10 Pros and Cons of Being a Welder

[williamthomas]

Great real life information. I’m a self employed welding contractor in the eastern US. 80% of my work is mobile (on site). I work six days a week, every week and do paperwork on Sunday after church. I’ve attempted to train two sons and a son-in-law to be a part of the business and one day take over so I could at least semi-retire. So far, all of them walked away because there are easier ways to make a living.

[donpizzo]

This is what kids need to hear before committing to any endeavors in life from someone on the field. Several of the welders have been excellent advisors for newbys looking at the field as employment. A class no one teaches in school on how much reward you get for the direction you choose. It would save students a lot of grief from college tuiton debt the rest of one's life.

[duyle]

Been doing this since 2013. First 5 years was for a company at a shipyard. I told my wife imma quit after 5 years experience and we will hit the road and that’s exactly what we did. He’s right about traveling, it sux. Your best bet is work for the union or a local contractor. I prefer a contractor for the shipyard since they offer per diem and the contract lasts longer than 3 weeks. I’ve been averaging 60 year for the 1st 5 years. I’ve been averaging over 100k after deductions for the past 4 years. It all depends on what you choose. I choose the best pay while other would choose the comfortability( fab shop). Tbh I will never work for a company ever again. Good luck with y’all’s journey.

[Particleman]

Nobody on their death bed says "I wish they worked more overtime"...
As soon as i started my business I made the same as I did before, but work half the hours.... Glad I get to see my family, drive my kids to school, take my dogs out for lunchtime walks now im not slowly dying at some shitty shop....

[jostafro]

Dude is so young and giving such good advice.

[carlnardo]

awesome vid. My pops is a welder/fitter i ended up joining Local 183 as a formwork carpenter and its been almost 8 years now. I found out that my union actually offered a night course for welding and ended up taking it. I just took the plate test using stick and now Im just waiting on the results. This is gonna be the most delayed fathers day gift but hopefully its worth it.

[The_Boys____]

This is the kind of honestly we needed,
I wanted a career change and tried an office job which I couldn't stand. I was so used to working 12 hour days on my feet all day that sitting down for 8 hours a day drove me nuts.

I saw clips of welders glorifying their jobs so I hit up local schools which of course told me how amazing it will be. I spent the next few months doing research and talking to actual welders.

I found that welders worked insane hours, get frequently injured on the job, develop health problems, be away from home if you want make real money. The one that did it for me was a guy who started off at $16 and after 5 years he's just now making $25. Even contractors don't make that much apparently unless they're putting in insane hours as well.

I'm glad I took several months to research because I almost signed up for a school for $20k. Looking back, the office job wasn't so bad and paid pretty well. I'm currently in the process for signing up for Cyber Security.

[weesebowski]

I’m starting out in a shop in a few weeks. Boss said I’ll be helping with shop stuff, minor work until I get practice. Kinda cool I stumbled upon this he just said I need you to show the fawk up and work! I really see myself getting into heavy equipment welding and learning with this opportunity. Like you said not many people get opportunities to get into a shop willing to work with you. 🙏🏽

[mr.equity]

At 25 years old I just enrolled in a very reputable welding school. I’ve always loved to be productive with my hands and I’ve always been fascinated by the properties of metal at 12 years old I used to melt Aluminum cans and turn them into ingots with sand molds. I’ve always loved fire and metal for some reason, I enroll in this school simply because I though that welding was a good skill to have however upon further research I see that this is actually a legit career and I’m thinking about switching careers.

[tylertelford]

I’m 27, just graduated from college for welding and fabrication. I’ve been trying to get into the boilermaker union too. Tested in like march and nerves got the best of me so I’m testing again soon and hopefully I’ll get in this time

[jrweldfab]

I’m 47 been welding for 20 years. Money is good but the work sucks ass! It’s very hard on your body.

[thatoneguyc]

Boiler makers and pipe fitters is where it's at if you can land a mantinance contract job at a refinery, mill, or power plant. Especially if it's a nuke plant. Luckily I live in the industrial heart of the USA so there are buttloads of 6 figure jobs out there.

[sartan]

I’ve been a welder for a little over a year at 18 I started at 17 when I dropped out of high school my junior year I’ve worked in 2 different fab shops the first shop I worked at I built truck beds at 15 an hour (that’s really bad for welder/fitters) for about 11 months then I got in with a bigger company starting out at 16 but after my probation period I make 22 at 18 my job caps out at 25 as a welder with benefits at 18 I think that’s a decent pay I’m working 60 hours a week bringing home about 1, 100 after taxes the work is hard but I started out in a grocery store and decided I wanted to pick up a trade so I made the decision to quit school to make money( I’ve seen that there are some things that diploma would have came in handy stay in school kids!) im currently about to buy a truck and my own machine so I can start running my own side jobs and potentially my own company in the next 10 years it’s a lot of work and it’s tiresome and it can be a stressful job but I’ll tell you what I have a plan for my cuter family and even my current one if you have a goal and can get into that line of work, DO IT it’s worth it in my opinion

[thebeardedstork]

I remember being at Lincoln Electric welding school in Cleveland, OH. Someone from the Boilermakers union came in to do a talk. He said they could find all kinds of guys wanting to get into the field, but none of them could pass a piss test! lol This video pretty much sums up the life. Like you said, finding the work/life balance is very important! Good job!

[nathanratermann]

Welded 16yrs on bridges, was a foreman for 10yrs of it. Shoulder reconstruction, back surgery and spinal stenosis. Never missed a day of work in my life until injury. Hated every fucking moment of it. I’m only 36

[robblalock]

i have been in the welding business for 40 years , i still own a custom fab shop in south Florida, my advise to someone wanting to get into this business , get into sales, breath fresh air , you wont have to sweat your balls off.... and you will if you choose this path , this is a hard trade that takes years to learn that is so under appreciated .
just my opinion from driving down this road for 40 years , if this is your dream or passion like it was mine , good luck

[deathification]

as someone who is used to working about 60 hrs a week since we only had 1 day off, only working 40 hrs a week is a dream. Also, overtime is money

[deividassimkus]

respirator is a necessity, it is better to get a good respirator because you cannot get new lungs. I learned this during 11 years of work as a welder

[collinjohnson]

5 mins in and this is already better than most videos ive watched about welding lmao

[tempesttking]

Thank you for you in depth, informative introspection of this career path.