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Welding
jobs are about as diverse as they come. You can be welding in a nice, safe, air-conditioned,
carpeted shop or 50 floors up on a high-rise office tower. You can be ten miles
out in the ocean on an off-shore rig, or UNDER the ocean repairing that same rig.
I've worked in an oil field maintenance and repair shop, black iron shop, and
out in the field as a structural welder. Some of those jobs I loved and some of
them I hated so much that I dreaded Monday morning at quitting time on Friday
afternoon! And that was with a paycheck in my hand! By
the way, for those wondering where the heck that air-conditioned welding job is,
it's one of two I know of in my many years in the field. It was actually a shop
in Ft. Worth, Texas where one of my students welded up fittings for the oil industry.
He was taking a night class I was teaching, because although the job conditions
were great, he wasn't making that much money there. The
only time I ever saw air-conditioning on welding jobs was when we were working
at a General Motors Plant. There were actually air ducts every 50 feet or so blowing
cold air for the people on the assembly line. It was a great place to get relief
on some of those 105 degree Dallas days. (Believe it or not, they actually have
TV's up and down those lines also! Of course I asked about that one, and was told
it helps the line workers keep from getting bored by getting a glimpse of the
"outside world." I speculate that it probably also cuts down absenteeism
for those who used to get "sick" during the Monday night football season!
: When
it comes to welding jobs, there's a bunch of different pros and cons. You may
not be making as much in a shop as out in the field, but you're getting a guaranteed
40 hours at the shop. In the field if you get rained or snowed out, you don't
get paid. If you have plenty of money socked away, that's no problem. In fact,
it's kind of nice getting some time off. But it makes for some hard times if you
haven't saved! It's a good idea to save at least 10% of every paycheck you make
in the field just for those rainy days. If
you're considering a welding job you should do all the research you can to decide
what's best for you. More details will follow in Welding
Jobs part 2.
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