MORE ABOUT WELDING
Follow the links below to find out more about
Kirtland's Welding programs and degrees.
Return to the Welding page.
A QUICK LOOK AT CAREERS IN WELDING
If you enjoy hands on-work and have an eye for quality and safety, a
career in welding may be your ticket to success. Whether you perform
repairs for a small, local job-shop, maintain and build infrastructure
for a multi-million dollar utility company or fill one of the other
nearly 300,000 professional welders jobs found nationally, welders find
themselves and their profession in demand across a wide range of
industry.
 The
manufacturing industry continues to employ the majority of skilled
welders with transportation and equipment manufacturers leading the way.
The Big Three auto makers, their foreign-owned, domestic competitors and
the supply shops that support them, hire skilled welders for nearly
every facility they operate and for almost every phase of the
manufacturing process. Metal components, engines, frames and bodies are
often assembled in whole or in part by an experienced welder. And that’s
not to mention the welding that takes place in the manufacture and
maintenance of the equipment those shops need to produce their parts.
As heavy industry continues to automate, the welding profession will
remain closely involved. Labor-saving robots and other machines, while
performing tedious and repetitive tasks, will still be operated and
maintained by skilled-trades workers who will load the machines and
supervise the quality of their work.
Appliance manufacturers use welders to bond metal components and
fixtures. Both commercial and residential appliances pass through the
hands of trained welders on their way to final assembly.
In the steel construction trades welders play a role in many facets,
including prefabricating components, steel beam and substructure
assembly, as well as sheet metal siding and roofing adhesion. And it is
not just big-city skyscrapers these days. More and more buildings are
being constructed of steel and other metals – livestock housing,
gymnasiums, industrial complexes and large retail outlets are just some
of the construction projects that are bringing steel construction, and
the welding opportunities that go with them, from urban settings to our
own rural areas.
Bridge and infrastructure firms hire welders to construct and
maintain super structure and highways. Their work is some of the most
important available to the trained welder and many welders enjoy the
travel and changing work environment a job in highway construction can
bring.
Shipyards make use of large numbers of highly skilled welders. If you
enjoy working in a team environment and like to admire your work when
complete, imagine watching an ocean-going freighter weighing thousands
of tons and standing stories above the ocean's surface, knowing that you
played a part in its construction or its maintenance.
The welding industry has its exotic side, too. From building
pipelines in Alaska to assembly and maintenance of off-shore and
overseas oil rigs and distilleries, welders find their work needed and
appreciated the world over.
Source of information about careers: The U.S. Department of Labor,
Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupation Outlook Handbook. For more
information, visit their Web site at:
http://www.bls.gov/oco/
IS WELDING FOR YOU?
The welding program at Kirtland Community College is for you if:
-
You enjoy working with your hands performing skilled operations and
take pride in accuracy and quality.
-
You can practice safe work habits and can maintain a safe working
environment.
-
You have good hand/eye coordination and good or correctable
eyesight.
-
You enjoy physical, hands-on labor as opposed to working at a desk
or in an office.
-
You don’t mind working in a busy or noisy environment.
-
You enjoy seeing the practical application of your skills and
training.
Jobs in the welding industry are expected to experience a 10-20
percent growth rate as skilled workers retire or advance within the
industry. And the welding profession is a wide open, non-traditional
vocation for women; one that is employer recognized for being manageable
by women and one in which they can excel.
 A
PROFESSION POISED TO MEET THE CHALLENGE OF A NEW CENTURY
Many careers that were once prosperous are today obsolete. Not a
worry with welding.
This time-honored profession has a track record of
meeting new technologies and the challenges they bring. Over the last
century, the welding trade has proven itself able to adapt and expand.
From the blacksmith's forge and anvil to the newest in plasma and laser
technology, the welding profession has answered the call of industrial
science. In fact, the methods used to adhere and bond the newest
plastics are being developed by researchers and engineers who have their
own roots in the welding trades. Who knows what materials industrial
research will develop in the coming years, but one thing is certain –
welders will be there.
Just as they have in the past, welders will give
us tomorrow’s answers today and they will make those new materials
usable in ways we can only imagine.
A PROGRAM TO MEET YOUR SCHEDULE
Area industry uses the Kirtland welding program as a means to train
their own apprentice welders and one of Kirtland’s instructors is a
certified welding inspector through The American Welding Society. Course
completion will find you certified through this professional industrial
organization in as many as ten different welds, certification that
translates to a saleable commodity on the real-life job market.
 At
Kirtland, the FLEX schedule is designed to meet your requirements and
you will find Kirtland’s welding program adjustable to not just your
schedule, but also your desire and need to learn. You may register for
FLEX courses at almost any time during a semester and proceed through
the course curriculum at your own pace. You spend as much or as little
time as necessary to complete the course work.
But FLEX is not independent study. It is designed to be both
supportive and instructional. Students are expected to meet in class,
with their instructors, for at least six hours a week. In the classroom
they will divide their time between text book, video and computer
instruction and apply what they learn through hands-on, individual
training from Kirtland’s skilled, industry-trained welding
instructors.
Kirtland’s welding classroom is divided into separate areas, with one
area designed for classroom use and the other area further divided into
work stations, where students get the opportunity to practice and
perfect the different welding disciplines. And the college owns the
tapes, manuals and CDs from which you will learn, a sizeable savings
over the cost to purchase such textbooks and teaching aides.
Kirtland tries to keep it personal and the welding program can be as
individualized as you need – the modular format breaks each aspect of
the welding disciplines into its own, singular component. Students
register for only those components they wish to learn, saving time and
money.
Students may also choose to complete a certification program or go on
to complete the Associate in Applied Science-Welding and Fabricating
degree.
These students will delve deeper into the many aspects of industrial
welding, as well as study computer-aided drafting and manufacturing,
trades that go hand-in-hand with welding and professions in which
welders will likely work.
EAGER TO GET STARTED?
To receive more information about all the options available to you at
Kirtland Community College, call (989) 275-5000 and ask for the
Admissions Office. Or write to us at 10775 North St. Helen Road,
Roscommon, MI 48653.
|