Page 90 - MetalForming October 2019

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MetalForming/October 2019
www.metalformingmagazine.com
FABRICATION
Welding:
A Rewarding Career With an Upward Path
Data from a job-finding website provide salaries, demographics and more. Here’s one nugget: Within a decade, and often sooner, many welders achieve supervisory positions.
BY LOUIS A. KREN, SENIOR EDITOR
“The information and tools to find your next job.” The tagline describes www.zip- pia.com in a nutshell. Formed in 2015, the site explores career data, person- alized job listings and much more. Welding represents one of many career fields detailed at the site. Let’s take a closer look at the welding-career data. You can find the full portfolio of weld- ing info, including salaries, top-rated employers and career videos, at www.zip-
pia.com/welder-jobs/#career-paths. Welders work in a variety of indus- tries, employing more than 100 differ- ent processes to permanently join metal parts. Zippia notes that welders, cutters, solderers and brazers perform various duties, including studying blue-
prints, sketches and specifications; cal- culating welding dimensions; inspect- ing structures or materials to be weld- ed; monitoring the welding process; and maintaining equipment and machinery to name just a few.
Typically, becoming a welder includes the combination of a high school diplo- ma and technical and on-the-job train- ing. High schools can provide some
technical training, with technical insti- tutes, community colleges and private welding schools delivering formal tech- nical training. Also, the site reads, the U.S. Armed Forces offer excellent weld- ing education and training opportu- nities. Through the American Welding Society and others, needed certifica- tions and related training are available.
Success in the field, as gathered in
Top 10 States (Salary) 29 1. Alaska 26
2. Wyoming
3. Louisiana
4. North Dakota
5. Pennsylvania
6. Maine
7. District of Columbia 8. Mississippi
9. Delaware 10. Connecticut
24 23
37 5 12 40 36
Highest Annual Salaries for Welders
13 27
4
6
17
10
1
Rank 1-10 11-20
35
21-30
31-40
41-51
18
43
14
21
51 45 15 20 2 47
38
41
11 25 329
48
19 46 30
16
39
8 49 3
34 31
50
44 33 7
28
42 22