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Welder

Assembling all types of things that can stand the test of time

Welders are in short supply. Nathan from Swink's Welding & Fabrication explains what it takes to join this high-demand industry.
Welding is a physically demanding hands-on job that involves grinding, cutting, and prepping steel, as well as moving materials with cranes and forklifts. Welders are needed all over the world, in both indoor settings, such as shops and manufacturing plants, as well as outdoors, like on pipelines in the ocean or on the upper levels of skyscrapers.

Want a job that can take you to the top of skyscrapers or out to sea working on an offshore oil rig? Become a welder. Welding can take workers anywhere they want as it is a career that is in high demand in the U.S. and around the world.

According to the American Welding Society, the industry will be short more than 450,000 welders by 2022. And that number is projected to grow, meaning that with the right training and experience, welders can expect to find a job that fits them.

Welder Nathan Swink owns his company, Swink's Inc.
Nathan Swink. Photo – WorkingNation

The star of our video, Nathan Swink, is the CEO of Swink’s Welding and Fabrication Inc.  Nathan started welding when he was 13 years old and now at the age of 22, he operates a company that has seven full-time welders on staff. He’s found success in turning his hobby into a full-time career.

To get your journey started in welding, take some time to investigate the trade, especially the AWS certification. Certified welders can expect to earn $20 an hour. With more specialized work, like underwater welding, welders can make up to $80,000 a year.

Here are the four steps to become a welder:
Understand the Welding Trade

Welding is a physically challenging job. It requires a commitment to hard work, respect of safety, attention to detail, and precision skills. Before starting the journey, decide if those standards are right for you.

Get the Right Experience

There are many ways to obtain experience as a welder. One avenue is through your local welder’s union. Reach out to your local union for information but it’s common for each union to offer a course. Some employers provide on-the-job training for individuals with no prior welding experience. Training is also available through the military or community colleges.

Find Out Where You Want to Weld

One of the beautiful things about welding is that it spans many different industries. Welders can work in construction, infrastructure, manufacturing, general purpose, automotive, underwater, and creative arts — to name a few. It’s up to you to decide which industry is the best fit for you!

Secure Certifications

Not all welding industries require certifications; however, it is helpful to have one regardless. The American Welding Society offers a Certified Welder Program which provides a certification exam for $75. It is important to explore the industry you’re interested to determine if certification is necessary.

Two More Things About Welding

The industry has typically been a male-dominated field. But with the welder shortage, there are more efforts to attract women to the industry. Read this Atlantic story about “Women Who Weld” for more about their work to bring gender equity to welding.

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Dana Beth Ardi

Executive Committee

Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.

Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.

Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.

Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.

Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.

Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.