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Welding Schools Near Me | How to Become a Welder – Bellflower CA

How to Pick a Welder Trade School near Bellflower California

Bellflower CA welding school studentLocating the ideal welding technical school near Bellflower CA is an important first step to starting your new career as a professional welder. But since there are so many schools to select from, how do you determine which ones to consider? And more notably, once you have fine tuned your options, how do you pick the best one? Many prospective students start by reviewing the schools that are closest to their residences. Once they have identified those that are within driving distance, they are drawn toward the least costly one. Yes, location and the cost of tuition are important concerns when reviewing welder vocational schools, but they are not the only ones. Other factors include such things as accreditation, reputation and job placement rates. So before beginning your search for a trade school to become a welder, it’s prudent to establish a list of qualifications that your chosen school must have. But before we explore our due diligence checklist, let’s cover a little bit about how to become a welder.

Welder Degree and Certificate Training Classes

Bellflower CA welder working on pipingThere are a number of options to receive training as a welder in a trade or technical school. You can earn a diploma, a certificate or an Associate Degree. Bachelor Degrees are offered in Welding Engineering or Welding Technology, but are more advanced degrees than most journeyman welders will need. Some programs are also offered in conjunction with an apprenticeship program. Following are short descriptions of the most common welding programs available in the Bellflower CA.

  • Diploma and Certificate Programs are generally made available by trade and technical schools and require about 1 year to complete. They are more hands-on training in nature, created primarily to teach welding skills. They can furnish a good foundation for a new journeyman or apprentice welder, or additional skills for experienced welders.
  • Associate Degree Programs will take two years to complete and are most often offered by community colleges. An Associate Degree in Welding Technology offers a more extensive education than the diploma or certificate while still furnishing the foundation that readies students to enter the workforce.

A number of states and municipalities do have licensing requirements for welders, so be sure to find out for your location of future employment. If required, the welder school you select should ready you for any licensing examinations that you will have to take in addition to supplying the suitable training to become a professional welder.

Welder Certification Alternatives

Bellflower CA welder working on poleThere are several organizations that provide welding certifications, which assess the knowledge and skill level of those applying. Numerous Bellflower CA employers not only require a degree or certificate from an accredited welding program, but also certification from a renowned agency such as the American Welding Society (AWS). A variety of certifications are offered based upon the kind of work that the welder performs. Just some of the things that certification can attest to are the welder’s ability to

  • Operate in compliance with specific codes
  • Work with specified metal thicknesses
  • Work with certain types of welds
  • Work based on contract specifications

As already mentioned, various cities, states or local municipalities have licensing mandates for welders. Of those requiring licensing, many also require certification for various kinds of work. Certification is also a means to prove to employers that you are a highly skilled and experienced welder. So just as with licensing, check the requirements for your local area and make certain that the welding trade school you choose prepares you for certification if needed.

How to Pick a Welder Vocational School

Bellflower CA welder working on carAfter you have decided on the credential you would like to obtain, a degree, certificate or diploma, you can begin to assess schools. As you can imagine, there are numerous welding vocational and trade schools in the Bellflower CA area. That’s why it’s important to establish up front what qualifications your selected school must have. We have previously covered two important ones that most people look at first, which are location and the cost of tuition. As stated, although they are very important qualifiers, they are not the only ones that must be considered. After all, the school you pick is going to provide the training that will be the foundation of your new profession as a welder. So below are some additional factors you may want to consider before picking a welding tech school.

Accreditation. It’s extremely important that the welder vocational school you decide on is accredited by either a national or a regional organization. There are 2 standard types of accreditation. The school may receive Institutional Accreditation based on all of their programs. Programmatic Accreditation is based on a specific program the school has, for instance Welding Technology. So verify that the program you select is accredited, not just the school alone. Additionally, the accreditation should be by a U.S. Department of Education acknowledged accrediting agency, such as the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT). Besides helping ensure that you receive a quality education, the accreditation might also help in securing financial aid or student loans, which are often not available in Bellflower CA for non-accredited schools. Also, for those states or municipalities that require licensing, they may require that the welder training program be accredited as well.

Job Placement and Apprenticeship Programs. A large number of welding diploma or degree programs are offered in conjunction with an apprenticeship program. Other schools will help place you in a job or an apprenticeship after graduation. Find out if the schools you are considering assist in placing students in apprenticeships or have a job placement program. These schools must have relationships with local unions and other metal working businesses to which they can place their students. Older schools may have a larger network of graduates that they can utilize for placements. These programs can assist students in finding employment and establish relationships within the Bellflower CA welding community.

Job Placement and Completion Rates. The completion rate is the percentage of students that start an instructional program and finish it. It’s important that the welding school you pick has a higher completion rate. A lower rate might signify that the students who were in the program were unhappy with the training, the teachers, or the facilities, and quit. The job placement rate is also an indication of the quality of training. A high job placement rate will not only verify that the program has an excellent reputation within the industry, but also that it has the network of Bellflower CA employer relationships to help students secure employment or apprenticeships upon graduation.

Up-to-date Facilities and Equipment. Once you have narrowed down your selection of welding programs to two or three options, you should consider visiting the campuses to inspect their facilities. Verify that both the equipment and the facilities that you will be instructed on are modern. Specifically, the training equipment should be comparable to what you will be working with in the field. If you are not sure what to look for, and are already in an apprenticeship program, consult with the master welder you are working under for guidance. Otherwise, ask a local Bellflower CA welding contractor if they can give you some pointers.

School Location. Even though we previously briefly talked about the relevance of location, there are a few additional issues that we need to cover. You should remember that unless you can relocate, the welder school you pick must be within driving distance of your Bellflower CA home. If you do opt to attend an out-of-state school, in addition to moving expenses there may be higher tuition fees for out-of-state residents. This is especially the case for welding degree programs offered by community colleges. Also, if the school offers an apprenticeship or job placement program, more than likely their placements are within the school’s regional community. So the location of the school needs to be in an area or state where you subsequently will wish to work.

Small Classes. Personalized instruction is important for a manual trade such as welding. It’s possible to be overlooked in larger classes and not receive much one-on-one instruction. Find out what the usual class size is for the welding programs you are considering. Inquire if you can sit in on a couple of classes so that you can observe how much personal attention the students are getting. While there, speak with several of the students and get their opinions. Also, chat with a couple of the teachers and find out what their welding experience has been and what certifications and credentials they have earned.

Flexible Class Schedules. Some people learn a new trade while still working at their present job. Confirm that the class schedules for the programs you are reviewing are flexible enough to meet your needs. If you can only go to classes at night or on weekends near Bellflower CA, make sure that the schools you are assessing provide those options. If you can only enroll on a part-time basis, make sure that the school you pick offers part-time enrollment. Also, check to see what the protocol is to make up classes if you you miss any due to illness, work or family circumstances.

Will You Be Attending Welding School Near Bellflower CA?

Perhaps you live in the Bellflower California area, or have decided to enroll in a Welding Program that has a campus near there.  In either case, you may find this bit of history both interesting and informative.

Bellflower, California

Bellflower is a city located in southeast Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was founded in 1906 and incorporated on September 3, 1957. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 76,616, up from 72,878 at the 2000 census. As of the 2010 census, Bellflower is the 25th most densely populated city in the United States, of cities over 50,000 residents (and 8th most densely populated in California).[8]

The city was founded by F.E. Woodruff in 1906 and originally named Somerset in 1909 when the post office was established.[9] However, the Post Office Department rejected the name to prevent confusion with Somerset, Colorado.[9] The present name is derived from the bellflower apple, which was grown in local orchards during the early 1900s.

Originally settled by small communities of dairy farmers of Dutch, Japanese, and Portuguese descent, Bellflower and neighboring Paramount served first as the apple and later the milk production centers for Southern California, until soaring post-World War II property values and threatened annexations by Los Angeles led by real-estate syndicates, forced most of the farmers to move several miles east to the Dairy Valley/Dairyland/Dairy City area (now the cities of Cerritos, La Palma, and Cypress). These farms were in turn divided up into large housing divisions for Los Angeles's growing White American population which worked in the region's high-tech, skilled industrial, and service positions. From the 1950s through the late 1960s, Bellflower Boulevard, the city's main thoroughfare, was a thriving commercial strip for shopping. Numerous retail and franchise restaurant firms began on this street, which also featured middle- and high-end boutiques, arts and crafts shops, and other small shopkeeps alongside larger department stores and banks. It is sister cities with Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico.[10]

Online Welder Courses

pipe welder at work in Bellflower CAWelding is truly a hands-on type of trade, and consequently not very suitable for online training. Even so, there are some online welding classes offered by certain community colleges and trade schools in the greater Bellflower CA area that can be credited toward a certificate or degree program. These courses primarily deal with such topics as safety, reading blueprints, and metallurgy. They can help provide a novice a foundation to start their education and training. Nevertheless, the most significant point is that you can’t learn how to weld or handle welding materials until you actually do it. Naturally that can’t be performed online. These skills have to be learned in an on-campus environment or in an apprenticeship. Online or distance learning is more appropriate for seasoned welders that would like to advance their knowledge or perhaps attain a more advanced degree. So if you should find an online welding degree or certificate program, be very careful and make sure that the greater part of the training is done on campus or in a workshop type of environment.

Select the Right Welding Trade Program Bellflower CA

Choosing the best welder training program will probably be the most critical decision you will make to begin your new trade. As we have addressed in this article, there are several things that you will need to examine and compare between the schools you are reviewing. It’s a must that any welder school that you are considering includes a lot of hands-on training. Classes should be small in size and every student should have their own welding machine to train on. Classroom instruction should offer a real-world context, and the course of study should be up-to-date and in-line with industry standards. Courses vary in duration and the type of credential provided, so you will have to determine what length of program and credential will best serve your needs. Every training program provides unique possibilities for certification as well. Probably the best approach to research your final list of schools is to check out each campus and speak with the faculty and students. Take the time to monitor some classes. Inspect the campus and facilities. Make sure that you are confident that the school you choose is the right one for you. With the proper training, hard work and dedication, the final outcome will be a new career as a professional welder in Bellflower CA.

 

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