How to Select a Welding Certificate Program near West Wendover Nevada

Selecting the ideal welder trade school near West Wendover NV is an essential first step to starting your new occupation as a professional welder. But since there are a lot of schools to pick from, how do you determine which ones to consider? And more importantly, once you have narrowed down your choices, how do you pick the best one? A number of people begin by looking at the schools that are closest to their residences. Once they have found those that are within commuting distance, they are drawn toward the least costly one. Yes, location and tuition cost are crucial considerations when reviewing welding trade schools, but they are not the only ones. Other factors include such things as accreditation, reputation and job placement rates. So before starting your search for a trade school to become a welder, it’s prudent to create a list of qualifications that your selected school must have. But before we examine our due diligence checklist, let’s cover a little bit about how to become a welder.

Welder Degree and Certificate Training Programs

There are multiple options available to receive training as a welder in a technical or trade school. You can obtain a diploma, a certificate or an Associate Degree. Bachelor Degrees are offered in Welding Engineering or Welding Technology, but are more advanced courses than most journeyman welders will need. Some programs are also made available in conjunction with an apprenticeship program. Following are brief summaries of the most typical welding programs available in the West Wendover NV.

• Certificate and Diploma Programs are generally made available by trade and technical schools and take about 1 year to complete. They are more hands-on training in nature, created primarily to develop welding skills. They can furnish a good foundation for a new journeyman or apprentice welder, or additional skills for working welders.
• Associate Degree Programs will take 2 years to finish and are most often offered by community colleges. An Associate Degree in Welding Technology offers a more well-rounded education than the diploma or certificate while still supplying the foundation that prepares students to enter the workforce.

A number of municipalities and states do have licensing requirements for welders, so don’t forget to check for your location of potential employment. As needed, the welder school you pick should prep you for any licensing examinations that you will need to pass in addition to providing the suitable training to become a professional welder.

Welder Certification Options

There are a number of organizations that offer welding certifications, which test the skill level and knowledge of those applying. Numerous West Wendover NV employers not only require a degree or certificate from an accredited welding school, but also certification from a respected organization such as the American Welding Society (AWS). A variety of certifications are offered based on the type of work that the welder performs. A few of the things that certification can acknowledge are the welder’s ability to

• Operate in compliance with specific codes
• Work with certain metal thicknesses
• Work with certain kinds of welds
• Perform based on contract specifications

As previously stated, various cities, states or local municipalities have licensing requirements for welders. Of those mandating licensing, some additionally require certification for different types of work. Certification is also a way to prove to employers that you are an extremely skilled and experienced welder. So just as with licensing, look into the requirements for your local area and confirm that the welder vocational school you select prepares you for certification if needed.

How to Decide on a Welder Vocational Program

Once you have chosen the credential you would like to earn, a certificate, diploma or degree, you can begin to compare schools. As you probably know, there are numerous welding trade and vocational schools in the West Wendover NV area. That’s why it’s essential to decide up front what qualifications your chosen school must have. We have already covered a couple of important ones that many people look at first, which are location and tuition cost. As mentioned, although they are essential qualifications, they are not the only ones that need to be looked at. After all, the school you decide on is going to furnish the training that will be the foundation of your new profession as a welder. So below are some additional factors you may want to evaluate before picking a welder vocational school.

Accreditation. It’s extremely important that the welding tech school you select is accredited by either a national or a regional organization. There are two basic types of accreditation. The school may attain Institutional Accreditation based on all of their programs. Programmatic Accreditation is based on a single program the school offers, for instance Welding Technology. So confirm that the program you choose is accredited, not just the school itself. Also, the accreditation should be by a U.S. Department of Education recognized accrediting agency, such as the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT). In addition to helping ensure that you receive a quality education, the accreditation may also help in acquiring financial assistance or student loans, which are often unavailable in West Wendover NV for non-accredited schools. Finally, for those states or local governments that require licensing, they may require that the welder training program be accredited also.

Apprenticeship and Job Placement Programs. Many welding diploma or degree programs are provided combined with an apprenticeship program. Various other schools will help place you in a job or an apprenticeship 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 relationships with local unions and other metal working businesses to which they can place their students. More established schools may have a larger network of graduates that they can rely upon for placements. These programs can assist students in finding employment and establish relationships within the West Wendover NV welding community.

Job Placement and Completion Rates. The completion rate is the percentage of students that enroll in an academic program and finish it. It’s important that the welder program you pick has a higher completion rate. A low rate may signify that the students who joined the program were unhappy with the instruction, the instructors, or the facilities, and dropped out. The job placement rate is also an indication of the caliber of training. A higher 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 West Wendover NV employer relationships to help students obtain employment or apprenticeships upon graduation.

Modern Facilities and Equipment. After you have narrowed down your choice of welding programs to two or three options, you should think out going to the campuses to evaluate their facilities. Verify that both the facilities and the equipment that you will be trained on are up-to-date. In particular, the training equipment should be comparable to what you will be working with on the job. If you are unsure what to look for, and are already in an apprenticeship program, ask the master welder you are working under for guidance. Otherwise, ask a local West Wendover NV welding contractor if they can give you a few tips.

School Location. Even though we previously briefly covered the relevance of location, there are a couple of additional issues that we need to deal with. You should remember that unless you can move, the welding program you select needs to be within commuting distance of your West Wendover NV home. If you do decide to enroll in an out-of-state school, besides relocation costs there may be higher tuition fees for out-of-state residents. This is particularly true for welding diploma programs offered by community colleges. Furthermore, if the school offers an apprenticeship or job placement program, often their placements are within the school’s local community. So the location of the school should be in a region or state where you subsequently will want to work.

Smaller Classes. Individualized training is important for a hands-on trade such as welding. It’s easy to be overlooked in larger classes and not obtain much one-on-one instruction. Find out what the average class size is for the welding schools you are looking at. Ask if you can attend a few classes so that you can experience how much personal attention the students are getting. While there, speak with some of the students and get their opinions. Similarly, chat with a couple of the trainers and find out what their welding experience has been and what credentials and certifications they hold.

Flexible Class Schedules. Some people learn a new trade while still working at their current job. Make sure that the class schedules for the schools you are considering are convenient enough to meet your needs. If you can only attend classes in the evenings or on weekends near West Wendover NV, make sure that the schools you are considering offer those choices. If you can only enroll part-time, make sure that the school you pick offers part-time enrollment. Also, check to see what the policy is to make up classes should you miss any because of work, illness or family emergencies.

Will You Be Attending Welding School Near West Wendover NV?

Perhaps you live in the West Wendover Nevada 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.

Online Welding Training

Welding is truly a hands-on type of profession, and consequently not very compatible with online training. Even so, there are a small number of online welding programs offered by various community colleges and vocational schools in the greater West Wendover NV area that may be credited toward a degree or certificate program. These courses mainly cover such topics as reading blueprints, safety,, and metallurgy. They can help provide a novice a basis to start their education and training. However, the most critical point is that you can’t learn how to weld or use welding materials unless you actually do it. Naturally that can’t be done online. These skills have to be learned in an on-campus environment or in an apprenticeship. Online or distance learning is better suited for seasoned welders that desire to advance their expertise or possibly earn a more advanced degree. So if you should find an online welding certificate or degree program, be extremely careful and confirm that the greater part of the training is done on campus or in a workshop type of environment.

Choose the Ideal Welding Technical Program West Wendover NV

Selecting the right welder training program will probably be the most important decision you will make to start your new career. As we have addressed in this article, there are several factors that you will need to assess and compare between the programs you are considering. It’s a necessity that any welder training program that you are reviewing includes a lot of hands-on training. Classes need to be small in size and each student should have their own welding machine to train on. Classroom education should provide a real-world perspective, and the course of study should be current and in-line with industry standards. Training programs differ in length and the kind of credential provided, so you will have to determine what length of program and certificate or degree will best serve your needs. Every training program offers different possibilities for certification also. Perhaps the best approach to research your short list of schools is to go to each campus and talk with the teachers and students. Invest some time to attend a few classes. Tour the campus and facilities. Make sure that you are confident that the program you select is the ideal one for you. With the right training, hard work and dedication, the final result will be a new trade as a professional welder in West Wendover NV.