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Welding Certification: 3 Facts to Ponder During Your Welding Training
Welding Certification:
3 Facts to Ponder During Your Welding Training
Welding is a great career option, but welding certification is often a source of confusion, even for experienced welders. If you are considering a welding training program, or are already in one, you might be wondering if getting certified is worth it. Here are three points to consider as you decide whether or not to certify your welding skills.
1. Certification Can Set You Apart from Your Peers
The welding job market can often be very competitive. Yet, many employers say they have trouble finding qualified, highly skilled welders. This opens the door for welding professionals who are able to prove that they are serious about their careers, and can demonstrate that they have top skills.
In some cases, being a certified welder can even give you a leg up on someone that is more experienced, but holds no certifications. Therefore, it pays to do a little upfront research into the employers you wish to work for. Ask the human resources managers if they actively look for certified welders or give such credentials much weight in their hiring decisions. If they do, you'll know that obtaining certification will give you an edge.
2. Welding Certification is Complicated and Has Limitations
Here is where much of the confusion lies. Welding certification does not consist of one broad-based test covering all kinds of welds. Instead, there are numerous individual combinations (called codes) of welding procedures, positions, metal types and metal thicknesses for which you can be tested and certified, on an "à la carte" basis.
This means being certified can be of little value unless you are applying for a job where you'll be doing the same kind of narrowly defined weld for which you hold the certification.
For instance, you might obtain certification for doing groove welds in the overhead position on carbon steel using the shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) process. However, in the job you hope to land, you might be asked to do something like fillet welds in the horizontal position using the gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) process. In such an instance, your welding certification may not mean much to that particular employer.
Many companies, in fact, conduct their own welding tests on new hires and established employees to meet internal qualifications. In some cases, these tests can be more difficult than third-party certification exams.
Welding certification gets even more complex when you consider that there is more than one professional organization that certifies welders. In the United States, the three major ones are:
- The American Welding Society (AWS), which mainly certifies welders for structural codes.
- The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), which certifies welders for boiler and pressure vessel codes.
- The American Petroleum Institute (API), which certifies welders in the gas and oil industries for pipeline codes.
3. Your Certification Can Easily Expire
Obtaining certification for a particular welding code does not mean you've been certified for life. In fact, you will lose your certification unless you keep up with the certifying organization's requirements.
For instance, in order to maintain certification with the AWS, you must submit documentation every six months, which proves you are still using the specific skills you were tested on and certified in. If you happen to change welding jobs, and no longer use those skills in a capacity that can be easily documented, you will fail to retain your certification.
At the end of the day, you can only be certified to weld within the limitations of the certifying tests you take. And you must ensure that you use your certified welding skills on the job, keeping good records along the way, if you wish to remain a certified welder.
Weigh the Benefits Carefully
Welding certification can be of great value in the right circumstances. But you should determine if you could take advantage of being a certified welder in your particular situation. If you're still contemplating a welding career, there are likely good welding schools and training centers in your area. Check some of them out. Then, decide if you're ready to enter this time-honored trade!
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