How to Select the Right Welding Technical School near Huntington New York
Finding the right welding technical school near Huntington NY is an essential first step to starting your new career as a professional welder. But since there are so many schools to choose from, how do you know which ones to consider? And more significantly, once you have fine tuned your alternatives, how do you select the best one? Many prospective students begin by looking at the schools that are nearest to their residences. When they have located those that are within driving distance, they gravitate toward the least expensive one. Yes, location and the cost of tuition are important concerns when examining welder trade schools, but they are not the only ones. Other concerns include such things as reputation, accreditation and job placement rates. So before beginning your search for a trade school to become a welder, it’s prudent to create 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.
Request Free Information on Welding Schools Near You
Welder Degree and Certificate Programs
There are multiple options available to obtain training as a welder in a trade or vocational school. You can obtain 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 combined with an apprenticeship program. Following are short summaries of the most common welding programs offered in the Huntington NY area.
- Certificate and Diploma Programs are generally offered by technical and trade schools and require about 1 year to complete. They are more hands-on training in nature, fashioned mainly to develop welding skills. They can provide a good foundation for a new journeyman or apprentice welder, or additional skills for working welders.
- Associate Degree Programs will take two years to complete and are most often offered by community colleges. An Associate Degree in Welding Technology furnishes a more extensive education than the diploma or certificate while still providing the foundation that readies students to enter the workforce.
A number of states and municipalities do have licensing requirements for welders, so be sure to check for your location of potential employment. If needed, the welding school you pick should prep you for any licensing exams that you will need to pass in addition to providing the proper training to become a qualified welder.
Click Here to Get Free Information on Welding Schools Near You!
Welder Certification Alternatives
There are multiple organizations that provide welder certifications, which test the knowledge and skill level of those applying. Many Huntington NY employers not only require a certificate or degree from an accredited welding school, but also certification from a respected organization 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 skills that certification can attest to are the welder’s ability to
- Work in compliance with specific codes
- Work with specific metal thicknesses
- Work with specific kinds of welds
- Operate according to contract specifications
As previously mentioned, some states, cities or local municipalities have licensing mandates for welders. Of those requiring licensing, a number also require certification for different types of work. Certification is also a means to prove to employers that you are an exceptionally skilled and experienced welder. So similarly as with licensing, look into the requirements for your local area and confirm that the welding vocational school you decide on prepares you for certification as needed.
Topics to Ask Welding Vocational Schools
After you have chosen the credential you want to attain, a degree, certificate or diploma, you can begin to assess schools. As you can imagine, there are a large number of welding trade and technical schools in the Huntington NY area. That’s why it’s essential to establish up front what qualifications your school of choice must have. We have previously discussed a couple of important ones that most people consider first, which are location and tuition cost. As mentioned, although they are essential qualifications, they are not the only ones that must be considered. After all, the school you decide on is going to provide the education that will be the foundation of your new vocation as a welder. So following are more factors you may need to evaluate before picking a welder tech school.
Accreditation. It’s essential that the welding vocational school you choose is accredited by either a national or a regional agency. There are two standard kinds of accreditation. The school may attain Institutional Accreditation based on all of their programs. Programmatic Accreditation is based on an individual program the school has, for example Welding Technology. So make sure that the program you pick is accredited, not just the school itself. 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 make sure that you receive an excellent education, the accreditation can also assist in securing financial aid or student loans, which are in many cases not offered in Huntington NY for schools that are not accredited. Finally, for those states or local governments that require licensing, they may require that the welder training program be accredited as well.
Job Placement and Apprenticeship Programs. A large number of welder degree or diploma programs are provided combined with an apprenticeship program. Other schools will help place you in an apprenticeship or a job after 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 partnerships with local unions and other metal working businesses to which they can refer their students. Older schools may have a more substantial network of graduates that they can utilize for placements. These programs can assist students in finding employment and develop associations within the Huntington NY welding community.
Job Placement and Completion Rates. The completion rate is the percentage of students that start an academic program and complete it. It’s important that the welder school you choose has a higher completion rate. A lower rate could indicate that the students who were in the program were dissatisfied with the instruction, the teachers, or the facilities, and quit. The job placement rate is also an indication of the caliber of training. A higher job placement rate will not only verify that the program has a good reputation within the industry, but also that it has the network of Huntington NY contacts to help students obtain apprenticeships or employment upon graduation.
Up-to-date Facilities and Equipment. After you have decreased your selection of welder schools to 2 or 3 options, you should think out going to the campuses to evaluate 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 comparable to what you will be using in the field. If you are not sure 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 Huntington NY welding contractor if they can give you some tips.
School Location. Even though we previously briefly covered the relevance of location, there are a few additional points that we should cover. You should remember that unless you can move, the welding program you pick must be within commuting distance of your Huntington NY home. If you do opt to enroll in an out-of-state school, apart from moving expenses there could be higher tuition fees for out-of-state residents. This is especially true for welding certificate programs offered by community colleges. Also, if the school offers an apprenticeship or job placement program, often their placements are within the school’s local community. So the location of the school needs to be in a region or state where you subsequently will wish to work.
Small Classes. One-on-one training is important for a manual trade such as welding. It’s easy to get lost in bigger classes and not receive much personalized training. Find out what the usual class size is for the welder schools you are looking at. Inquire if you can attend a couple of classes so that you can experience how much personal attention the students are receiving. While there, speak with a few of the students and get their opinions. Also, chat with a few of the teachers and ask what their welding experience has been and what credentials and certifications they have earned.
Flexible Class Schedules. Many people learn a new profession while still employed at their current job. Make sure that the class schedules for the schools you are considering are flexible enough to fulfill your needs. If you can only go to classes at night or on weekends near Huntington NY, make certain that the schools you are looking at provide those choices. If you can only enroll part-time, confirm that the school you choose offers part-time enrollment. Also, ask what the policy is to make up classes if you you miss any due to work, sickness or family circumstances.
Online Welding Schools
Welding is truly a manual type of profession, and consequently not very compatible with training online. Even so, there are a few online welding courses offered by certain community colleges and technical schools in the greater Huntington NY area that can count toward a degree or certificate program. These courses mainly deal with such topics as reading blueprints, safety,, and metallurgy. They can help provide a novice a foundation to begin their education and training. Nevertheless, the most critical 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 must be learned in an on-campus environment or in an apprenticeship. Online or distance learning is more appropriate for experienced welders that want to advance their expertise or perhaps obtain a more advanced degree. So if you should discover an online welding degree or certificate program, be extremely careful and make sure that the majority of the training is done on campus or in a workshop type of setting.
How to Enroll in Evening Welding Training Huntington NY
Picking the ideal welding 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 Evening Welding Training and wanted more information on the topic Top Online Welding Training. However, as we have addressed in this article, there are several things that you will need to evaluate and compare between the programs you are reviewing. It’s a must that any welding school that you are assessing includes a considerable amount of hands-on instruction. Classes need to be smaller in size and every student must have their own welding machine to train with. Classroom education should offer a real-world perspective, and the course of study should be current and conform with industry standards. Programs vary in duration and the kind of credential offered, so you will have to ascertain what length of program and certificate or degree will best serve your needs. Every training program provides different options for certification also. Perhaps The ideal means to research your final list of schools is to visit each campus and speak with the teachers and students. Invest some time to sit in on a few classes. Tour the campus and facilities. Make certain that you are confident that the school you decide on is the right one for you. With the right training, hard work and dedication, the final outcome will be a new career as a professional welder in Huntington NY.
Other New York Welder Locations
Huntington, New York
The Town of Huntington is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York, United States. Founded in 1653,[1] it is located on the north shore of Long Island in northwestern Suffolk County, with Long Island Sound to its north and Nassau County adjacent to the west. Huntington is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the United States 2010 Census, the town population was 203,264.
Huntington is the only township in the United States to ban self-service gas stations at the town level. Along with New Jersey, they are the only two places in the country where full-service gas stations are compulsory.[2]
In 1653, three men from Oyster Bay, Richard Holbrook, Robert Williams and Daniel Whitehead, purchased a parcel of land from the Matinecock tribe. This parcel has since come to be known as the "First Purchase" and included land bordered by Cold Spring Harbor on the west, Northport Harbor on the east, what is now known as Old Country Road to the south and Long Island Sound to the north. The three men immediately turned the land over to the settlers who had already been living there.[3]
Business Results 1 - 10 of 22
5 Reviews 
1 Reviews 
1 Reviews 
1 Reviews 
5 Reviews 
8 Reviews 
13 Reviews 
3 Reviews 
11 Reviews 
10 Reviews 