How to Find the Right Welding Vocational School near Auburn Hills Michigan
Enrolling in the ideal welding technical school near Auburn Hills MI is an essential first step to launching your new career as a professional welder. But since there are a lot of schools to choose from, how do you know which ones to consider? And more notably, once you have narrowed down your alternatives, how do you select the right one? A number of people start by reviewing the schools that are closest to their residences. When they have found those that are within driving distance, they are drawn toward the least costly one. Yes, location and tuition cost are important concerns when examining welder vocational schools, but they are not the only ones. Other considerations include such things as reputation, accreditation and job placement rates. So before beginning your search for a vocational school to become a welder, it’s prudent to develop 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 Programs
There are multiple options to receive training as a welder in a technical or trade school. You can obtain a a certificate, a diploma 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 made available in conjunction with an apprenticeship program. Below are short descriptions of the most prevalent welding programs available in the Auburn Hills MI area.
- Certificate and Diploma Programs are generally made available by trade and technical schools and take about 1 year to complete. They are more hands-on training in scope, created mainly to teach welding skills. They can furnish 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 offers a more extensive education than the diploma or certificate while still furnishing the foundation that readies students to enter the workforce.
Many states and municipalities do have licensing requirements for welders, so be sure to find out for your location of future employment. As required, the welding school you choose should prepare you for any licensing exams that you will need to pass in addition to supplying the appropriate training to become a professional welder.
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Welder Certification Alternatives
There are several institutions that offer welding certifications, which test the knowledge and skill level of those applying. A large number of Auburn Hills MI employers not only require a certificate or degree from an accredited welding school, but also certification from a highly regarded organization like the American Welding Society (AWS). Different certifications are offered dependent on the type of work that the welder performs. Some of the skills that certification can attest to are the welder’s ability to
- Work in compliance with specific codes
- Work with certain metal thicknesses
- Work with various types of welds
- Work based on contract specifications
As previously mentioned, some states, cities or local municipalities have licensing requirements for welders. Of those requiring licensing, some also require certification for various types of work. Certification is also a way to prove to employers that you are an extremely skilled and experienced welder. So just as with licensing, check the requirements for your location and make certain that the welding tech school you choose preps you for certification as needed.
Points to Ask Welder Technical Programs
After you have decided on the credential you want to earn, a certificate, diploma or degree, you can begin to assess schools. As you probably know, there are a large number of welder vocational and trade schools in the Auburn Hills MI area. That’s why it’s necessary to establish up front what qualifications your school of choice must have. We have already discussed a couple of significant ones that many people look at first, which are location and tuition cost. As mentioned, although they are essential qualifications, they are not the only ones that need to be looked at. After all, the program you choose is going to provide the training that will be the foundation of your new career as a welder. So below are some additional factors you may want to evaluate before picking a welding trade school.
Accreditation. It’s extremely important 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 has, such as Welding Technology. So verify that the program you choose is accredited, not just the school itself. Additionally, the accreditation should be by a U.S. Department of Education recognized accrediting agency, for example the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT). Besides helping ensure that you receive a superior education, the accreditation might also help in getting financial assistance or student loans, which are in many cases unavailable in Auburn Hills MI for non-accredited schools. Finally, for those states or local governments that mandate licensing, they may require that the welder training program be accredited as well.
Apprenticeship and Job Assistance Programs. Numerous welder diploma or degree programs are provided combined with an apprenticeship program. Other schools will assist in placing you in a job or an apprenticeship after graduation. Find out if the schools you are reviewing assist in placing students in apprenticeships or have a job placement program. These schools must have relationships with local unions and various metal working businesses to which they can place their students. More established schools may have a more substantial network of graduates that they can rely upon for placements. These programs can assist students in finding employment and develop associations within the Auburn Hills MI welding community.
Completion and Job Placement Rates. The completion rate is the portion or percentage of students that enroll in an instructional program and finish it. It’s essential that the welding school you select has a high completion rate. A low rate might mean that the students who joined the program were dissatisfied with the instruction, the instructors, or the facilities, and dropped out. The job placement rate is also an indication of the caliber of training. A higher job placement rate will not only affirm that the program has a good reputation within the industry, but additionally that it has the network of Auburn Hills MI contacts to assist students secure employment or apprenticeships after graduation.
Up-to-date Facilities and Equipment. Once you have decreased your choice of welder programs to two or three options, you should consider going to the campuses to evaluate their facilities. Make sure that both the equipment and the facilities that you will be taught on are modern. In particular, the training equipment should be comparable to what you will be using on the job. If you are not sure 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 Auburn Hills MI welding professional if they can give you a few pointers.
School Location. Although we already briefly discussed the relevance of location, there are a few additional points that we need to deal with. You should remember that unless you have the ability to relocate, the welding school you pick needs to be within commuting distance of your Auburn Hills MI home. If you do opt to attend an out-of-state school, in addition to moving costs there may be higher tuition fees for out-of-state residents. This is especially true for welding diploma programs offered by community colleges. Furthermore, if the school offers 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 a region or state where you ultimately will want to work.
Smaller Classes. Personalized instruction is important for a manual trade such as welding. It’s easy to get lost in larger classes and not get much personalized instruction. Find out what the typical class size is for the welder programs you are considering. Ask if you can attend a few classes so that you can experience just how much individual attention the students are getting. While there, speak with some of the students and get their evaluations. Also, chat with a few of the teachers and find out what their welding experience has been and what certifications and credentials they have earned.
Convenient Class Scheduling. Lots of folks learn a new trade while still working at their current job. Make sure that the class schedules for the programs you are reviewing are convenient enough to meet your needs. If you can only go to classes at night or on weekends near Auburn Hills MI, make certain that the schools you are looking at provide those alternatives. If you can only attend part-time, make certain that the school you choose offers part-time enrollment. Also, find out what the policy is to make up classes if you you miss any due to work, illness or family emergencies.
Online Welding Training
Welding is very much a hands-on kind of vocation, and therefore not extremely compatible with online training. Having said that, there are some online welding classes offered by certain community colleges and trade schools in the greater Auburn Hills MI area that can count toward a degree or certificate program. These courses primarily deal with such topics as reading blueprints, safety,, and metallurgy. They can help provide a beginner a foundation to begin their training and education. Nevertheless, the most important point is that you can’t learn how to weld or use welding materials unless you actually do it. Naturally that can’t be performed online. These skills need to be learned in an on-campus environment or in an apprenticeship. Online or distance learning is better suited for experienced welders that desire to advance their expertise or possibly earn a more advanced degree. So if you should come across an online welding certificate or degree program, be extremely careful and make sure that the bulk of the training is done on campus or in a workshop type of environment.
Community College Welding Programs Auburn Hills MI
Choosing the right welder training program will undoubtedly be the most critical decision you will make to begin your new trade. You originally stopped by our website because you had an interest in Community College Welding Programs and wanted more information on the topic How to Choose a Welding Technical School near. However, as we have discussed in this article, there are a number of things that you will need to examine and compare between the programs you are considering. It’s a must that any welding training program that you are assessing includes a lot of hands-on instruction. Classes should be small in size and every student must have their personal welding machine to train with. Classroom teaching needs to offer a real-world frame of reference, and the training program should be up-to-date and conform with industry standards. Training programs vary in duration and the type of credential provided, so you will have to decide what length of program and credential will best serve your needs. Every program provides different options for certification as well. Perhaps The ideal means to research your short list of schools is to visit each campus and speak with the faculty 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 choose 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 Auburn Hills MI.
Other Michigan Welder Locations
Auburn Hills, Michigan
Auburn Hills (formerly Pontiac Township) is a city in Oakland County, in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 21,412 at the 2010 census.[9] It is home to the U.S. headquarters of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, The Palace of Auburn Hills (former home of the Detroit Pistons and several other teams), and Oakland University.
In 1908, automobile pioneer John Dodge bought a farmhouse 3 miles (4.8 km) northeast of Auburn Heights to use as his country retreat. His oldest child, Winifred Dodge, married real estate baron Wesson Seyburn, who built his own country retreat 2.5 miles (4.0 km) north of Auburn Heights. The estate included hunting land, dog kennels, a swimming pool, horse stables, and a 5,000-square-foot (460 m2) Colonial Revival house. Pontiac Township purchased the estate in 1976, and adapted the buildings for government use. Today, it is known as the Auburn Hills Civic Center.
The first use of the name "Auburn Hills," in 1964, was by Oakland Community College. They named their campus (a former Nike missile base) at Featherstone and Squirrel roads for the town and the hilly terrain in the area. Besides Oakland Community College, three other colleges, Oakland University, Baker College, and Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School have campuses partially within the city limits.
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