How to Select the Right Welder Trade School near Hickory Pennsylvania
Locating the ideal welding technical school near Hickory PA is an essential first step to beginning your new occupation as a professional welder. But since there are a lot of schools to pick from, how do you determine which ones to consider? And more significantly, once you have fine tuned your options, how do you select the right one? Many people start by looking at the schools that are closest to their homes. Once they have identified those that are within commuting distance, they are drawn toward the cheapest one. Yes, location and the cost of tuition are necessary issues when evaluating welding trade schools, but they are not the only ones. Other considerations include such things as accreditation, reputation and job placement rates. So before starting your search for a trade school to become a welder, it’s sensible to develop a list of qualifications that your chosen school must have. But before we examine 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 Programs
There are several options to receive training as a welder in a trade or vocational school. You can receive 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 in conjunction with an apprenticeship program. Below are brief explanations of the most typical welding programs available in the Hickory PA area.
- Diploma and Certificate Programs are usually offered by trade and technical schools and require about a year to finish. They are more hands-on training in scope, created mainly to develop welding skills. They can furnish 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 usually offered by community colleges. An Associate Degree in Welding Technology provides a more well-rounded education than the certificate or diploma while still supplying the foundation that readies students to enter the workforce.
Some states and municipalities do have licensing prerequisites for welders, so be sure to check for your location of potential employment. If required, the welding school you choose should prep you for any licensing examinations that you will have to pass in addition to providing the appropriate training to become a professional welder.
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Welder Certification Options
There are a number of organizations that provide welding certifications, which assess the skill level and knowledge of those applying. Many Hickory PA employers not only require a certificate or degree from an accredited welding program, but also certification from a respected agency like the American Welding Society (AWS). Different certifications are available based upon the type of work that the welder does. A few 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 certain kinds of welds
- Perform according to contract specifications
As earlier stated, some states, cities or local municipalities have licensing requirements for welders. Of those requiring licensing, many additionally require certification for various types of work. Certification is also a means to demonstrate to employers that you are an extremely skilled and experienced welder. So just as with licensing, check the requirements for your local area and verify that the welder trade school you choose preps you for certification as needed.
Questions to Ask Welder Tech Programs
After you have decided on the credential you would like to obtain, a degree, certificate or diploma, you can start to assess schools. As you probably know, there are numerous welder trade and vocational schools in the Hickory PA area. That’s why it’s important to decide in advance what qualifications your school of choice must have. We have already covered 2 important ones that many people consider first, which are location and the cost of tuition. As mentioned, although they are very important qualifications, they are not the only ones that need to be considered. After all, the school you decide on is going to furnish the education that will be the foundation of your new profession as a welder. So below are some additional factors you might want to consider before picking a welder technical school.
Accreditation. It’s very important that the welding trade school you choose is accredited by either a national or a regional organization. There are two basic 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 offers, for example Welding Technology. So verify that the program you choose is accredited, not just the school itself. Also, the accreditation should be by a U.S. Department of Education acknowledged accrediting agency, for example the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT). In addition to helping make sure that you get an excellent education, the accreditation might also help in securing financial assistance or student loans, which are in many cases unavailable in Hickory PA for schools that are not accredited. Finally, for those states or local governments that require licensing, they may require that the welding training program be accredited as well.
Apprenticeship and Job Assistance Programs. Many welder degree or certificate programs are provided combined with an apprenticeship program. Other schools will assist in placing you in a job or an apprenticeship upon graduation. Find out if the schools you are considering assist in placing students in apprenticeships or have a job placement program. The schools should have associations with local unions and other metal working businesses to which they can place their students. Older schools may have a larger network of graduates that they can utilize for referrals. These programs can assist students in finding employment and develop associations within the Hickory PA welding community.
Completion and Job Placement Rates. The completion rate is the portion or percentage of students that begin an academic program and complete it. It’s crucial that the welder school you pick has a higher completion rate. A low rate might signify that the students who enrolled in the program were dissatisfied with the instruction, the teachers, or the facilities, and quit. The job placement rate is also a good indicator of the quality of training. A higher job placement rate will not only confirm that the program has a good reputation within the field, but additionally that it has the network of Hickory PA contacts to help students obtain employment or apprenticeships after graduation.
Modern Equipment and Facilities. Once you have decreased your selection of welder schools to 2 or 3 options, you should consider going to the campuses to look over their facilities. Confirm that both the equipment and the facilities that you will be instructed on are modern. Specifically, the training equipment should be comparable to what you will be using in the field. If you are unsure what to look for, and are already in an apprenticeship program, consult with the master welder you are working under for guidance. Otherwise, ask a local Hickory PA welding contractor if they can give you a few suggestions.
School Location. Although we already briefly talked about the relevance of location, there are a couple of additional points that we should cover. You should keep in mind that unless you are able to move, the welder school you choose must be within driving distance of your Hickory PA home. If you do opt to attend an out-of-state school, besides relocation costs there might 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, most likely 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.
Small Classes. Personalized instruction is essential for a manual trade such as welding. It’s possible to be lost in larger classes and not obtain much individualized instruction. Ask what the average class size is for the welder schools you are reviewing. Ask if you can attend some classes so that you can experience how much individual attention the students are getting. While there, talk with a few of the students and get their opinions. Similarly, talk with a couple of the teachers and ask what their welding experience has been and what credentials and certifications they hold.
Flexible Class Scheduling. Lots of folks 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 fulfill your needs. If you can only attend classes in the evenings or on weekends near Hickory PA, verify that the schools you are assessing offer those alternatives. If you can only enroll on a part-time basis, verify that the school you decide on offers part-time enrollment. Also, ask what the protocol is to make up classes should you miss any due to work, illness or family emergencies.
Online Welding Degree and Certificate Programs
Welding is truly a hands-on type of trade, and for that reason not very compatible with training online. Even so, there are some online welding classes offered by specific community colleges and technical schools in the greater Hickory PA area that may be credited toward a certificate or degree program. These classes mainly cover such subjects as reading blueprints, safety,, and metallurgy. They can help give a beginner a foundation to begin their education and training. However, the most important point is that you can’t learn how to weld or work with welding materials unless you actually do it. Obviously that can’t be accomplished online. These skills need to be learned in an on-campus setting or in an apprenticeship. Online or distance learning is better suited for seasoned welders that desire to advance their knowledge or perhaps obtain a more advanced degree. So if you should discover an online welding certificate or degree program, be extremely careful and confirm that the larger part of the training is done on campus or in a workshop type of setting.
Compare Local Welding Classes Hickory PA
Selecting the best welder school will probably be the most important decision you will make to begin your new trade. You originally stopped by our website because you had an interest in Compare Local Welding Classes and wanted more information on the topic Compare Night Welding Classes. However, as we have discussed in this article, there are many factors that you will need to evaluate and compare between the schools you are looking at. It’s a prerequisite that any welding school that you are assessing includes a good deal of hands-on training. Classes need to be smaller in size and each student must have their own welding machine to train on. Classroom teaching needs to provide a real-world context, and the course of study should be current and in-line with industry standards. Training programs vary in length and the type of credential offered, so you will need to ascertain what length of program and certificate or degree will best satisfy your needs. Each training program provides unique possibilities for certification also. Perhaps The ideal means to research your final list of schools is to visit each campus and speak with the students and faculty. 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 select 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 Hickory PA.
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