How to Pick a Welder Trade School near Woodmere New York
Enrolling in the ideal welding school near Woodmere NY is an important first step to launching your new occupation as a professional welder. But since there are a lot of schools to pick from, how do you know which ones to consider? And more notably, once you have fine tuned your options, how do you select the right one? Many people begin by looking at the schools that are closest to their homes. Once they have identified those that are within driving distance, they gravitate toward the cheapest one. Yes, location and tuition cost are important concerns when reviewing welder 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 sensible to establish 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.
Welding Degree and Certificate Training
There are a number of options available to obtain training as a welder in a trade or technical school. You can obtain a diploma, a certificate 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 along with an apprenticeship program. Following are short descriptions of the most typical welding programs available in the Woodmere NY.
- Diploma and Certificate Programs are usually made available by trade and technical schools and take about a year to finish. They are more hands-on training in scope, fashioned primarily to develop welding skills. They can furnish a good foundation for a new journeyman or apprentice welder, or supplemental skills for working welders.
- Associate Degree Programs will take two years to finish and are most often offered by community colleges. An Associate Degree in Welding Technology provides a more extensive 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 be sure to find out for your location of potential employment. If required, the welder school you pick should ready you for any licensing examinations that you will have to pass in addition to furnishing the suitable training to become a professional welder.
Welder Certification Alternatives
There are multiple organizations that provide welder certifications, which evaluate the knowledge and skill level of those applying. A large number of Woodmere NY employers not only require a certificate or degree from an accredited welding program, but also certification from a respected agency like the American Welding Society (AWS). Different certifications are offered based upon the kind 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
- Operate based on contract specifications
As previously stated, various states, cities or local municipalities have licensing mandates 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 a highly skilled and qualified welder. So similarly as with licensing, look into the requirements for your local area and verify that the welder tech school you choose preps you for certification as needed.
How to Select a Welding Trade School
As soon as you have decided on the credential you want to obtain, a degree, certificate or diploma, you can begin to assess schools. As you probably know, there are many welding trade and vocational schools in the Woodmere NY area. That’s why it’s important to determine up front what qualifications your school of choice must have. We have previously discussed two significant ones that most people look at first, which are location and the cost of tuition. As mentioned, although they are essential qualifiers, they are not the only ones that must be looked at. After all, the school you decide on is going to furnish the education that will be the foundation of your new vocation as a welder. So following are more factors you might need to evaluate before selecting a welding vocational school.
Accreditation. It’s extremely important that the welder tech school you pick is accredited by either a regional or a national agency. There are two standard types of accreditation. The school may receive Institutional Accreditation based on all of their programs. Programmatic Accreditation is based on an individual program the school has, for instance Welding Technology. So make certain that the program you pick is accredited, not just the school alone. Also, the accreditation should be by a U.S. Department of Education recognized accrediting agency, for example the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT). In addition to helping ensure that you get a superior education, the accreditation might also assist in obtaining financial assistance or student loans, which are in many cases not available in Woodmere NY for non-accredited schools. Finally, for those states or local governments that mandate licensing, they may require that the welder training program be accredited also.
Job Assistance and Apprenticeship Programs. Many welding degree or diploma programs are provided combined with an apprenticeship program. Other schools will help place you in an apprenticeship or a job upon graduation. Find out if the schools you are considering help in placing students in apprenticeships or have a job placement program. These schools must have associations with local unions and other metal working businesses to which they can refer their students. Older schools may have a larger network of graduates that they can rely upon for referrals. These programs can help students find employment and establish associations within the Woodmere NY welding community.
Job Placement and Completion Rates. The completion rate is the portion or percentage of students that enroll in an instructional program and complete it. It’s essential that the welding program you choose has a higher completion rate. A lower rate may signify that the students who were in the program were dissatisfied with the training, the instructors, or the facilities, and dropped out. The job placement rate is also a good indicator of the caliber of training. A high job placement rate will not only confirm that the program has a good reputation within the industry, but also that it has the network of Woodmere NY contacts to help students obtain apprenticeships or employment upon graduation.
Up-to-date Equipment and Facilities. Once you have decreased your choice of welder programs to 2 or 3 options, you should consider going to the campuses to look over their facilities. Confirm that both the equipment and the facilities that you will be trained on are modern. Specifically, the training equipment should be similar to what you will be using in the field. If you are unsure 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 Woodmere NY welding contractor if they can give you some pointers.
School Location. Even though we already briefly talked about the relevance of location, there are a couple of additional issues that we need to cover. You should remember that unless you have the ability to move, the welder program you select must be within commuting distance of your Woodmere NY home. If you do opt to enroll in an out-of-state school, besides relocation costs there might be higher tuition fees for out-of-state residents. This is especially true for welding diploma programs offered by community colleges. Also, if the school offers a job placement or apprenticeship program, most likely their placements are within the school’s regional community. So the location of the school needs to be in an area or state where you subsequently will want to work.
Small Classes. Personalized training is important for a hands-on trade such as welding. It’s possible to be lost in larger classes and not receive much individualized training. Find out what the typical class size is for the welder programs you are looking at. Ask if you can sit in on a few classes so that you can witness just how much personal attention the students are getting. While there, speak with some of the students and get their opinions. Also, talk with some of the teachers and find out what their welding experience has been and what certifications and credentials they have earned.
Flexible Class Schedules. Some people learn a new profession while still employed at their current job. Verify that the class schedules for the programs you are considering are flexible enough to meet your needs. If you can only attend classes at night or on weekends near Woodmere NY, make sure that the schools you are assessing offer those options. If you can only attend on a part-time basis, verify that the school you choose offers part-time enrollment. Also, check to see what the policy is to make up classes if you you miss any due to work, illness or family circumstances.
Will You Be Attending Welding School Near Woodmere NY?
Perhaps you live in the Woodmere New York 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.
Woodmere, New York
Woodmere is one of the Long Island communities known as the Five Towns, which is usually said to comprise the villages of Lawrence and Cedarhurst, the hamlets of Woodmere and Inwood, and "The Hewletts", which consist of the villages of Hewlett Bay Park, Hewlett Harbor and Hewlett Neck and the hamlet of Hewlett, along with Woodsburgh.[4] Woodmere is in the Town of Hempstead and is represented by Councilman Bruce Blakeman ( Republican 3rd District).
The Hebrew Academy of Long Beach (HALB) Elementary School for grades 1-8 is a Jewish day school that moved in March 2017 from Long Beach to Woodmere. Their all-boys high school, known as the Davis Renov Stahler Yeshiva High School for Boys (DRS), is also located in Woodmere.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 2.7 square miles (7.0 km2), of which, 2.6 square miles (6.6 km2) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.4 km2) of it (5.19%) is water.
Online Welding Training Programs
Welding is truly a manual kind of vocation, and therefore not extremely compatible with online training. Even so, there are a few online welding courses offered by various community colleges and technical schools in the greater Woodmere NY area that may count toward a degree or certificate program. These courses mainly cover such subjects as safety, reading blueprints, and metallurgy. They can help provide a beginner a foundation to begin their training and education. Nevertheless, the most important point is that you can’t learn how to weld or use welding materials unless you actually do it. Naturally that can’t be accomplished 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 want to advance their knowledge or perhaps earn a more advanced degree. So if you should find an online welding certificate or degree program, be extremely cautious and verify that the greater part of the training is done on campus or in a workshop type of environment.
Choose the Right Welding Trade Program Woodmere NY
Selecting the best welder school will undoubtedly be the most important decision you will make to begin your new trade. As we have covered in this article, there are a number of things that you will need to examine and compare between the programs you are considering. It’s a prerequisite that any welder training program that you are examining includes a considerable amount of hands-on instruction. Classes should be small in size and each student must have their personal welding machine to train with. Classroom teaching should offer a real-world frame of reference, and the course of study should be up-to-date and in-line with industry standards. Programs vary in duration and the kind of credential offered, so you will need to ascertain what length of program and credential will best fulfill your needs. Each training program provides different options for certification also. Probably The ideal means to research your final list of schools is to go to each campus and speak with the teachers and students. Invest some time to sit in on some classes. Tour the campus and facilities. Make certain that you are confident that the training program you select is the best one for you. With the proper training, effort and commitment, the end result will be a new trade as a professional welder in Woodmere NY.
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