CTang
07-15-2009, 09:43 PM
Hey all,
I've been lurking around this site now and then so I decided to register and ask some of you veterans your opinion on my dilema. So here goes...
I'm 25 years old now. In 2007 I decided to go to trade school to learn how to weld. I live in Ontario, CANADA and at the time things seemed to be booming for people in the metal trades. So I sign up with a local welding school for a one year full time program. I had no experience besides messing around a little in high school shop class and at a family members farm, but I seemed to grasp the concepts quickly and I loved every minute of it. The tickets I obtained with the program were my
CWB -SMAW all positions
-FCAW flat and horizontal on plate
TSSA - SMAW all positions E6010/E7018-1 on 2" pipe
The rest are in house tests for hard wire mig, tig, 7018 root nd stainless tig just to basically say I could pass the tssas. I did manage to get a lot of practice in. At the time I started school it looked like there was gonna be a lot of work coming up but as I was coming out of my course everything was dying down and the economy was going to ****. I applied to every welding shop and union local in my town but I no one wanted to take me on without any actual work experience because they didn't have the hours. I didn't want to head west because I have a family but now its a year later and I still can't find work. I'm just about willing to go anywhere at this point as long as I can make a decent wage but I'd prefer alberta or somewhere in ontario so I'm wondering if any of you experience guys have any advice finding a company to take me on as an apprentice with no work experience??? Or advice on who I should get ahold of? I really wanna start making some coin.
I've been lurking around this site now and then so I decided to register and ask some of you veterans your opinion on my dilema. So here goes...
I'm 25 years old now. In 2007 I decided to go to trade school to learn how to weld. I live in Ontario, CANADA and at the time things seemed to be booming for people in the metal trades. So I sign up with a local welding school for a one year full time program. I had no experience besides messing around a little in high school shop class and at a family members farm, but I seemed to grasp the concepts quickly and I loved every minute of it. The tickets I obtained with the program were my
CWB -SMAW all positions
-FCAW flat and horizontal on plate
TSSA - SMAW all positions E6010/E7018-1 on 2" pipe
The rest are in house tests for hard wire mig, tig, 7018 root nd stainless tig just to basically say I could pass the tssas. I did manage to get a lot of practice in. At the time I started school it looked like there was gonna be a lot of work coming up but as I was coming out of my course everything was dying down and the economy was going to ****. I applied to every welding shop and union local in my town but I no one wanted to take me on without any actual work experience because they didn't have the hours. I didn't want to head west because I have a family but now its a year later and I still can't find work. I'm just about willing to go anywhere at this point as long as I can make a decent wage but I'd prefer alberta or somewhere in ontario so I'm wondering if any of you experience guys have any advice finding a company to take me on as an apprentice with no work experience??? Or advice on who I should get ahold of? I really wanna start making some coin.