Welding is a very special talent that offers a unique opportunity to Create in the workplace, create at home, and to Create Your Future. The “welders” of yesteryear were the creative alchemists who explored the properties of Earth’s elements. Since 3000 BC, the greatest leaps of human innovation have rested on metal refinery and fabrication.
Employment opportunities for welders are ever-expanding today. Every industry that creates goods and structures from metal relies on skilled welders to create strong products, whether in aerospace, maritime, automotive, artwork, or construction fields.
Welding Technology Jobs & Employment
“Employment opportunities for welders are expected to increase. Employment opportunities for welders, cutters, and welding machine operators differ by occupational specialty. But up-to-date job training will lead to good employment opportunities, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.”
~ Bellingham Technical College
Bellingham Technical College (BTC) along with other welding schools in our region report that over 80% of the students who graduate from welding technology programs are employed within the first 9 months of graduation.
The average annual wage in this field is $48,422, with an earning potential of about $60,195 per year for traditional welding jobs. Though, that doesn’t account for the unlimited potential of more specialized applications such as Artwork or Underwater Welding.
We’ve learned from our own customers that metal fabrication never ends at the workplace. There are few welders who don’t have a creative welding hobby going on at home – either in vocation of personal interest, or exploring possibilities for a personal business.
Welders are Creators, at work and at home, holding the power to Create their own Future.
It’s back to school time in the Pacific Northwest. Below is a listing of welding schools throughout Central Welding Supply’s region of Washington, Oregon, and Alaska.
Welders ARE THE FUTURE!
Maybe it’s time to go back to school?
Welding Schools in the Pacific Northwest
ALASKA (Mat-Su Valley)
Northern Industrial Training, Palmer, AK
NORTHERN OREGON
Portland Community College (PCC), Portland, OR
Clackamas Community College, Oregon City, OR
Mt Hood Community College, Gresham, OR
WESTERN WASHINGTON
Bates Technical College, Tacoma, WA
Bellingham Technical College, Bellingham, WA
Centralia College, Centralia, WA
Charter College, Vancouver, WA
Clark Community College, Vancouver, WA
Clover Park Technical College, Lakewood, WA
Divers Institute of Technology, Ballard, WA
Commercial Diving & Underwater Welding
Edmonds Community College, Edmonds, WA
Everett Community College, Everett, WA
Green River Community College, Auburn, WA
Lake Washington Institute of Technology, Kirkland, WA
Local Union 26 Plumbers/Pipefitters, Western WA
Trade School
Lower Columbia College, Longview, WA
Olympic College, Bremerton, WA
Peninsula College, Port Angeles, WA
Pratt Fine Art Center, Seattle, WA
Fine Arts Fabrication
Renton Technical College, Renton, WA
Seattle Central College, Seattle, WA
Sno-Isle Tech Skills Center, Everett, WA
South Puget Sound Community College, Olympia, WA
South Seattle Community College, West Seattle, WA
Skagit Valley College, Mt Vernon, WA
PREHISTORIC WELDING: The Ancient Science of Welding
(Bulgaria – c. 3,000 BC) – Thousands of uniformly ‘pressed’ gold ‘beads’ were discovered in a Thracian horde in the Bulgarian ‘Valley of the Kings’. The beads, which are only millimetres in diameter, have the appearance of minute ‘washers’, which show evidence of ‘pressing’ on both sides. The amount discovered, and their uniformity, have led to the suggestion that they were mass-manufactured, or machine made.
