The manufacturers in Central PA are hungry for qualified welders, welding inspectors and welding engineers. Right now, experienced welders are reaching retirement age. The U.S. department of labor tells us that there is a need for nearly half a million welders to replace these workers. Half a million jobs just waiting to be filled by people like you with the right education and the desire to make it in an exciting and secure career.

What do welders make? Everything from giant industrial equipment like dust collectors and classifiers to intricate assemblies that require a high skill level. Look around and you’ll find welding opportunities everywhere. In aeronautics and agricultural machine assembly. The energy industries depend on welders to produce wind turbines…work in the oil and natural gas fields…and build equipment for geothermal and solar energy. These are fast-growing areas of our economy, and the need for welders is growing just as fast.

An accredited welding course can have you walking out the door with the certification you need to get a job and start making the money that comes with it. The average pay for a welder is over $17 an hour…more than $35,000 a year. Your schooling will certify you in the basic welding techniques, including mig and tig and stick. Or, you can really enhance your earning potential by getting certified in A.S.M.E. boiler or pressure vessel work.

Top welders command even higher pay with certification in stainless steel and aluminum welding. This is in high demand in the food and medical industries where flawless welds on high quality metals call for special skills and craftsmanship. A job in welding can be anything you want it to be: challenging, rewarding, and giving you the financial benefits you deserve.

If you have an eye for details, you may be cut out for a career as a welding inspector. This critical manufacturing position calls for training in welding principles, reading plans and performing tests. The job involves checking and double checking welded products to make certain that they meet exacting specifications.

Take a welding career to another level by becoming a welding engineer. This exciting field is full of opportunities to use your math and science knowledge and advance in industry beyond your wildest dreams. Welding engineers get involved in a wide range of exciting areas, and have it made in how they’re compensated: earning an average salary of eighty-five thousand, seven hundred dollars a year!

These professionals develop welding techniques and procedures, and use welding equipment to problem-solve. They test new processes and find ways to improve current methods. They work with complex metal alloys and get involved in research and development as well as the high technology testing that is used in today’s manufacturing processes.

If you want to make it using computers, you might be surprised to learn just how advanced welding has become. There’s a need for workers in the field of robotic welding, both in equipment development and programming. Automated manufacturing is critical to most industries, and the jobs are there for those with the right training and the drive to make it.

A career in welding could take you anywhere… underwater or a nuclear power plant. You can get involved in government compliance programs, looking out for the environment and worker safety.

You could find yourself doing structural welding on major construction projects, or helping to build a bridge. Work on the prototypes that will shape tomorrow. Whatever direction welding takes you, it is certainly sure to take you to the lifestyle you want and deserve. It’s a career that can be as exciting as you make it. And, you can make it BIG…as a welder, welding inspector or welding engineer!