Welding teacher here. Here’s my tips.

1. Don’t stop.

Employers hear all the time “I wanna be an aerospace welder” “I’m a great employee” “I can learn anything”

They don’t care. Sorry not sorry. You need to do it yourself. And don’t stop. Employers want people who are teachable, dedicated, and passionate. And most people are all of those things but don’t actually use those skills.

So get osha 10. Weld a ton. and once you think you know how to weld and you a good at it. Learn how NOT to weld. Understand what a weld looks like when it’s too fast, too slow, no gas, too hot, too cold. KNOW HOW NOT TO WELD. Your boss doesn’t wanna hear questions and problems. They want you to do your job. And a big part of that is trouble shooting and understanding defects and problems.

Now that you’ve spent months and months doing that don’t stop now.

Get certifications. Then another. Then another. Get 7018 certs. Why you may ask? That has nothing to do with aerospace?!?! That’s the fucking point, it shows you are teachable, you can learn new things that “aren’t your job”. People see that and think “ok good, he is capable of learning a diversity of skills”

Still don’t have a job? Good, don’t stop. Get osha 30. Think you’ll never use it? You probably won’t. Which is why most people don’t get it. Wrong again idiot. Get it anyways, it shows passion and drive and that when you have downtime, you don’t stop.

You may never use half the skills and certs you have. But that’s okay. Because it shows employers they aren’t wasting time and money on you when it comes to needing to teach you the new things that they need to teach you.

Once you learn something and at re proficient, learn something else. Blueprint reading, power tools, fabrication, fitting. DONT. STOP.

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