Several experts agree that pipe welding is one of the hardest skills to learn when you are a beginner. Many students drop out of training and go to work in a different welding shop. It is because they don’t know what pipe welding can do for them.
Here are a few reasons why you might want to become a pipe welder or pipefitter:
1. Master welding
Pipe welding can open the door to other types of welding, like structural welding, like a master key. If you can learn to weld a pipe, you can weld almost anything. Welding is in itself a difficult skill to learn. If you want to work in other fields, it will be easier if you know how to weld pipes, but not the other way around.
2. Different countries have a wide range of industries
Welders do have a lot of opportunities in the oil and gas industry, but skilled pipe welders are also needed to maintain the steel pipes used in industrial scaffolding in water treatment plants and sewer systems. Employers in many different fields like to hire people who have experience and knowledge in a wide range of industries and fields. This can open many doors for you not just in your own country.
If you like to travel, pipe welding can be a great job because pipe welders often move to different places around the world. There are jobs available in the U.S., Germany, parts of Africa, South America, and many other places.
3. Job that pays well and lasts a long time
Pipefitters are in high demand, and that’s not likely to change in the near future, so they’re not likely to be out of work. According to official and institutional data, like that from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a pipe welder’s annual salary is between 32,000 and 45,000 € in Europe and almost $50,000 in the US.
4. Travelling
Pipewelders are needed all over the world, but especially in really remote places where pipelines aren’t really looked after or supervised. This gives you the chance to visit places with extreme weather, like Alaska or Iceland, but you have to be willing to go to some of these places on your own to do your welds.
5. A lot of information
When it comes to pipe-welding, it’s not all about the welding bead. You need to know about everything else that goes along with it. Things like the weather, where the pipe is put, what will go through it, and even how the bead is cleaned afterward are very important in this field. Quality checks are very strict, and everything around the weld needs to be carefully looked at.