How to Choose the Best Welding Trade School near Highlands North Carolina
Choosing the right welder school near Highlands NC is an important first step to beginning your new career as a professional welder. But since there are numerous schools to pick from, how do you know which ones to consider? And more notably, once you have narrowed down your options, how do you pick the best one? Most people begin by reviewing the schools that are nearest to their homes. When they have identified those that are within driving distance, they gravitate toward the cheapest one. Yes, location and tuition cost are important concerns when examining welder technical schools, but they are not the only ones. Other factors include such things as accreditation, reputation and job placement rates. So before beginning your search for a trade school to become a welder, it’s wise to develop a list of qualifications that your chosen school must have. But before we examine our due diligence checklist, let’s cover a little bit about how to become a welder.
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Welder Degree and Certificate Programs
There are multiple options available to get training as a welder in a technical or trade school. You can obtain a diploma, a certificate or an Associate Degree. Bachelor Degrees are available in Welding Technology or Welding Engineering, but are more advanced programs than most journeyman welders will need. Some programs are also made available along with an apprenticeship program. Below are short summaries of the most prevalent welding programs offered in the Highlands NC area.
- Diploma and Certificate Programs are normally made available by trade and technical schools and require about one year to complete. They are more hands-on training in scope, fashioned largely to teach welding skills. They can provide a good foundation for a new journeyman or apprentice welder, or supplemental skills for working welders.
- Associate Degree Programs will take 2 years to finish and are most often offered by community colleges. An Associate Degree in Welding Technology offers a more extensive education than the diploma or certificate while still providing the foundation that readies students to enter the workforce.
Some municipalities and states do have licensing prerequisites for welders, therefore be sure to check for your location of future employment. If needed, the welding school you select should prep you for any licensing examinations that you will need to take in addition to supplying the proper training to become a qualified welder.
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Welder Certification Options
There are a number of organizations that offer welding certifications, which assess the skill level and knowledge of those applying. Many Highlands NC employers not only demand a certificate or degree from an accredited welding program, but also certification from a renowned organization such as the American Welding Society (AWS). Different certifications are offered dependent on the type 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 certain types of welds
- Work according to contract specifications
As previously stated, various states, cities or local municipalities have licensing mandates for welders. Of those requiring licensing, a number additionally require certification for various types of work. Certification is also a way to demonstrate to employers that you are an exceptionally skilled and experienced welder. So just as with licensing, check the requirements for your location and make sure that the welding tech school you decide on preps you for certification as needed.
Topics to Ask Welding Trade Schools
As soon as you have chosen the credential you want to earn, a diploma, certificate or degree, you can begin to compare schools. As you can imagine, there are many welding vocational and trade schools in the Highlands NC area. That’s why it’s important to decide in advance what qualifications your selected school must have. We have already discussed a couple of significant ones that most people look at first, which are location and the cost of tuition. As mentioned, although they are very important qualifications, they are not the only ones that must be considered. After all, the program you decide on is going to provide the training that will be the foundation of your new profession as a welder. So following are some additional factors you may need to evaluate before selecting a welding tech school.
Accreditation. It’s extremely important that the welding vocational school you pick is accredited by either a regional or a national 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 a single program the school offers, such as Welding Technology. So make certain that the program you choose is accredited, not just the school alone. 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). Besides helping ensure that you receive a quality education, the accreditation may also help in securing financial assistance or student loans, which are often not available in Highlands NC for non-accredited schools. Also, for those states or municipalities that require licensing, they may require that the welder training program be accredited as well.
Job Assistance and Apprenticeship Programs. A large number of welding diploma or degree programs are provided in conjunction with an apprenticeship program. Various other schools will help place you in a job or an apprenticeship upon graduation. Find out if the schools you are reviewing assist in placing students in apprenticeships or have a job placement program. The schools must have associations 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 rely upon for placements. These programs can assist students in finding employment and develop associations within the Highlands NC welding community.
Completion and Job Placement Rates. The completion rate is the portion or percentage of students that begin an educational program and complete it. It’s important that the welder program you pick has a higher completion rate. A lower rate may indicate that the students who were in the program were dissatisfied with the training, 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 confirm that the school has a good reputation within the industry, but additionally that it has the network of Highlands NC contacts to assist students obtain employment or apprenticeships upon graduation.
Modern Facilities and Equipment. After you have narrowed down your selection of welding programs to two or three options, you should think out visiting the campuses to inspect their facilities. Verify that both the facilities and the equipment that you will be taught on are up-to-date. Specifically, the training equipment should be similar to what you will be using in the field. If you are not sure 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 Highlands NC welding contractor if they can give you a few tips.
School Location. Although we previously briefly discussed the relevance of location, there are a couple of additional points that we need to address. You should bear in mind that unless you have the ability to relocate, the welder program you select must be within commuting distance of your Highlands NC home. If you do decide to enroll in an out-of-state school, besides 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. Additionally, if the school provides 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 an area or state where you ultimately will desire to work.
Small Classes. Individualized training is important for a hands-on trade such as welding. It’s possible to get overlooked in larger classes and not receive much one-on-one instruction. Find out what the usual class size is for the welding programs you are considering. Ask if you can attend a couple of classes so that you can see just how much personal attention the students are receiving. While there, speak with a few of the students and get their evaluations. Similarly, talk with a few of the trainers and ask what their welding experience has been and what certifications and credentials they have earned.
Flexible Class Schedules. Many people learn a new trade while still employed at their present job. Verify that the class schedules for the programs you are reviewing are flexible enough to satisfy your needs. If you can only go to classes at night or on weekends near Highlands NC, confirm that the schools you are reviewing provide those alternatives. If you can only enroll part-time, make sure that the school you decide on offers part-time enrollment. Also, check to see what the policy is to make up classes if you you miss any because of illness, work or family emergencies.
Online Welder Training
Welding is very much a manual type of vocation, and therefore not extremely suitable for online training. Even so, there are a small number of online welding courses offered by various community colleges and vocational schools in the greater Highlands NC area that can be credited toward a degree or certificate program. These courses primarily deal with such topics as safety, reading blueprints, and metallurgy. They can help provide a novice a basis to start their training and education. However, the most critical point is that you can’t learn how to weld or work with welding materials unless you actually do it. Naturally that can’t be done online. These skills need to be learned in an on-campus setting or in an apprenticeship. Online or distance learning is more appropriate for seasoned welders that would like to advance their expertise or possibly attain a more advanced degree. So if you should discover an online welding certificate or degree program, be very careful and verify that the bulk of the training is done on campus or in a workshop type of setting.
Guide to Accelerated Welding Schools Highlands NC
Choosing the best welder training program will probably be the most important decision you will make to start your new career. You originally stopped by our website because you had an interest in Guide to Accelerated Welding Schools and wanted more information on the topic Welder Schools. However, as we have discussed in this article, there are many things that you will need to evaluate and compare between the schools you are reviewing. It’s a prerequisite that any welder training program that you are evaluating includes a good deal of hands-on training. Classes should be smaller in size and every student must have their own welding machine to train on. Classroom teaching needs to offer a real-world frame of reference, and the curriculum should be current and conform with industry standards. Training programs differ in duration and the kind of credential provided, so you will have to decide what length of program and degree or certificate will best fulfill your needs. Every training program provides unique options for certification also. Perhaps the best means to research your short list of schools is to visit each campus and speak with the faculty and students. Invest some time to attend some classes. Inspect the campus and facilities. Make sure that you are confident that the program you select is the best one for you. With the proper training, effort and commitment, the final result will be a new occupation as a professional welder in Highlands NC.
Other North Carolina Welder Locations
Highlands, North Carolina
Highlands is an incorporated town in Macon County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located on a plateau in the southern Appalachian Mountains, within the Nantahala National Forest, it lies mostly in southeastern Macon County and slightly in southwestern Jackson County, in the Highlands and Cashiers Townships, respectively. The permanent population was 924 at the 2010 census.[4]
Highlands was founded in 1875 after its two founders, Samuel Truman Kelsey and Clinton Carter Hutchinson, drew lines from Chicago to Savannah and from New Orleans to New York City. They felt that the place where these lines met would eventually become a great trading center and commercial crossroads.[5] Highlands was named for its lofty elevation.[6]
In the 1930s the town became a golfing mecca when Bobby Jones of Atlanta and some of his well-heeled golfing buddies founded the Highlands Country Club.[7] Today that club is one of seven successful residential country club communities in the area. The Highlands Country Club is south of Highlands on Dillard Road (North Carolina Highway 106).
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