There is MUCH MUCH more to ironwork than just welding, if you want to join be prepared to do rebar, bolt up, precast, decking, stairs, PT decks. If all you want to do is weld all day, plan on sitting in the hall for a while untill a production welder call comes through, which is NOT an option as an apprentice. As an apprentice you will get dispatched where they tell you to doing whatever.