secretsmoker
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To cut a long story short I took the path of least resistance employment-wise around 5 years ago and have been stagnating in a part time library job ever since. The job has perks, don't get me wrong. Main perk is obviously working part time leaves plenty of time for other interests. I also get to study a lot at quiet times and get time to practice Chinese on the students. There is also constant eye candy although I realise I will go to hell for considering that a perk.
Down side of this job is no progression at all and very minimal monies (although for the amount of work I do compared to previous jobs I really can't complain!). I don't make use of my spare time very effectively as I am terrible at planning etc. I have also looked at so many pretty things working at the university at this point that I actually am beginning to feel bad! I might look at continuing to work at the library on weekends though.
Basically I am now looking at apprenticeships with local companies (within 25 miles or so) in order to get experience in welding/fabrication. After years and years of doing pretty much every kind of job available to someone with fairly minimal qualifications I really want to get stuck in to learning a trade. My aim is simply to eventually be able to make real person money instead of feeling like I am scraping by all of the time. I also want to feel like I am making better use of my time. Welding is the only thing I have really taken a shine to lately and I find myself wanting to practice a lot more.
I realise I am not getting any younger (33 this year) and many companies are not going to be as keen on hiring someone my age as an apprentice, especially given that I have minimal experience and am going to have to work all the part time hours I can elsewhere (library or delivering pizzas etc) to make ends meet for the first couple of years at least.
Can any of you folks who weld professionally give me any insight into the sorts of things that might come up in an interview/the types of things they may be looking for in an apprentice?
To pull this off and actually make a career out of something I have only recently discovered, I am going to need all the advice I can get.
I am no stranger to working hard or being fairly poor so at least I don't need to worry too much about that. Is it too late/ridiculous to be trying to get into welding as a career at this late stage?
Next I had thought about going back to college to start on TIG. Any other ideas that might help to sway prospective employers?
Sorry for the rambling thread but I need to start making some changes to get on to a different path.
Down side of this job is no progression at all and very minimal monies (although for the amount of work I do compared to previous jobs I really can't complain!). I don't make use of my spare time very effectively as I am terrible at planning etc. I have also looked at so many pretty things working at the university at this point that I actually am beginning to feel bad! I might look at continuing to work at the library on weekends though.
Basically I am now looking at apprenticeships with local companies (within 25 miles or so) in order to get experience in welding/fabrication. After years and years of doing pretty much every kind of job available to someone with fairly minimal qualifications I really want to get stuck in to learning a trade. My aim is simply to eventually be able to make real person money instead of feeling like I am scraping by all of the time. I also want to feel like I am making better use of my time. Welding is the only thing I have really taken a shine to lately and I find myself wanting to practice a lot more.
I realise I am not getting any younger (33 this year) and many companies are not going to be as keen on hiring someone my age as an apprentice, especially given that I have minimal experience and am going to have to work all the part time hours I can elsewhere (library or delivering pizzas etc) to make ends meet for the first couple of years at least.
Can any of you folks who weld professionally give me any insight into the sorts of things that might come up in an interview/the types of things they may be looking for in an apprentice?
To pull this off and actually make a career out of something I have only recently discovered, I am going to need all the advice I can get.
I am no stranger to working hard or being fairly poor so at least I don't need to worry too much about that. Is it too late/ridiculous to be trying to get into welding as a career at this late stage?
Next I had thought about going back to college to start on TIG. Any other ideas that might help to sway prospective employers?
Sorry for the rambling thread but I need to start making some changes to get on to a different path.