I pipeline I like it, I fortunately live in an oil and gas area so I work around home. If you plan on something like that you better be damn good or you'll be on the road when it slows down. Good pipe welders work year round where they want to work, crappy ones typically work 7-10 months a year in boom towns and burn enough bridges nobody will hire them. Unfortunately there are not a lot of good welders that don't bitch and do their job well

 

Can be good or bad, depending on what you do. I do primarily residential decorative ironwork, building large custom doors and entry gates. Some guys do cheap pool fence. I worked at the gas utility for many years, where a degree of any kind puts you in a good place once your body starts to wear out. Most of the traveling pipeline guy I know are single with no kids, and are younger. Stay in school, plenty of lifetime left to weld afterward. School also gets more difficult as you get older, and have more commitments.

 

I have been doing this since 1979, and self employed since 1984. There have been tough times and good times, but wouldn't trade this profession for anything!

 

I think you will find challenges in any field you choose. After working for the past 38 years I can tell you that the biggest thing is keeping out of debt. The amount of freedom one has and the outlook on life when one is "out of the hole" can not be measured.

If you are free of debt, you can change jobs, houses, towns, your life.

My 2 cents to someone getting in to the workforce.

Best of luck!

 

Not on Mondays. Getting the game face on after a relaxing weekend sux, I will tell you that much.

 

I am 30 and have been working in fab shops since 03. I love what I do but where I am young guys struggle. The money ant great and I look at all the older guys I work with and they are all wore out and most make sh** wages trying to support a family working 50+ hours a week. I work for myself on the side to make play money. If I wasent so scared I would go at it on my own. I guess what I am saying is go to school for something else and weld for fun on the side for play $$

 

I love what I do..

Until everyone thinks I am "God" and can weld anything at the drop of a dime.


...zap!

 

That's because you post amazing weld pics all the time. Start showing us your bad welds pics and your status may change (doubt it).


This isn't my first career choice. I went to school for and worked in Emergency medicine for 12 years until I injured my back (numerous surgeries) that left me unable to continue doing that. Took a desk job for a few years and hated it. I enjoy working with my hands, I don't mind getting dirty, I enjoy designing and building things from scratch. I work for myself and it's hard, I work weekends, holidays and sometimes all hours. With my injury I can dictate when I take breaks and if it's bad I can take a day off. I've never done it for the money, I do it for my own personal happiness. Life is too short to be unhappy in your job. I love what I do now. Keep welding as a hobby or a potential back up plan in case your other career fails. Education is key, the more you have, more options you have.

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So far, i love my job, I work mostly In power station maintenance and Gas construction (both pipe lines and refineries), what i love about what I do is...

-I have been paid to see some of the world, PNG, singapore, and various parts of my own country while the company foots the bill and pay's my wage.
-Good money, actually very very good money
-I love the work, I'm always figuring out how to do this weld, or setting up a nice long spool of pipe, or planning a complex maintenance task from start to finish, My job keep's me thinking
-High degree of safety focus, i work for my family, and i want them to enjoy all of me too.

What i DONT like

-Long hour's, minimum of 60 per week, I've worked upwards of 100 hours in a 7 day period though, i was on a job recently, we worked 21 day's strait, 12 hour shift, 14's if needed, and then had 7 day's off.
-Away from home alot of the time, i miss alot of my family milestones, but i don't plan on doing it forever.
-Away from home alot, this deserves to be here twice, if my wife wan't the amazing woman she is, then i couldn't do it.

 

i enjoy welding mostly tig tho, i wanna get into pipeline for the $.

 

if your in it for the money alone, you won't last, i never suggest young blokes get into it, you can't party, you can't spend time with mates, really, you cant use the money you earn unless you have, or are planning a family, you have no life, i spend 4 weeks out of 5 living in a camp, working 10-12 hours a day, i wake up, work, get back to camp., eat, shower **** sleep, repeat for 4 weeks strait, have a week off, and do it all again, i don't see my wife, or the rest of my family, but we're working towards a finacialy sustainable future, working towards something, if you just want big money, and want to have the time to enjoy it, i suggest looking at doing something else for a living.

 

I am 100% happy with my welding career. I physically and mentally would not want to do anything else. Part of my nature.

 

I enjoy my career. I work 9 months out of the year, all weekends off, all holidays off, two weeks off in December for Christmas, get paid my full monthly salary during the 3 summer months, I can take any day off I want so long as I ask for it in advance and I will get replaced for that day without fail. This leaves me with [usually] plenty of time to weld to make the things I need to make. Those are the up-sides of having a B.Sc. 4-yr degree and being a teacher.

 

I used to weld within a Maintenance Dept. When I wasn't busy keeping machines running I would spend all my extra time welding. I would learn to weld using different processes and materials. I got to where people would bring everything to me because I could flip the machines on, move a couple of switches and do the welds where most of my coworkers would waste 30 minutes or more trying to figure out the machines and what to do. I love welding but by itself it can be boring. Learn fabrication techniques to become a fabricator using vertical mills and lathes, Iron worker machines, welders etc... Its more rewarding and make you more employable.

 

@ LiftedF150DY - attack what burns in YOUR heart. Seek sage advice, at times, but do what YOU want to do. Remember, free advice is just that. Have been fortunate & blessed beyond means thru God with health, family, and a productive time of Earth. You're 20. You have about "3 careers" to look forward to. In your 20s........saturation. In your 30s......incubation. In your 40s......illumination. The world was/is built by select individuals who added value daily, amidst arduous environments and away from "home", by completing tough tasks while caring for family and loved ones. Easy? No. Not by a long shot. Rewarding? You bet. The apprentices, tradesmen, journeymen, and masters have my undivided respect and support.

You have a little one? Excellent. Know this. Monetary compensation is typically second or third tier on the scale of what's important to humans. Decide what's important to you and your family. Communicate. Enact a coarse of action and don't look back. Vacillate, as required, because "never" and "always" are the bane of success. Sexy's good for awhile, and the juice $ on the road is enticing.

Only YOU can decide what's best for you and your family.

 

Retired now but very much enjoyed my career. You will find that work is work, good or bad, but the people you work with and for will have a very strong influence on wether you will like your career. I was very fortunate for over 40 years to work with some of the most incredibly talented people I will have ever have the pleasure to know. These are the people that allowed me to enjoy my career.

 

I absolutely LOVE my job!! Welding was never my first choice as a career, it just kinda happened. Welding has taken me to 15 different countries.........has introduced me to some really neat people............yeah, I enjoy my career!!:drinkup:

 

I liked welding/mechanic/truck driving/heavy equipment. But when my body failed (got hurt) I went to college in my 30's and got a math degree. Now I teach high school math and teach teachers how to improve math instruction k-12.
I still weld on the side as much as possible to supplement my salary.

I draw heavily from the fields I worked in to make math relevant and help kids with overall understanding.
Real world math makes most of the teachers I work with uncomfortable because it's not clearly spelled out in a textbook.:dizzy:

I still stare out the window everyday at some point - being indoors all day bugs me.
At least shop teachers like having me around I help them with welding since many are not well trained in it. They say the college covers it only briefly.

 

Too bad I don't have my camera today..

Good example of what makes me slightly angry just happened two minutes ago...
Guy came in and wanted a broken pin on the back of a belt buckle welded back on..

I told my boss that it won't work..
The guy said to try it anyway...

Needless to say.... You can't weld pot metal.

So just to prove it I melted it into oblivion in less than one second.


WHY DON'T THEY LISTEN TO ME???????

No the machine was not on "Kill" either...
I just don't get it anymore.....


...zap!

 

Zap - that setting is called "now leave me alone"

 

@ MNDave - As you know, teachers in the K-8 yrs (and beyond) forge pivotal impressions into our youth. You're profession is admirable. Able to name all of my 4th-12th grade Science & Math teachers. Many have burned a lasting impact on my life. The fact that you rip both 'white' and 'blue' collar is cool. Blaze on.

 

Hey thanks ManoKai

At first students think it's a little weird for a math guy to be showing shop teachers and students how to weld, but after they get to know me, and what my teaching philosophy is about, they think it's totally normal.

For the OP, I did enjoy my jobs that had me welding - now I do that and other things. If you enjoy welding, you'll be doing it for life no matter where your career takes you :waving:

 

Im pretty sure most will agree with me on this one. I love my job dearly. Except for days when I have to weld galvanized steel.

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