Welder Career
Welder Career
The Real Poop
Have you always been a little too obsessed with fire? As in, fascinated by the heat and dancing flames—not in a burn-down-the-playground-while-cackling kind of way. No...you'd much rather build a playground than destroy one. To do so, you're probably going to need to do some welding.
Fun fact about metal objects: They don't just start out pre-built. There's no helpful IKEA kit for multi-story steel-girded office buildings. Although the marketing scheme—"With just a few dowels and a Phillips screwdriver, you too can build a Sven Skyscraper!"—seems ready to go.
Nope, someone has to take the component metal parts and join them together. This is a highly technical craft requiring a lot of training, experience, and skill. It's also very physically demanding.
Welders earn a median salary of $36,395 (source). However, this varies considerably, because there's no one single type of welding. In fact, underwaterwelders can make over $100,000 a year (source). But that's because underwater welding is just about the single most dangerous job you can have, right after jungle cat dental inspector.
There are many, many different metal welding processes. Over eighty, in fact. You see, no two types of metal are joined in exactly the same way, and different processes are needed for different projects.
Most welding processes involve a worker using a high-heat torch (burning at over 2,800 degrees Fahrenheit), a filler material, and pressure to bond metal pieces. Welders can also cut objects apart, which is why welders frequently work as both welders and cutters (source).
The most common welding process is gas metal arc welding, abbreviated GMAW. For this process welders use an electrode to feed current through a torch continuously, creating an arc that melts and fuses. Common variations of arc welding include gas tungsten arc welding and shielded metal arc welding (source). But at the end of the day, it's basically just about zapping things until they stick together.
Still, there are many other and more sci-fi ways to weld metal. High tech welding can make use of lasers or computer controlled robotics. Some metal welding techniques even use explosives (source).
You might be thinking that this all sounds kind of dangerous. It is dangerous. Really dangerous. Proper safety precautions are a huge concern.
Despite the danger, this isn't typically a career which requires an advanced degree. Some employers will hire welders with just a high school diploma. More frequently, some degree of post-secondary training, either through vocational school or community college, is required (source).
It's a career where growth is determined by experience, not formal education. The job requires strong hand-eye coordination and knowledge of the many ways metals can be joined. Over time, welders become more accurate and can execute more complex welds in more challenging environments—like way high up, or in the dark, or underwater. As a welder's experience grows, so does his or her salary.
It's definitely not a career for the faint of heart. Hours are long and sporadic, and you may work in any manner of conditions. But the work is varied and interesting, and you're helping to build things that serve real, everyday purposes.
So next time you're riding across a steel bridge and it doesn't collapse, sending you to your watery death, thank a welder. Or maybe even become one.