Profession Welder: where to study, salary, pros and cons

Welder – a metalworker who joins metal parts into complex structures using electric welding. By the way, in 2022, the ProfGid career guidance center developed an accurate career guidance test. He himself will tell you which professions are suitable for you, and give an opinion about your personality type and intelligence.

Place of work

Salary and career

Welder salary for December 2021

Education

Examples of companies with welder vacancies

Welder is a working specialty and involves working in welding production. The specialist is engaged in connecting metal structures, parts, products, containers and pipelines of various types, composition, purpose and level of complexity. The quality of work and welding seams depends on a professional welder. In his work, mistakes are not made that could lead to catastrophic consequences. The profession of a welder is divided into several specialties: gas welder, manual arc welder, operator of automatic welding machines.

Pros and cons of the profession

Pros:

high demand in the labor market;
fairly high salaries for experienced welders.

Minuses

difficult working conditions (sometimes you have to work in extreme conditions, at high altitudes or under the influence of various meteorological factors);
heavy load on vision due to the high brightness of infrared and ultraviolet radiation, electric arc (the appearance of the disease electroophthalmia);
the presence of other occupational diseases due to inhalation of industrial dust (silicosis, pneumoconiosis, bronchial asthma).

Under what conditions do we offer you training?

We offer training both full-time and evening. Students can also come to study on weekends. Groups are formed once every 7 days. Individual situations are taken into account.

Based on the results of listening to the program, each student takes a certification exam. If it is passed positively, the employee receives a qualification and a special state-issued welder certificate. He becomes the owner of a qualification category. If you have such a desire, you can take an additional exam - on fire safety (and then you will be given a fire certificate).

Salary and career

There is a shortage of technical specialists in Russia, so the salary of a first-class welder can exceed the income of a middle manager. Young specialists receive about 20,000 rubles, the salary of experienced high-level workers (the sixth highest category, assigned to highly qualified specialists) averages from 30,000 to 45,000 rubles monthly. But, as with other professions, the amount of a welder’s salary depends on the place of work, experience, hard work and desire to constantly improve their skills. Thus, the lowest salary for specialists is in the housing and communal services sector, and the highest in the oil and gas industry.

Typically, college graduates do not have to look for a job for a long time. Welders without experience are accepted into private service organizations and housing and communal services. With the acquisition of experience, young specialists are already entrusted with more responsible tasks and work in industry and construction sites.

Welder training

Our center for further education "MOSDOR" offers training to become a welder in Moscow. The training program consists of a theoretical part, which will be needed when working with different types of welding, and practical training at our welding site.

In what forms is gas welder training provided?

In the primary one it takes 160 hours.
In the form of advanced training.
In the certification form – 16 hours. The task is to update skills, or (if the document has ceased to be valid) - to extend the validity of the certificate. Passing the certification is annual.

Now, many companies offer to buy a welder's certificate , but this profession is associated with increased risks and dangers, so undergoing training would be the best solution. Training at the MOSDOR training center includes not just theory according to professional standards, but also practical training at our training ground. Once the theoretical basics are mastered, our specialists will demonstrate all welding processes in practice.

Electrical and gas welder training includes the following sections:

How to read graphs and diagrams correctly.
Manual arc type welding method and its features.
Gas-type welding method and its features.
Techniques and devices for metal processing.
Devices that allow you to do welding and cutting.

Estimated cost

Approximate prices for studying to become a welder in educational institutions after graduation are given below:

In college - 38,000-62,000 rubles per year .
At a vocational school - about 45,000 rubles per year .
At the training center - 9800-18000 for the entire course .

The approximate cost of courses depending on the specialization and number of hours is shown in the table below.

Specialization	Number of classes	Approximate price in rubles
Argon welder	15-20	16000
Electric and gas welder	18	10000-12000
Electric welder	12	15900

Buying a welding diploma will cost about 18,000-24,000 rubles . This service is usually used by people who cannot get the desired profession or who already have an engineering specialty, but are dissatisfied with the level of their wages.

How to increase rank

Before you upgrade your welder rank, you should know that you can move to the next level based on the results of qualifying exams. If a specialist successfully passes the exam, he will be able to increase his rank. It is also worth noting that the first three categories are assigned based on the results of training at a specialized educational institution.

Before improving the qualifications of a welder, you also need to know that the decision to assign the next category is made by a specially created qualification commission. It is she who issues a certificate that will serve as the basis for increasing the welder’s salary.

Responsibility for failure to complete training

Part 1 of Article 9.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation provides for the imposition of a fine for violation of industrial safety requirements or the conditions of licenses for carrying out activities in the field of industrial safety of hazardous production facilities, which fully applies to welding work, in the amount of:

for employees from 2000 to 3000 rubles;
for officials from 20,000 to 30,000 rubles or disqualification for a period of 6 to 12 months;
for legal entities from 200,000 to 300,000 rubles or administrative suspension of activities for up to 90 days.

Welder college after 9th grade

College of Architecture and Civil Engineering No. 26 invites school graduates to obtain the profession of “Welder”; training after the ninth stage is 2 years 10 months. Upon graduation from college, graduates are awarded the qualifications of a welder of partially mechanized fusion welding, a welder of manual arc welding with a consumable coated electrode, a welder of manual arc welding with a non-consumable electrode in shielding gas and is issued a state diploma of secondary specialized education.

We train workers for construction organizations, housing and communal services enterprises, public utilities - the scope of application of the acquired skills is quite extensive, because welding work is required in almost any production.

The state educational standard for the specialty “Welder (manual and partially mechanized welding (surfacing)” (training after the ninth grade) provides for the study of many professional and special disciplines, including:

Basics of Engineering Graphics
Basics of Electrical Engineering
Fundamentals of Materials Science
Tolerances and technical measurements
Basics of Economics
Life safety
Basics of Economics
Fundamentals of the theory of welding processes
Welding equipment and welding materials
Manufacturing technology of welded structures
Regulatory and technical documentation and certification system in welding production
Quality control of welded joints
Technique and technology of gas welding (surfacing)
Preparatory and assembly operations before welding.
Technique and technology of manual arc welding (surfacing, cutting) with a consumable coated electrode
Technique and technology of manual arc welding (surfacing) with a non-consumable electrode in shielding gas
Technique and technology of thermite welding
Technique and technology of partially mechanized welding (surfacing) by fusion in shielding gas
Technique and technology of manual welding with an external source of polymer materials

How is training to become an electric and gas welder completed at IMEI?

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Filling out an application

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Conclusion of an agreement

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Tuition payment

Training and certification

The profession of an electric and gas welder belongs to the category of high-risk professions. Workers in this profession are subject to additional labor protection requirements, including special requirements for training, certification, permission to work independently, instruction in labor protection and periodic testing of knowledge in the profession and labor safety.

Depending on the discharge, electric and gas welders can work with manual electric arc, plasma and gas welding. They can also perform work using automatic or semi-automatic welding.

Welder

A welder is a metal specialist who joins metal parts into complex structures using electric welding.
The profession is suitable for those who are interested in work and farming (see choosing a profession based on interest in school subjects). Welder is a working specialty and involves working in welding production. The specialist is engaged in connecting metal structures, parts, products, containers and pipelines of various types, composition, purpose and level of complexity. The quality of work and welding seams depends on a professional welder. In his work, mistakes are not made that could lead to catastrophic consequences. The profession of a welder is divided into several specialties: gas welder, manual arc welder, operator of automatic welding machines.

In their work, welders use electric arc welding or a gas torch. In the first case, an electric arc is used to melt metals, and the temperature at the end of the welding electrode reaches 5,000 degrees Celsius. This exceeds the melting point of all existing metals. When using a gas torch, a flame is formed due to the combustion of a mixture of flammable gas (hydrogen, propane, gasoline, butane, benzene, kerosene) and oxygen. This type of welding is usually used when replacing radiators and pipes in residential premises, due to the absence of sparks during the operation.

While working, it is very important for welders to observe safety measures and use special masks with tinted glass to protect their face and eyes. This mask significantly suppresses the brightness of flames and sparks.

Types of welders:

welders on press welding machines;
welders on diffuse welding installations;
thermite welders;
gas welders;
welders on electron beam welding installations;
electric and gas welders.

What prospects will open up for you after training?

Electrical and gas welder courses are an excellent chance to find a well-paid position in any field related to construction. We can talk about an organization engaged in automobile repairs, or the installation of metal structures, or an institution that carries out repairs and maintenance of buildings and structures.

Already working? Then such a document will confirm your qualification level and accelerate your career growth. A fire certificate will allow you to engage in welding and other fire-hazardous activities.

The demand for the welding profession in Moscow and the regions of Russia is growing every year. You can count on a solid salary and stable job in any economic situation.

Is it possible to work for yourself?

Can.
This can be organized as a part-time job (if you work as a welder in some company and want to earn money after a shift or on weekends). How you can earn extra money:

make some simple products to order (for example, pipe stoves);
weld simple structures: fences, gates, tables for cottages or garages, racks, benches, canopies;
engage in artistic welding: create and sell jewelry, souvenirs, interior or exterior items (example);
weld reinforcement when arranging the foundation or during monolithic construction;
find small (or medium-sized) companies that periodically need a welder, but not so often as to keep him on staff (for example, construction and repair teams, companies for the installation and maintenance of utilities, for the production of garden furniture);
cook and repair products for cars, agricultural machinery, special equipment, and do body repairs.

If you already have experience (you know how, what and with what to cook correctly), you can try working for yourself. But this is relevant mainly for large cities - in small towns, orders may not be enough for a normal income.

What qualities must a welder have in order to have the right to increase his rank?

In order to get the 4th, you must comply with the job description for welders of the 4th category. To do this, you need to be able to weld spherical parts, weld in all spatial positions, and be able to work with critical and thin parts in various mechanisms.

Welding thin metal

Disadvantages of being a welder

Very often, heavy physical activity negatively affects the health of the welder. Often a specialist has to work in uncomfortable positions in dangerous areas under adverse weather conditions. Over the years, respiratory problems and vision problems may occur. Negative working conditions also include the need to constantly use protective clothing and a mask. Although they provide protection from the harmful effects of welding , it is inconvenient to work in it.

Before applying for high positions and decent wages, a specialist will have to go a long way, honing his skills and abilities for years. Most aspiring welders find jobs at utility companies, which, according to statistics, have the lowest wages in the profession. On average, such an employee can count on a salary of about 20 thousand rubles.