How to Select a Welding Degree Program near Bergenfield New Jersey
Locating the right welder vocational school near Bergenfield NJ is an essential first step to beginning your new career as a professional welder. But since there are a lot of schools to pick from, how do you determine which ones to consider? And more significantly, once you have narrowed down your choices, how do you select the best one? Most people start by checking out the schools that are closest to their residences. When they have found those that are within commuting distance, they gravitate toward the cheapest one. Yes, location and the cost of tuition are important issues when examining welding vocational schools, but they are not the only ones. Other concerns include such things as accreditation, reputation and job placement rates. So before starting your search for a trade school to become a welder, it’s prudent to develop a list of qualifications that your selected school must have. But before we explore our due diligence checklist, let’s talk a little bit about how to become a welder.
Welder Certificate and Degree Programs
There are multiple alternatives available to obtain 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 Technology or Welding Engineering, but are more advanced courses than most journeyman welders will need. Some programs are also offered in conjunction with an apprenticeship program. Below are brief descriptions of the most common welding programs available in the Bergenfield NJ.
- Certificate and Diploma Programs are usually made available by trade and technical schools and take about one year to finish. They are more hands-on training in nature, created largely to teach welding skills. They can provide a good foundation for a new journeyman or apprentice welder, or additional skills for experienced welders.
- Associate Degree Programs will take two years to finish 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 prepares students to enter the workforce.
Many municipalities and states do have licensing requirements for welders, therefore make sure to check for your location of potential employment. As required, the welding school you choose should ready you for any licensing examinations that you will have to pass in addition to furnishing the suitable training to become a qualified welder.
Welder Certification Options
There are a number of institutions that provide welder certifications, which test the skill level and knowledge of those applying. Numerous Bergenfield NJ employers not only require a degree or certificate from an accredited welding program, but also certification from a renowned agency like the American Welding Society (AWS). A variety of certifications are offered based on the type of work that the welder does. A few of the skills that certification can attest to are the welder’s ability to
- Operate in compliance with specific codes
- Work with specific metal thicknesses
- Work with certain kinds of welds
- Work based on contract specifications
As already stated, some states, cities or local municipalities have licensing requirements for welders. Of those calling for licensing, some also require certification for various types of work. Certification is also a means to demonstrate to employers that you are a highly skilled and qualified welder. So similarly as with licensing, look into the requirements for your local area and make sure that the welder technical school you choose prepares you for certification as needed.
How to Select a Welder Vocational School
When you have chosen the credential you want to obtain, a diploma, certificate or degree, you can start to evaluate schools. As you can imagine, there are a large number of welding vocational and trade schools in the Bergenfield NJ area. That’s why it’s important to decide in advance what qualifications your chosen school must have. We have already discussed a couple of significant ones that many people consider first, which are location and tuition cost. As mentioned, although they are very important qualifiers, they are not the only ones that need to be looked at. After all, the school you choose is going to furnish the education that will be the foundation of your new profession as a welder. So below are more factors you might need to evaluate before picking a welding tech school.
Accreditation. It’s essential that the welding tech school you select is accredited by either a national or a regional agency. There are two standard types of accreditation. The school may attain Institutional Accreditation based on all of their programs. Programmatic Accreditation is based on a specific program the school offers, for instance Welding Technology. So make sure that the program you choose is accredited, not just the school alone. Also, 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 an excellent education, the accreditation can also help in securing financial aid or student loans, which are in many cases not available in Bergenfield NJ for non-accredited schools. Finally, for those states or municipalities that mandate licensing, they may require that the welder training program be accredited as well.
Job Assistance and Apprenticeship Programs. Numerous welding degree or diploma programs are provided in conjunction with an apprenticeship program. Other schools will help place you in an apprenticeship or a job after graduation. Ask if the schools you are considering help in placing students in apprenticeships or have a job assistance program. These schools should have partnerships with local unions and other metal working businesses to which they can refer their students. More established schools may have a larger network of graduates that they can utilize for placements. These programs can help students find employment and develop associations within the Bergenfield NJ welding community.
Job Placement and Completion Rates. The completion rate is the portion or percentage of students that start an academic program and complete it. It’s important that the welder program you pick has a higher completion rate. A low rate could mean that the students who joined the program were unhappy with the instruction, the teachers, or the facilities, and dropped out. The job placement rate is also an indication of the caliber of training. A high job placement rate will not only confirm that the school has a good reputation within the field, but additionally that it has the network of Bergenfield NJ employer relationships to help students secure employment or apprenticeships after graduation.
Modern Equipment and Facilities. Once you have narrowed down your selection of welder programs to 2 or 3 options, you should consider going to the campuses to evaluate 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 using in the field. If you are uncertain 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 Bergenfield NJ welding contractor if they can give you a few suggestions.
School Location. Even though we already briefly discussed the relevance of location, there are a few additional points that we should deal with. You should remember that unless you are able to relocate, the welding program you choose needs to be within commuting distance of your Bergenfield NJ home. If you do choose to attend an out-of-state school, besides relocation expenses there may be higher tuition fees for out-of-state residents. This is especially true for welder certificate programs offered by community colleges. Also, if the school offers a job placement or apprenticeship program, often their placements are within the school’s local community. So the location of the school should be in a region or state where you subsequently will wish to work.
Smaller Classes. Personalized training is essential for a manual trade such as welding. It’s easy to get overlooked in bigger classes and not receive much individualized training. Find out what the typical class size is for the welding programs you are reviewing. Inquire if you can sit in on a few classes so that you can observe just how much individual attention the students are receiving. While there, speak with a few of the students and get their evaluations. Also, chat with a few of the teachers and find out what their welding experience has been and what credentials and certifications they hold.
Convenient Class Schedules. Lots of folks learn a new trade while still working at their current job. Make sure that the class schedules for the programs you are reviewing are flexible enough to satisfy your needs. If you can only attend classes at night or on weekends near Bergenfield NJ, make certain that the schools you are assessing provide those choices. If you can only attend part-time, confirm that the school you pick offers part-time enrollment. Also, ask what the policy is to make up classes if you you miss any because of illness, work or family circumstances.
Will You Be Attending Welding School Near Bergenfield NJ?
Perhaps you live in the Bergenfield New Jersey 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.
Bergenfield, New Jersey
Bergenfield is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 26,764,[9][10][11] reflecting an increase of 517 (+2.0%) from the 26,247 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 1,789 (+7.3%) from the 24,458 counted in the 1990 Census.[20]
Bergenfield was formed on the basis of a referendum held on June 25, 1894, from portions of Englewood Township and Palisades Township.[21][22][23] The borough was formed during the "Boroughitis" phenomenon then sweeping through Bergen County, in which 26 boroughs were formed in the county in 1894 alone.[24] The borough was named for its location in Bergen County.[25]
New Jersey Monthly magazine ranked Bergenfield as its 211th best place to live in its 2010 rankings of the "Best Places To Live" in New Jersey.[26] The magazine ranked Bergenfield as its 231st best place to live in its 2008 rankings of the "Best Places To Live".[27]
Online Welding Training Programs
Welding is truly a manual type of trade, and therefore not very compatible with online training. Even so, there are a few online welding courses offered by specific community colleges and vocational schools in the greater Bergenfield NJ area that can be credited toward a certificate or degree program. These courses primarily deal with such subjects as safety, reading blueprints, and metallurgy. They can help provide a beginner a foundation to initiate their education and training. However, the most significant point is that you can’t learn how to weld or work with welding materials unless you actually do it. Clearly that can’t be performed online. These skills need to be learned in an on-campus setting or in an apprenticeship. Online or distance learning is better suited for experienced welders that want to advance their expertise or possibly obtain a more advanced degree. So if you should discover an online welding degree or certificate program, be very careful and make sure that the bulk of the training is done on campus or in a workshop type of environment.
Pick the Ideal Welding Tech School Bergenfield NJ
Picking the best welder school will undoubtedly be the most critical decision you will make to begin your new profession. As we have addressed in this article, there are many factors that you will need to examine and compare between the schools you are looking at. It’s a prerequisite that any welder training that you are evaluating includes a lot of hands-on training. Classes need to be small in size and each student should have their own welding machine to train on. Classroom teaching needs to offer a real-world perspective, and the training program should be up-to-date and in-line with industry standards. Courses vary in length and the kind of credential offered, so you will need to ascertain what length of program and credential will best serve your needs. Each training program provides different possibilities for certification as well. Perhaps The ideal way to research your short list of schools is to check out each campus and talk with the faculty and students. Invest some time to monitor some classes. Tour the campus and facilities. Make sure that you are confident that the program you select is the ideal one for you. With the proper training, effort and dedication, the final result will be a new career as a professional welder in Bergenfield NJ.
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