How to Get Started in the Welding Industry

# How to Get Started in the Welding Industry

There are a lot of ways to get started in welding.

You can go to welding school. You can walk into a local shop and ask for a job. You can start as a helper or laborer and learn from the people around you.

But the most important thing is simpler than all of that:

Just get started.

Take it one day at a time, and understand that you are not going to know everything for a long time.

Welding is a massive trade. You can spend your entire career learning and still run into something you've never seen before. It takes years to become truly competent, so show yourself some grace in the beginning.

The man who moves mountains starts by moving rocks every day.

You're going to make mistakes. You're going to struggle. You're going to watch experienced welders make something look effortless and wonder why the same thing is kicking your ass.

That's part of it.

Keep moving rocks.

## Welding School vs. Going Straight to Work

One of the first decisions you'll probably make is whether to go to welding school or just go to work.

I don't think there's one answer that's right for everybody.

It depends heavily on your living situation and the industry around you.

If you live somewhere with a lot of industrial work—fabrication shops, pipelines, refineries, plants, oilfields, construction—you may have the opportunity to start as a helper or laborer.

There's a huge advantage to that:

You're getting paid to learn.

You're learning how a job actually flows. You're watching experienced hands work. You're learning terminology, tools, safety, fitting, measurements, materials, and all the little things that are difficult to teach in a classroom.

If you don't live around much industry, welding school can be a great place to start. It gives you the foundation and lets you get repetitions under your belt before entering the workforce.

But understand something:`

Finishing welding school does not mean you're finished learning.

Not even close.

You may finish school and still need to go into the industry as a helper.

And that's okay.

## There's More to Welding Than Making a Weld

When you're starting out, it's easy to think welding is all about putting two pieces of pipe or plate together.

It's not.

Welding is fitting.

It's measurements.

It's understanding how things are supposed to go together.

It's knowing what happens when metal moves.

It's learning to work with the people around you.

It's solving problems.

Eventually, it's being able to look at something in your head and make it happen in front of you.

And then there's the weld itself.

Anybody can strike an arc. Becoming a professional is different.

Professionalism comes from reps.

Thousands and thousands of repetitions.

Eventually your hands start doing things your brain used to have to think about. You begin seeing problems before they happen. You become faster without rushing. Your work becomes cleaner. Your decisions become better.

That doesn't happen in a few months.

It takes years.

## Your Name Is Your Career

There's another reason I believe starting as a helper can be one of the smartest things a young welder can do.

In this industry, you only have your name.

Your name will travel farther than you do.

People remember the welder who could get the job done.

They also remember the guy who showed up claiming he could do something he wasn't ready for.

When you step onto a job in the welder position, the responsibility changes. People are depending on you. Your work matters. Production matters. Quality matters. Your decisions matter.

And whether you realize it or not, you're building your reputation.

That's why there's nothing wrong with starting as a helper.

Learn the workflow.

Learn the job.

Watch the good hands.

Ask questions.

Make mistakes while the weight on your shoulders is still relatively light.

Then, when it's your turn to step into that welder position, be prepared.

Protect your name.

Because if you stay in this industry long enough, that name can carry you for your entire career.

## The One Thing Nobody Can Teach You

After the school, the hood time, the tools, the helpers, the welding tests and all the technical knowledge, there's still one thing you need.

And nobody can buy it for you.

Nobody can teach it to you.

Grit.

You need a level of discipline that not everyone is willing to sustain.

Showing up every day.

Being on time.

Working when you're tired.

Making sacrifices.

Getting your ass kicked by something and coming back the next morning to try again.

You don't have to be the fastest learner.

You don't have to come from the best upbringing.

You don't need somebody in your family who was already a welder.

If you've got grit, you can make it in this industry.

## Don't Let It Win

There are words that still echo in my head from when I was a young welder and apprentice.

My mentor used to tell me:

"Nate, don't let it beat you."

I'd be standing there with a problem in front of me, my brain going a million miles an hour trying to figure it out.

He'd look at me and say:

"Don't let it win."

Then he'd walk off.

At the time, it almost seemed too simple.

Looking back, I understand what he was teaching me.

Self-reliance.

He wasn't going to solve every problem for me.

Nobody was coming to save me from that weld.

Nobody was coming to finish that project.

And ultimately, nobody was coming to live my life for me.

I had to figure it out.

You've got a problem in front of you?

Don't let it win.

Bills are piling up?

Don't let them win.

Life is getting hard?

Don't let it win.

You get up tomorrow and go again.

That's welding.

And, really, that's life.

## Just Start

If you're thinking about becoming a welder, don't get caught up trying to figure out your entire career before you've even started it.

Find a welding school.

Walk into the local fabrication shop.

Ask about becoming a helper.

Find the old hand who actually knows what he's doing and pay attention.

Start moving rocks.

Because welding is going to give you a million reasons to quit.

There will be days when you're hot, tired, broke, frustrated and wondering whether you picked the wrong career.

There will be welds that humble you.

There will be jobs that test you.

There will be times when life itself seems determined to see what you're made of.

When that happens, remember:

Don't let it win.

Keep showing up.

Keep learning.

Keep getting your reps.

Keep building your name.

Don't let it win.

You win.