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Western welding academy


Trigger Mike

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I recommend getting an apprenticeship in the local United Association (UA) union hall (if you have one). Being a union pipefitter is a good paying position. His training would be free and he would be paid as he learns. It's a five year program.

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Cholla speaks wise.  I know a couple of young people going through this now, as well as a gentleman who was the training coordinator before retirement.

 

A good path to follow!    

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Go to your local Community College and get a degree. He'll be exposed to all the different types of welding and get a feel for what he is good at. 

 

Then do what Cholla suggested and work as a paid apprentice. 

 

If he expects to make more than $25 an hour he'll need to put in a lot of effort and pay his dues so that he can learn the more difficult specialties like Tig, exotic metals, high pressure pipe and plate, Nuclear, etc 

 

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i told him .  He had claimed they were the number 1 welding school so I did a search for the top welding schools and it never showed in any searches.  A local tech school did though.  I told him to look up how much an apprentice makes and he said not much , I gave the arguments but he seems set .  he got approved in a few hours from applying which also made me suspicious.  He then got a text to pay in 48 hours or lose his slot, which seemed odd. the text wouldn't work though.   I tried to find reviews and complaints but the one site I found activated a virus warning on my iPhone .  

 

I told him 6 months for every type of welding seemed odd when the school he goes to now as part of dual enrollment at his high school, takes a couple of years.  seems he got his mind set but i have to approve the money so I like to make sure.

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50 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

It sounds like a rip off school.

 

THIS ^^^^

 

I never found one good legitimate review.  Consensus was that the recruiters for WWA make used boat salesmen look good. 

 

Have him do the math. Pay WWA 9.75% of your income for at least the next 5 to 8 years. Or pay the CC tuition and then when he has a job put that same 9.75% in an IRA for 5 years.

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We also seem to differ on how much a pipeline welder makes.  I found 45k but he says $75 an hour.   I might see 25k if in 6 months I can make 75 an hour times 12 hours a day like he says, but if the 45k a year is more accurate then 25k tuition is high

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I believe there are welders making $75 an hour. I am also sure there are thousands of other welders making a helluva lot less for each welder making that much or more. I would also hazard a guess that the $75 per hour welder didn’t learn to weld from a rip-off school. 
but, some people need to learn something’s for themselves… or they will blame you for decades for everything in their life that isn’t champaign and caviar because you wouldn’t let them go to the school they wanted to. Not saying your kid is one of those, but I know way too many people that already have families of their own that still blame everything bad in their lives on their parents. 
 

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I have 15 years leading crews in fossil fired power plants, from both union and merit shops.  Had the privilege of working around outstanding skilled trades people, men and women.  Pipe fitters.  Ironworkers.  Boilermakers. Electricians.  Welders.  Millwrights. They’re the people who made this country and continue to make this country what it is.

 

Since you hold the money, don’t let him waste it on this school.  Go to a local junior college or the apprentice route through either a union hall or a reputable merit shop.

 

Have your son check into the Mike Rowe Works Foundation.  https://www.mikeroweworks.org  They offer competitive scholarships to students going into the trades, plus a lot of sound advice for people considering the trades.

 

Yes, I worked with 25 year old journeyman welders who made $150k/year, but they didn’t do it at $75/hour for 2000 hours/year at a local fab shop.  They were travelers who were willing to go to major sites, work 84 hrs/wk for a month or two straight, then go home a while before hitting the next job.  The base salary was around $30/hour, but the income grew fast with overtime and holiday pay during their stints.  Also, they received per diem while on the road.  If they were careful, their entire paycheck went home to a family or savings account.

 

Bottom line:  I’m a huge supporter of young people entering the trades, but this “college” isn’t the right path. Feel free to reach out if you want to talk more.

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I have two nephews, brothers now in their 50s, who are welders making obscene amounts of money.  One learned the trade through an apprenticeship program with a contractor on Ogden, Utah.  His brother learned through the Air Force.  They started out at the low end of the pole, but both took every advantage to improve.

 

Their sister became a draftsman and ended up working for a company that makes nuclear power plants and parts to keep them running and for upgrades.  She got her brothers jobs at her company.  They all are the peak of their professions and all of them are cheerleaders for others to get into the trade.

 

I know that they are unusual in that they are earning way more than the norm, but it can be done.

 

BTW, Sis is retiring in February at 60 years old, The oldest brother will follow her in two more years and baby brother will be a year later.

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I am a journeyman HVAC tech in the UA. There is absolutely no way he is going to make $75 an hour straight out of school. After getting some experience and certifications he might make that as his total benefit package. The way it works for me it the contractor I work for pays me a wage and pays the union for my dental, medical, retirement, etc. My total package is around $75 an hour but I have also been doing this since 1979.

 

The last time I checked, first year apprentices got $16-$18 per hour plus benefits. As they complete each year of training, their pay is increased. At the completion of their training (five years of night and Saturday classes) they "top out" and they go to whatever the journeyman scale is for their area which is $33-$38 depending on where they live. The east coast and west coast may be more due to the cost of living. If a journeyman is good at his job, the contractor can and will pay them more than the union scale. It has been a while since I checked on the pay scale so it most likely is higher now.

 

Let me add, he might get $75 an hour in the oil fields, but he has to be certified and he has to provide his own insurance, work truck/tools and travel from site to site. I had an apprentice quit the program because the lure of fast money. The last I saw him he had given up chasing jobs on the oil field and was back working non-union at a fraction of what he gave up. As an apprentice you enter in a contract that you will commit to the union training program and the contractor commits to making sure you have work for the five years. If an apprentice walks away breaking that contract, they are out for good.

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2 hours ago, Charlie Harley, #14153 said:

I have 15 years leading crews in fossil fired power plants, from both union and merit shops.  Had the privilege of working around outstanding skilled trades people, men and women.  Pipe fitters.  Ironworkers.  Boilermakers. Electricians.  Welders.  Millwrights. They’re the people who made this country and continue to make this country what it is.

 

Since you hold the money, don’t let him waste it on this school.  Go to a local junior college or the apprentice route through either a union hall or a reputable merit shop.

 

Have your son check into the Mike Rowe Works Foundation.  https://www.mikeroweworks.org  They offer competitive scholarships to students going into the trades, plus a lot of sound advice for people considering the trades.

 

Yes, I worked with 25 year old journeyman welders who made $150k/year, but they didn’t do it at $75/hour for 2000 hours/year at a local fab shop.  They were travelers who were willing to go to major sites, work 84 hrs/wk for a month or two straight, then go home a while before hitting the next job.  The base salary was around $30/hour, but the income grew fast with overtime and holiday pay during their stints.  Also, they received per diem while on the road.  If they were careful, their entire paycheck went home to a family or savings account.

 

Bottom line:  I’m a huge supporter of young people entering the trades, but this “college” isn’t the right path. Feel free to reach out if you want to talk more.

Listen to what this guy says.

 

Traveling is hard on family life. Yes, you can make a ton of money under the right conditions but in the end, half goes to the wife in the divorce.

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20 minutes ago, Cholla said:

Traveling is hard on family life. Yes, you can make a ton of money under the right conditions but in the end, half goes to the wife in the divorce.

Truth!

 

This was the number one complaint of my people when talking with them about life in the trades.  It takes a unique marriage/partnership to make such a life work.

 

My daughter has a college degree in chemical engineering, and her first job out of school was leading crews on well heads in the Permian Basin.  She had 20-something year old team members earning $200,000+ on her crews, but the life was hard, especially on young spouses and children.  Almost no senior crew leaders were still married to their original spouse. 

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I like these comments and appreciate it.  While it’s a field I was never in, I do know anything claiming to make you super money in 6 months can’t be true.  
 

I emailed his current welding teacher and he replied already.  He said he never heard of the school.  He also said my son has a 4.0 in the class and if he goes for a degree he can be done by 2024 but if he just goes for the certificates he can be done by fall of next year, the same time this other place is done.  

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I weld a lot!  My father taught me how to stick weld and braze and how to use a cutting torch.

 

 I taught myself to wire, (MiG) weld and learned TiG from a race car fabricator friend who had more work than he could do himself.

 

All of those that I have worked for were completely satisfied with my performance.

 

 I usually worked for one or another employer and seldom needed certification for the job at hand. When we needed a certified welder, there were several that we could call on. They generally charged from $40.00 to $70.00 an hour depending on the material and the application.  I was hourly, except for jobs that I had to take to my shop and perform off the clock.  For those jobs, I charged from $35.00 to $50.00 an hour, again depending on the job. When I work for someone else, now that I’m retired, I generally charge $50.00 to $75.00 an hour with a half hour minimum.

 

One of the neighborhood kids that I coached in basketball and baseball joined the Marines when he got out of high school.  He learned welding and received his certifications while he was in. I use him for TiG work because I seldom get that kind of work and so I don’t own a TiG welder.  He charges $150.00 an hour with an hour minimum and stays as busy as he wants to. 
 

In all of the cases I’ve mentioned, the welder put in the time and labor to learn the trade. A good/reputable trade school will take time and effort,  not to mention money, but it’s the key that unlocks that door to solid earning potential.  How one uses that potential will decide the kind of money that they will make.

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I first tried the union apprentice BS and UNLESS you are related to someone good luck !!

I needed to make money  fast so I took certification route,NSTEAD of a 2 or 4 year college degree. In a cpl years I worked for a corp that PAID for my College courses so I worked swing for them and went to college days towards a BSEE.Worked for me.

 

Mike Rowe was on Fox and stated a good welder can make $75K first year out and if he was good and willing to travel over $100K was in deed possible.

 

Different routes for different folks.

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22 minutes ago, Dutch Nichols, SASS #6461 said:

I first tried the union apprentice BS and UNLESS you are related to someone good luck !!

 

Times have changed. The union will not accept my recommendation to approve an apprenticeship for anyone I know. Each apprentice needs to take a comprehensive test. They are brought into the training program based on how they did on the test. Is there occasional funny business getting a son or daughter in? Quite possibly, but no one better find out about it.

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If he doesn’t have to be welding could look at John Deere tech school.  JD partners with local dealers and usually provides scholarships or reimbursement for graduation and staying a couple years at that dealer.  Diesel tech and lots of technology exposure.

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He has talked to the local John Deere dealer about their tech school.  Since he works on a farm and the guy who runs the local dealership is friends with my sons boss my son sometimes does farm work for him.   He has encouraged him to work as a tech for his dealership and fix tractors.  They pay well. 
 

I called western welding academy myself and they do not help you find a job just give you access to a facebook page to get one.  The said the average starting pay is $34 to $36 an hour.  No lodging so she said he needs to get a job while in school to afford to live.  
 

she also said the 529 plan is not accepted there.  
 

I told my son it’s cheaper to live here, finish up at the tech school he is going to now where the 529 plan does pay.  He can take pipe welding elsewhere if he wants to when he finishes the other parts.  

6 hours ago, Muleshoe Bill SASS #67022 said:

Is this the Wyoming outfit? 

Yes it is

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A former coworker prior life was working in the oil fields. He said the pay was excellent but living in an RV on the job site gets old really fast. He was working 6 hours from home with a wife and 2 daughters.  His dad taught him right so he was careful to save as much money as he could because any day could be your last on the job.

 

The oil field contractors did not furnish anything except the electricity for your RV and some highly specialized tools unique to the rig. Hand tools, welding rigs and most consumable supplies came out of your paycheck.

 

He said most guys spent the money on new tricked out trucks, fancy homes and lots of toys. Then when the work dried up they were selling everything but the clothes on their backs to get by.

 

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1 hour ago, Sedalia Dave said:

He said most guys spent the money on new tricked out trucks, fancy homes and lots of toys. Then when the work dried up they were selling everything but the clothes on their backs to get by.

This 100%. 

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1 hour ago, Trigger Mike said:

He has talked to the local John Deere dealer about their tech school.  Since he works on a farm and the guy who runs the local dealership is friends with my sons boss my son sometimes does farm work for him.   He has encouraged him to work as a tech for his dealership and fix tractors.  They pay well. 
 

I called western welding academy myself and they do not help you find a job just give you access to a facebook page to get one.  The said the average starting pay is $34 to $36 an hour.  No lodging so she said he needs to get a job while in school to afford to live.  
 

she also said the 529 plan is not accepted there.  
 

I told my son it’s cheaper to live here, finish up at the tech school he is going to now where the 529 plan does pay.  He can take pipe welding elsewhere if he wants to when he finishes the other parts.  

Yes it is

I still recommend checking out an apprenticeship in the UA, but in a different field. Commercial HVAC is booming in the south, especially data centers. The money is in chillers. If he can get in the UA and shoot for employment from Johnson Controls, there will never be a slow time. JCI hires all their mechanics from the UA. If he already has some training and can troubleshoot machinery, he may even be able to get on at JCI as a Tradesman, then after a year or two get in the apprentice program. I know JCI is in Atlanta and Chattanooga and there are branches all over the USA and Canada. Here in Arizona, the data center business is exploding. They all need cooling and back up cooling. One center alone is projected to have over 100 chillers. The Phoenix market is projected to explode from millions a year to billions a year in the next decade because of all the data centers and high tech moving in. That all means more jobs than we have people for, and the data centers all want factory support. Carrier also hires out of the UA. Once he is a journeyman, he can go just about anywhere there is a JCI and hire on.

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44 minutes ago, Cholla said:

I still recommend checking out an apprenticeship in the UA, but in a different field. Commercial HVAC is booming in the south, especially data centers. The money is in chillers. If he can get in the UA and shoot for employment from Johnson Controls, there will never be a slow time. JCI hires all their mechanics from the UA. If he already has some training and can troubleshoot machinery, he may even be able to get on at JCI as a Tradesman, then after a year or two get in the apprentice program. I know JCI is in Atlanta and Chattanooga and there are branches all over the USA and Canada. Here in Arizona, the data center business is exploding. They all need cooling and back up cooling. One center alone is projected to have over 100 chillers. The Phoenix market is projected to explode from millions a year to billions a year in the next decade because of all the data centers and high tech moving in. That all means more jobs than we have people for, and the data centers all want factory support. Carrier also hires out of the UA. Once he is a journeyman, he can go just about anywhere there is a JCI and hire on.

What Cholla said. I work for Carrier and we can’t find enough people to work on large units. 

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MIKE, my son was of the same mind out of school. He wanted to get a welding cert and start working. We told him he could go to state tech in linn mo rated by Forbes as either the best or #2 tech school in the US. lucky for us it's 45 minutes down the road.

 

He groused about it but a couple years later he told us thank you for making him get the degree, along with the wallet full of certs.

 

He made much better money than his buddies who either had 4 year degrees or dropped out and had no college debt. 

 

Reputable school accredited degree and recognized certificates.

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  • 1 month later...
25 minutes ago, Trigger Mike said:

It’s a good answer for those who live in liberal states and who want to use all that excess ammo for a now banned rifle 

 

now we need a solution for the AR pistol problem 

????? What does this have to do with a welding school?

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I am guessing it was for the lever action lowers for AR upper discussion.

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6 hours ago, Trigger Mike said:

It’s a good answer for those who live in liberal states and who want to use all that excess ammo for a now banned rifle 

 

now we need a solution for the AR pistol problem 

 

5 hours ago, Yul Lose said:

????? What does this have to do with a welding school?

Give the man a break.B) He's drugged up.:D

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Nobody gets rich quick.

Except politicians.

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I know welders that make $100-200k a year. Some are self-employed, some not.  All work a ridiculous amount of hours and are generally equaly competent at rigging and light crane work as they are the welding itself. But they all had to paid their dues. It took a good 20-30 years to get to that level of pay, and education doesn't replace experience and actually doing the job. Heck, Kubota in N Georgia pays $20-25 per hour starting out. Lots of overtime, but its  a mill that grinds up tech school grads through the revolving door of long hours and repetitious production work. A good place to get your feet wet, but not the kind of place that will get the wide and vast experience of pipeline welding in the field or in the millwrights union or shipyards that lead to top pay. 

 

And as suggested, refrigeration work. If I were to choose an alternate trade to what I do now (electrical), I'd work for someone like Emcor a while before doing my own thing. There's something to be said to be able to work for employers that offer specialized, unique, and varied environments to work in to get experience on unique situations, not just the same ol' same ol' everyday. Boilers, industrial/institutional chillers and HVAC, not commercial, would be my thing. JCI is a good place for the ones that want to work hard, stand out and go somewhere, but I have had nothing but problems with their energy management service techs just showing up and having the slightest clue as to what they are doing.

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