How to Pick the Best Welding Trade School near Norristown Pennsylvania
Enrolling in the right welding technical school near Norristown PA is an essential first step to beginning your new occupation as a professional welder. But since there are numerous 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 pick the best one? A number of people begin by reviewing the schools that are closest to their homes. Once they have found those that are within commuting distance, they gravitate toward the cheapest one. Yes, location and the cost of tuition are important issues when reviewing welding trade schools, but they are not the only ones. Other considerations include such things as accreditation, reputation and job placement rates. So before beginning your search for a vocational school to become a welder, it’s prudent to create a list of qualifications that your selected 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
There are multiple options to receive training as a welder in a trade or technical 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 programs than most journeyman welders will need. Some programs are also made available in conjunction with an apprenticeship program. Below are short summaries of the most common welding programs available in the Norristown PA 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 scope, designed primarily to teach 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 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 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 don’t forget to check for your location of future employment. If required, the welder school you select should prepare you for any licensing exams that you will need to pass in addition to supplying the proper training to become a qualified welder.
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Welding Certification Choices
There are a number of organizations that provide welding certifications, which assess the knowledge and skill level of those applying. A large number of Norristown PA employers not only require a certificate or degree from an accredited welding school, but also certification from a highly regarded agency like the American Welding Society (AWS). Different certifications are offered based on the type of work that the welder does. Just some of the things 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 types of welds
- Operate in compliance with contract specifications
As previously mentioned, various states, cities or local municipalities have licensing mandates for welders. Of those requiring licensing, a number also require certification for various kinds of work. Certification is also a means to demonstrate to employers that you are an exceptionally skilled and experienced welder. So similarly as with licensing, check the requirements for your local area and verify that the welding vocational school you choose preps you for certification if needed.
What to Ask Welder Tech Programs
As soon as you have decided on the credential you want to earn, a degree, certificate or diploma, you can begin to evaluate schools. As you probably know, there are numerous welding trade and technical schools in the Norristown PA area. That’s why it’s important to determine in advance what qualifications your school of choice must have. We have already discussed two important ones that most people look at first, which are location and the cost of tuition. As mentioned, although they are essential qualifications, they are not the only ones that should be considered. After all, the school you select is going to provide the training that will be the foundation of your new vocation as a welder. So following are more factors you might need to evaluate before selecting a welding tech school.
Accreditation. It’s extremely important that the welder tech school you decide on 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 a specific program the school offers, for example Welding Technology. So make certain that the program you pick is accredited, not just the school itself. Additionally, the accreditation should be by a U.S. Department of Education recognized accrediting agency, like the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT). In addition to helping ensure that you obtain a superior education, the accreditation may also assist in getting financial aid or student loans, which are often not offered in Norristown PA for schools that are not accredited. Finally, for those states or local governments that mandate licensing, they may require that the welding training program be accredited as well.
Apprenticeship and Job Assistance Programs. Many welder certificate or degree programs are provided in conjunction with an apprenticeship program. Various other schools will help place you in an apprenticeship or a job after graduation. Find out if the schools you are considering help in placing students in apprenticeships or have a job placement program. These schools should have associations with local unions and various metal working businesses to which they can place their students. Older schools may have a more substantial network of graduates that they can rely upon for placements. These programs can help students find employment and establish associations within the Norristown PA 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 welding program you choose has a high completion rate. A lower rate could indicate that the students who joined the program were unhappy with the instruction, the teachers, 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 verify that the program has an excellent reputation within the trade, but also that it has the network of Norristown PA employer relationships to help students secure employment or apprenticeships upon graduation.
Modern Facilities and Equipment. After you have decreased your selection of welder programs to 2 or 3 possibilities, you should consider visiting the campuses to look over their facilities. Confirm that both the equipment and the facilities that you will be trained on are up-to-date. Specifically, 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 already in an apprenticeship program, consult with the master welder you are working under for guidance. If not, ask a local Norristown PA welding professional if they can give you a few suggestions.
School Location. Even though we already briefly discussed the significance of location, there are a few additional issues that we need to deal with. You should remember that unless you are able to move, the welder school you pick must be within driving distance of your Norristown PA home. If you do choose to attend an out-of-state school, apart from moving expenses there could be higher tuition fees for out-of-state residents. This is particularly the case 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 should be in a region or state where you subsequently will want to work.
Small Classes. One-on-one instruction is important for a hands-on trade such as welding. It’s easy to be overlooked in larger classes and not receive much one-on-one instruction. Ask what the usual class size is for the welder schools you are considering. Ask if you can attend a couple of classes so that you can witness how much personal attention the students are getting. While there, talk with a few of the students and get their feedback. Also, talk to some of the instructors and ask what their welding experience has been and what credentials and certifications they hold.
Convenient Class Scheduling. Some people learn a new profession while still working at their current job. Make sure that the class schedules for the programs you are reviewing are flexible enough to meet your needs. If you can only attend classes in the evenings or on weekends near Norristown PA, make sure that the schools you are looking at offer those options. If you can only attend on a part-time basis, make certain that the school you choose 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 Welder Classes
Welding is truly a manual type of trade, and consequently not very compatible with training online. Having said that, there are some online welding classes offered by specific community colleges and trade schools in the greater Norristown PA area that may count toward a certificate or degree program. These courses primarily deal with such subjects as safety, reading blueprints, and metallurgy. They can help give a novice a basis to initiate their training and education. However, the most significant point is that you can’t learn how to weld or work with welding materials until 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 want to advance their knowledge or perhaps attain a more advanced degree. So if you should come across 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 environment.
Guide to Fast Track Welder Schools Near Me Norristown PA
Picking the best welding school will probably be the most important decision you will make to begin your new career. You originally stopped by our website because you had an interest in Guide to Fast Track Welder Schools Near Me and wanted more information on the topic Guide to Evening Welder Schools Near Me. However, as we have discussed in this article, there are a number of factors that you will need to evaluate and compare between the programs you are looking at. It’s a necessity that any welding training that you are examining includes a good deal of hands-on instruction. Classes should be small in size and every student must have their personal welding machine to train on. Classroom teaching should provide a real-world perspective, and the curriculum should be up-to-date and in-line with industry standards. Programs differ in length and the kind of credential provided, so you will have to decide what length of program and credential will best serve your needs. Every program offers unique possibilities for certification also. Probably the best approach to research your final list of schools is to check out each campus and talk with the students and instructors. Take the time to sit in on some classes. Inspect the campus and facilities. Make sure that you are confident that the school you select is the ideal one for you. With the proper training, effort and dedication, the final outcome will be a new career as a professional welder in Norristown PA.
Other Pennsylvania Welder Locations
Norristown, Pennsylvania
Norristown is a borough (with home rule status) in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States.[3] Located along the Schuylkill River approximately six miles from the Philadelphia city limits, Norristown has a population of 34,324 as of the 2010 U.S. Census. It is the fourth most populous municipality in the county and second most populous borough in Pennsylvania.[4]
Named the county seat in 1784 when Montgomery County was formed, Norristown was incorporated as a borough in 1812 and subsequently enlarged in 1853. About 500 people lived there at the time of its incorporation. Growing rapidly after the Civil War, it swelled to 22,265 people by 1900 and by 1940 it was home to 38,181 Norristonians, making it the most populous borough in Pennsylvania before declining in the decades after World War II.
At its height, Norristown was an industrial, retail, banking, and government center. Breweries, cigar factories, textile mills, icehouses, foundries, rolling mills, and lumber yards provided ample employment for skilled laborers and artisans.[5] The downtown featured two department stores, several theaters, and enough goods and services that residents never had to leave town to find anything they needed.[6] Although primarily settled by the English and a handful of Germans, Scots, Dutch, and Swedes, in the mid-1800s the Irish began arriving in large numbers, followed by waves of Italians at the turn of the century.[7]
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