How to Find the Best Welder Trade School near Exeter Rhode Island
Choosing the right welder vocational school near Exeter RI is an essential first step to launching your new career as a professional welder. But since there are numerous schools to select from, how do you know which ones to consider? And more notably, once you have narrowed down your choices, how do you pick the right one? Most prospective students begin by reviewing the schools that are closest to their residences. Once they have identified those that are within driving distance, they are drawn toward the cheapest one. Yes, location and the cost of tuition are important issues when evaluating welding vocational schools, but they are not the only ones. Other factors 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 prudent 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 Degree and Certificate Training Classes
There are a number of options available to get training as a welder in a trade or vocational school. You can receive 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 offered along with an apprenticeship program. Below are short explanations of the most typical welding programs available in the Exeter RI area.
- Diploma and Certificate Programs are usually offered by trade and technical schools and take about 1 year to finish. They are more hands-on training in nature, designed primarily to teach 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 two years to finish and are most often offered by community colleges. An Associate Degree in Welding Technology furnishes a more extensive education than the certificate or diploma while still providing the foundation that readies students to enter the workforce.
Many municipalities and states do have licensing requirements for welders, therefore make sure to check for your location of potential employment. If needed, the welding school you pick should ready you for any licensing exams that you will have to pass in addition to supplying the appropriate training to become a qualified welder.
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Welder Certification Options
There are various institutions that offer welder certifications, which evaluate the skill level and knowledge of those applying. A large number of Exeter RI employers not only require a certificate or degree from an accredited welding school, but also certification from a respected organization like the American Welding Society (AWS). A wide range of certifications are available based upon the kind of work that the welder performs. Some of the things that certification can acknowledge are the welder’s ability to
- Work in compliance with specific codes
- Work with specific metal thicknesses
- Work with specific types of welds
- Perform according to contract specifications
As earlier mentioned, many states, cities or local municipalities have licensing requirements for welders. Of those requiring licensing, a number also require certification for various kinds of work. Certification is also a way to demonstrate to employers that you are a highly skilled and knowledgeable welder. So similarly as with licensing, check the requirements for your location and make sure that the welding trade school you choose prepares you for certification as needed.
Subjects to Ask Welder Tech Programs
Once you have decided on the credential you would like to attain, a degree, certificate or diploma, you can start to evaluate schools. As you probably know, there are numerous welder vocational and trade schools in the Exeter RI area. That’s why it’s important to determine up front what qualifications your chosen school must have. We have already discussed two significant 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 should be considered. After all, the program you select is going to provide the instruction that will be the foundation of your new profession as a welder. So following are some additional factors you might want to evaluate before selecting a welding trade school.
Accreditation. It’s extremely important that the welder tech school you decide on is accredited by either a regional or a national agency. There are two standard kinds of accreditation. The school may earn Institutional Accreditation based on all of their programs. Programmatic Accreditation is based on an individual program the school offers, for example Welding Technology. So make certain 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 organization, such as the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT). Besides helping make sure that you get an excellent education, the accreditation might also help in obtaining financial assistance or student loans, which are often unavailable in Exeter RI for schools that are not accredited. 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 offered combined 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 looking at assist in placing students in apprenticeships or have a job assistance program. The schools should have relationships with local unions and various metal working businesses to which they can place their students. Older 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 relationships within the Exeter RI welding community.
Completion and Job Placement Rates. The completion rate is the portion or percentage of students that start an instructional program and complete it. It’s important that the welding school you select has a high completion rate. A lower rate might mean that the students who enrolled in the program were dissatisfied with the instruction, the instructors, or the facilities, and quit. The job placement rate is also a good indicator of the caliber of training. A high job placement rate will not only verify that the school has an excellent reputation within the field, but additionally that it has the network of Exeter RI contacts to help students secure employment or apprenticeships upon graduation.
Up-to-date Facilities and Equipment. After you have narrowed down your choice of welder programs to 2 or 3 options, you should consider going to the campuses to evaluate their facilities. Verify that both the facilities and the equipment that you will be trained on are up-to-date. Specifically, the training equipment should be similar 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. Otherwise, ask a local Exeter RI welding contractor if they can give you some pointers.
School Location. Even though we already briefly covered the relevance of location, there are a couple of additional points that we need to cover. You should keep in mind that unless you are able to move, the welding school you pick needs to be within commuting distance of your Exeter RI home. If you do decide to attend an out-of-state school, apart from relocation expenses there may be higher tuition fees for out-of-state residents. This is especially the case for welder diploma programs offered by community colleges. Also, if the school offers a job placement or apprenticeship program, often their placements are within the school’s regional community. So the location of the school needs to be in an area or state where you subsequently will desire to work.
Smaller Classes. Personalized instruction is important for a manual trade such as welding. It’s possible to be overlooked in larger classes and not get much personalized instruction. Find out what the usual class size is for the welder schools you are reviewing. Ask if you can attend some classes so that you can experience just how much individual attention the students are receiving. While there, talk with some of the students and get their opinions. Similarly, talk to some 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 working at their current job. Check to see that the class schedules for the programs you are looking at are flexible enough to meet your needs. If you can only attend classes in the evenings or on weekends near Exeter RI, verify that the schools you are looking at provide those options. If you can only attend part-time, verify 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 illness, work or family circumstances.
Online Welder Schools
Welding is truly a hands-on type of profession, and therefore not extremely suitable for online training. However, there are a few online welding classes offered by specific community colleges and trade schools in the greater Exeter RI area that may be credited toward a certificate or degree program. These courses mainly cover such topics as reading blueprints, safety,, and metallurgy. They can help give a novice a foundation to start their training and education. Nevertheless, the most important point is that you can’t learn how to weld or handle welding materials until you actually do it. Obviously that can’t be performed online. These skills must 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 perhaps obtain a more advanced degree. So if you should come across an online welding degree or certificate program, be extremely careful and make certain that the greater part of the training is done on campus or in a workshop type of setting.
Industrial Welding School Exeter RI
Selecting the right welding training program 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 Industrial Welding School and wanted more information on the topic Top Welding Training. However, as we have discussed in this article, there are a number of factors that you will need to evaluate and compare between the schools you are reviewing. It’s a necessity that any welder training program that you are considering includes a good deal of hands-on instruction. Classes need to be smaller in size and every student should have their own welding machine to train with. Classroom education should offer a real-world perspective, and the course of study should be up-to-date and in-line with industry standards. Programs differ in length and the type of credential provided, so you will need to determine what length of program and credential will best fulfill your needs. Each program offers different options for certification as well. Perhaps the best way to research your short list of schools is to visit each campus and talk with the teachers and students. Take the time to sit in on some classes. Inspect the campus and facilities. Make sure that you are confident that the training program you select is the ideal one for you. With the proper training, hard work and commitment, the end result will be a new occupation as a professional welder in Exeter RI.
Other Rhode Island Welder Locations
Exeter, Rhode Island
Exeter is a town in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. Exeter extends east from the Connecticut border to the town of North Kingstown. It is bordered to the north by West Greenwich and East Greenwich, and to the south by Hopkinton, Richmond, and South Kingstown. Exeter's postal code is 02822, although small parts of the town have the mailing address West Kingston (02892) or Saunderstown (02874). The population was 6,425 at the 2010 census.
The town of Exeter was formed in 1742 from the western part of North Kingstown. The name Exeter derives from the county town and cathedral city of Exeter in Devon, England.[3] Numerous other places have also been given the name Exeter. Exeter is noted by folklorists as the site of one of the best documented examples of vampire exhumation: the Mercy Brown Vampire Incident of 1892.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 58.4 square miles (151 km2), of which, 57.7 square miles (149 km2) of it is land and 0.7 square miles (1.8 km2) of it (1.15%) is water.
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