Tag Archives: How to Become a Certified Welder near Stockbridge GA 30281

Welding Schools Near Me | How to Become a Welder – Stockbridge GA

How to Find the Right Welding Training Program near Stockbridge Georgia

Stockbridge GA welding school studentChoosing the right welding vocational school near Stockbridge GA is an important first step to starting your new occupation as a professional welder. But since there are so many schools to select from, how do you determine which ones to consider? And more notably, once you have fine tuned your choices, how do you pick the best one? A number of people start by looking at the schools that are nearest to their homes. When they have located those that are within driving distance, they gravitate toward the least costly one. Yes, location and the cost of tuition are crucial issues when examining welder technical schools, but they are not the only ones. Other factors include such things as accreditation, reputation and job placement rates. So before beginning your search for a trade school to become a welder, it’s wise to create a list of qualifications that your chosen school must have. But before we delve into our due diligence checklist, let’s cover a little bit about how to become a welder.

Welder Degree and Certificate Training Courses

Stockbridge GA welder working on pipingThere are a number of alternatives available to receive training as a welder in a trade or technical school. You can receive a a certificate, a diploma or an Associate Degree. Bachelor Degrees are offered in Welding Technology or Welding Engineering, but are more advanced programs than most journeyman welders will need. Some programs are also made available combined with an apprenticeship program. Below are brief summaries of the most common welding programs offered in the Stockbridge GA.

  • Certificate and Diploma Programs are normally offered by technical and trade schools and require about 1 year to complete. They are more hands-on training in nature, fashioned largely to develop welding skills. They can provide a good foundation for a new journeyman or apprentice welder, or supplemental skills for experienced welders.
  • Associate Degree Programs will take two years to finish and are usually offered by community colleges. An Associate Degree in Welding Technology offers a more extensive education than the certificate or diploma while still providing the foundation that readies students to enter the workforce.

A number of municipalities and states do have licensing prerequisites for welders, so be sure to check for your location of future employment. If needed, the welder school you select should ready you for any licensing examinations that you will have to pass in addition to supplying the proper training to become a qualified welder.

Welding Certification Alternatives

Stockbridge GA welder working on poleThere are several institutions that offer welding certifications, which evaluate the skill level and knowledge of those applying. Numerous Stockbridge GA employers not only demand a certificate or degree from an accredited welding program, but also certification from a highly regarded agency like the American Welding Society (AWS). Different certifications are available based upon the type of work that the welder performs. Just some of the things that certification can attest to are the welder’s ability to

  • Operate in compliance with specific codes
  • Work with specific metal thicknesses
  • Work with specific types of welds
  • Work in compliance with contract specifications

As previously mentioned, various cities, states or local municipalities have licensing requirements for welders. Of those mandating licensing, some also require certification for various types of work. Certification is also a means to demonstrate to employers that you are a highly skilled and experienced welder. So just as with licensing, check the requirements for your location and make sure that the welder tech school you select readies you for certification as needed.

How to Select a Welding Vocational School

Stockbridge GA welder working on carWhen you have chosen the credential you want to earn, a degree, certificate or diploma, you can begin to assess schools. As you can imagine, there are numerous welding trade and technical schools in the Stockbridge GA area. That’s why it’s necessary to decide up front what qualifications your school of choice must have. We have previously covered two significant ones that many people look at first, which are location and tuition cost. As stated, although they are essential qualifications, they are not the only ones that must be looked at. After all, the program you pick is going to furnish the education that will be the foundation of your new career as a welder. So following are some additional factors you might need to consider before selecting a welder technical school.

Accreditation. It’s essential that the welder technical school you choose is accredited by either a national or a regional agency. There are 2 standard kinds of accreditation. The school may receive Institutional Accreditation based on all of their programs. Programmatic Accreditation is based on a specific program the school has, for example Welding Technology. So verify that the program you choose is accredited, not just the school itself. Additionally, the accreditation should be by a U.S. Department of Education acknowledged accrediting agency, for example the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT). Besides helping make sure that you get a superior education, the accreditation can also help in obtaining financial assistance or student loans, which are in many cases not available in Stockbridge GA for schools that are not accredited. Finally, for those states or local governments that require licensing, they may require that the welder training program be accredited also.

Job Assistance and Apprenticeship Programs. A large number of welding certificate or degree programs are provided in conjunction with an apprenticeship program. Various other schools will assist in placing you in an apprenticeship or a job upon graduation. Find out if the schools you are considering assist in placing students in apprenticeships or have a job placement program. These schools should have partnerships with local unions and other metal working businesses to which they can refer their students. More established schools may have a larger network of graduates that they can rely upon for placements. These programs can help students find employment and develop associations within the Stockbridge GA welding community.

Completion and Job Placement Rates. The completion rate is the portion or percentage of students that enroll in an instructional program and finish it. It’s important that the welding program you pick has a higher completion rate. A lower rate might mean that the students who joined the program were unhappy with the training, the instructors, or the facilities, and dropped out. The job placement rate is also an indication of the quality of training. A high job placement rate will not only affirm that the program has a good reputation within the industry, but also that it has the network of Stockbridge GA employer relationships to help students obtain employment or apprenticeships after graduation.

Up-to-date Equipment and Facilities. After you have limited your selection of welding schools to two or three possibilities, you should think out visiting the campuses to inspect their facilities. Make sure that both the equipment and the facilities 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 currently in an apprenticeship program, consult with the master welder you are working under for guidance. If not, ask a local Stockbridge GA welding contractor if they can give you some pointers.

School Location. Although we already briefly covered the relevance of location, there are a couple of additional points that we need to address. You should remember that unless you have the ability to relocate, the welder program you choose must be within commuting distance of your Stockbridge GA home. If you do choose to attend an out-of-state school, besides moving costs there could be higher tuition fees for out-of-state residents. This is particularly the case for welding degree programs offered by community colleges. Also, if the school offers an apprenticeship or job placement program, most likely their placements are within the school’s local community. So the location of the school should be in an area or state where you ultimately will want to work.

Small Classes. Personalized training is important for a hands-on trade such as welding. It’s easy to be overlooked in bigger classes and not receive much personalized instruction. Ask what the usual class size is for the welding programs you are looking at. Ask if you can sit in on a few classes so that you can observe how much personal attention the students are getting. While there, talk with several of the students and get their opinions. Also, chat with some of the trainers and find out what their welding experience has been and what certifications and credentials they hold.

Convenient Class Schedules. Many people learn a new trade while still employed at their present job. Confirm that the class schedules for the schools you are looking at are flexible enough to meet your needs. If you can only attend classes in the evenings or on weekends near Stockbridge GA, make certain that the schools you are looking at offer those alternatives. If you can only enroll part-time, confirm that the school you select offers part-time enrollment. Also, ask what the policy is to make up classes should you miss any due to work, illness or family circumstances.

Will You Be Attending Welding School Near Stockbridge GA?

Perhaps you live in the Stockbridge Georgia area, or have decided to enroll in a Welding Program that has a campus near there.  In either case, you may find this bit of history both interesting and informative.

Stockbridge, Georgia

The area was settled in 1829 when Concord Methodist Church was organized near present-day Old Stagecoach Road. It was granted a post office on April 5, 1847, named for a traveling professor, Levi Stockbridge, who passed through the area many times before the post office was built. He was said to be well known and respected in his namesake community. Others contend that the city was named after Thomas Stock, who was State Surveyor and president of the Georgia State Senate in the 1820s.

In 1881, the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad was to pass through Stockbridge between Macon and Atlanta. The settlers who owned the land about Old Stockbridge asked such a high price for their land that two prominent Atlanta citizens, John W. Grant and George W. Adair, bought a tract about a mile south of Old Stockbridge and offered lots at a reasonable price. Here the railroad built their depot and many lots were sold. The depot was located about 600 feet (180 m) north of what is now North Henry Blvd but was destroyed by the Southern Railway in the early 1980s.

On May 6, 1992, Mayor Rudy Kelley received a letter from John Stockbridge of South Carolina requesting a letter of "Greeting" from the City of Stockbridge to the attendees of the first reunion of the Stockbridge family. In his letter, he mentioned that he grew up in Georgia and had been told as a child that the city of Stockbridge was named after his great-great-grandfather Levi Stockbridge, who had traveled back and forth from the North to his property in Florida and stopped here on his journey.

Online Welder Classes

pipe welder at work in Stockbridge GAWelding is truly a manual kind of vocation, and for that reason not very suitable for training online. Even so, there are some online welding classes offered by specific community colleges and trade schools in the greater Stockbridge GA area that may count 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 basis to initiate their education and training. However, the most important point is that you can’t learn how to weld or work with welding materials until you actually do it. Obviously that can’t be done online. These skills need to be learned in an on-campus setting or in an apprenticeship. Online or distance learning is better suited for experienced welders that desire to advance their knowledge or possibly obtain a more advanced degree. So if you should find an online welding certificate or degree program, be extremely careful and make certain that the larger part of the training is done on campus or in a workshop type of setting.

Select the Right Welding Technical Program Stockbridge GA

Picking the best welder training program will probably be the most important decision you will make to launch your new trade. As we have discussed in this article, there are several factors that you will need to assess and compare between the schools you are reviewing. It’s a must that any welding training program that you are considering includes a good deal of hands-on instruction. Classes need to be smaller in size and each student should have their own welding machine to train with. Classroom instruction needs to offer a real-world frame of reference, and the curriculum should be up-to-date and in-line with industry standards. Programs differ in length and the type of credential offered, so you will have to decide what length of program and certificate or degree will best serve your needs. Each training program offers different options for certification also. Perhaps the best approach to research your final list of schools is to check out each campus and speak with the faculty and students. Invest some time to monitor a few classes. Inspect the campus and facilities. Make sure that you are confident that the school you pick is the right one for you. With the proper training, hard work and dedication, the end outcome will be a new trade as a professional welder in Stockbridge GA.

 

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