Welding (Continuing Education)

Welding is both a technical skill and a creative art with applications for careers and personal use.

Continuing education classes in welding can train you for immediate work or give you the ability to work on home projects such as repair or metal art.

What does a welder do?

Welders permanently join pieces of metal through welding processes. In addition to fusing metals, welders also repair metal parts, as well as grind and solder materials. There are many ways to make a weld and many different kinds of welds – more than 80. Some processes cause sparks, and others don’t even require extra heat.

Welding can be done anywhere: outdoors or indoors, underwater and in outer space. Trades such as construction and pipefitting require experienced welders, and artistic welding has become an in-demand job skill in and of itself.

Why is this a fast-growing occupation?

More than half of the country’s gross national product is related to welding in one way or another, according to industry statistics. Welding is one of the most commonly used industrial processes, since it’s the only way to join two or more pieces of metal to make them work as a single piece.

Workforce Solutions of Greater Dallas includes welders and cutters in its list of targeted occupations for in-demand workforce need, creating a projected 4,780 jobs locally at an average salary of $17.22 an hour. Skilled welders with up-to-date training should have good job opportunities.

Welding is a skill essential to both construction and plumbing/pipefitting, two of U.S. News and World Report’s Money Careers’ list of the top 10 construction jobs through 2022.

Where are jobs available?

Welders work in a variety of jobs in wide-ranging fields that include:

• Construction
• Plumbing and pipe welding
• Aerospace
• Automotive manufacture and repair
• Manufacturing
• Oil and gas extraction
• Government
• Arts such as sculpture and decorative metal work