facilities and the equipment that you will be trained on are modern. 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, ask the master welder you are working under for guidance. If not, ask a local Gurnee IL welding professional if they can give you a few suggestions.
School Location. Even though we already briefly talked about the significance of location, there are a few additional issues that we need to deal with. You should remember that unless you have the ability to relocate, the welder school you pick must be within commuting distance of your Gurnee IL home. If you do opt to attend an out-of-state school, apart from relocation costs there may be higher tuition fees for out-of-state residents. This is especially true for welder diploma programs offered by community colleges. Also, if the school provides an apprenticeship or job placement program, more than likely 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. Individualized training is important for a hands-on trade such as welding. It’s easy to get overlooked in bigger classes and not receive much personalized training. Ask what the average class size is for the welding schools you are reviewing. Inquire if you can sit in on a couple of classes so that you can witness just how much personal attention the students are receiving. While there, talk with several of the students and get their opinions. Similarly, talk with a few of the instructors and find out what their welding experience has been and what certifications and credentials they hold.
Flexible Class Schedules. Many people learn a new trade while still employed at their current job. Verify that the class schedules for the schools you are considering are convenient enough to meet your needs. If you can only go to classes in the evenings or on weekends near Gurnee IL, make sure that the schools you are considering provide those alternatives. If you can only enroll on a part-time basis, make certain that the school you pick offers part-time enrollment. Also, find out what the protocol is to make up classes should you miss any because of illness, work or family circumstances.
Online Welding Training Programs
Welding is very much a hands-on type of profession, and therefore not very compatible with online training. Even so, there are a small number of online welding classes offered by various community colleges and trade schools in the greater Gurnee 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 provide a beginner a basis to start their education and training. However, the most critical point is that you can’t learn how to weld or use welding materials until you actually do it. Clearly 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 better suited for experienced welders that want to advance their expertise or possibly attain a more advanced degree. So if you should discover an online welding degree or certificate program, be extremely careful and make sure that the greater part of the training is done on campus or in a workshop type of setting.
How to Enroll in Night Welding Classes Gurnee IL
Selecting the ideal welder school will undoubtedly 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 How to Enroll in Night Welding Classes and wanted more information on the topic Top Accredited Welding Classes. However, as we have addressed in this article, there are several factors that you will need to evaluate and compare between the programs you are considering. It’s a prerequisite that any welding school that you are examining includes a good deal of hands-on instruction. Classes need to be small in size and each student must have their own welding machine to train on. Classroom instruction should provide a real-world perspective, and the training program should be up-to-date and conform with industry standards. Training programs differ in length and the type of credential offered, so you will need to decide what length of program and certificate or degree will best serve your needs. Every program offers unique options for certification also. Perhaps The ideal approach to research your short list of schools is to go to each campus and talk with the students and instructors. Invest some time to sit in on a few classes. Tour the campus and facilities. Make sure that you are confident that the program you decide on is the ideal one for you. With the right training, hard work and commitment, the final outcome will be a new trade as a professional welder in Gurnee IL.
Other Illinois Welder Locations
Gurnee, Illinois
Gurnee (/ˈɡɜːrˌniː/) is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Its population was 31,295 as of the 2010 census.[3] It borders the city of Waukegan and lies within the northernmost reaches of the Chicago metropolitan area. It is best known for being the location of Six Flags Great America and Gurnee Mills, together drawing over 26 million visitors annually.[4]
Early settlers in the Gurnee area came by foot horseback and by "Prairie Schooners" drawn by oxen or via the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes. They came from the town of Warren, New York, which was named in honor of Major General Joseph Warren, killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Warren Township, formed in 1850, was also named after him.[5] The first settlement of Warren Township commenced in 1835 in the vicinity of the Aux Plaines River (now the Des Plaines River).
In 1835-36, a land company from New York State erected a Community House (site of the old Gurnee Grade School) to accommodate families while they were locating and getting government land grants to their farms. Near the Community House, there was a ford used by the Potowatomi Indians for crossing the river. A floating log bridge was built there in 1842. Later, a stationary wooden bridge was constructed, and still later an iron bridge was erected.
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