10 Sites to Help You Become a Welding Expert

There are typically two primary stages in a welder’s career: the first stage in which he or she wants to learn how to get into welding and that later stage when the person has grasped the basics and wants to know how to become a welding expert.

Whichever stage you happen to be in right now, there are vocational training sites to help you move closer to your goals. Each of the following ten websites brings something to the table for the serious-minded welding novice or an advanced beginner who wants to find out how to become a certified welding expert.

Here are ten sites, in no particular order, that can offer resources for you as you discover how to become a welder:

1. American Welding Society (AWS)

The American Welding Society offers educational opportunities that include online courses. These learning initiatives cover topics from welding basics to technology updates. Here is the current list of available courses:

AWS also offers several certification programs that recognize and document expertise and knowledge in specific welding-related disciplines:

2. Integrative Staffing Group

Integrative Staffing Group works in light industrial and general labor staffing. They have comprehensive welding information on their website that is geared toward showing people how to get into welding. Beginners can learn about the training and certification process that is required to become a welder, and what a welder’s daily responsibilities typically are. Learning, understanding, and practicing the important skills for this trade will set you on a course to become an expert welder.

If you are in the market for a welding job, they can help both new and experienced welders with job opportunities, depending on where they live or are willing to relocate.

3. Vocational Training HQ

For anyone looking to take their welding career to the next level, Vocational Training HQ offers their “Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming a Certified Welder.” This guide will show you the educational steps that will lead you to becoming an expert welder.

If you’re on the fence about deciding if a welding career is right for you, the site provides lots of information about overall job satisfaction, average salary, job growth outlook, and what kinds of skills are required for the job.

According to their site, Vocational Training HQ has the vision to make vocational training more accessible, affordable, and possible for today’s generation.

4. Welding Champs

Welding Champs offers yet another step-by-step comprehensive guide on how to get into welding or how to become a welding expert. There are sections on the following:

Welding materials including steel, stainless steel, aluminum, and other materials
Getting practical experience
The importance of practicing
Tips on getting your first job>
How to get certification
How much you can make as a welder

One insight from the site that could be helpful to welders at every level:

“Although the principles of welding are black and white and not too tricky to learn, the outworking of manual welding is a unique skill requiring development. It is based upon the feeling, sound, and sight of the welding process, which is not something picked up overnight.” (Weldingchamps.com)

5. Indeed.com

The massive job site Indeed.com has an easy-to-read article called How to Become a Welder in 6 Steps. This article lays out detailed instructions on how to research different types of welding jobs, where to begin your welding education, earning a welding certificate, and gain hands-on experience in the field. These steps lead to the ultimate goal of becoming a certified, professional welder.

Another section titled, “What types of welding are available?” lists the different welding methods—arc, TIG, MIG, hyperbaric, and oxyacetylene--with a brief description of each.

This site is a good source for those wanting to know how to become a welder.

Two men welding a piece of metal

6. WikiHow

WikiHow is known for its step-by-step instructive “how-to” guides. The company claims that “the average wikiHow article has been edited by 23 people and reviewed by 16 people.” The 12-step guide on how to become a welder appears to be quite thorough.

There are three parts to the guide:

Learning to Weld
Getting the Proper Certifications
Finding Welding Jobs

The guide comes with illustrations used to “simplify the complex,” and the instructional material shows the path starting at novice welder and continuing toward how to become an expert welder.

7. Fixit Man Blog

The philosophy of the Fixit Man Blog is to dispense useful information presented in a way that motivates readers to take action. How to Become a Certified Welder| A Field with a Ton of Opportunity consists of ten chapters designed to break down each step of how to become a welder. ?

This is a wide-ranging article that describes what welders do and what a welding career is like. These points will help you understand if you have what it takes to become a professional in the welding field. The blog explains what education and certifications are required and where to get them with alist of some of the top-ranked welding schools in the country.

8. Beginner Welding Guide

This welding guide, 13 Surefire Ways to Improve Your Stick Welding Skills, targets those welders who already know the fundamentals of welding but want to improve their techniques and learn how to become a welding expert. Unlike many of the other guides in this list, this guide is less about obtaining your certifications and more about how to improve your hard skills as a welder. These tips pertain to the finer points of understanding your welding machine such as when to choose between AC and DC current, amperage settings for your electrode, knowing the correct arc length, rod angle, and rod tip movements, and other important welding factors.

9. Welders Lab

Advertised as the welding blog that provides “the information you need to become a successful welder,” Welders Lab’s 15 Tips on How You Can Improve Your Weld Quality Today is aimed at welders just starting, those looking to start their own welding business, and everyone in between. This article provides an excellent list of tips that you can practice every time you weld.

If your goal is to learn how to become a welding expert, these 15 tips should help you improve your weld quality almost immediately. From choosing the optimal settings on your machine to advanced welding techniques, you’ll get plenty of pointers to level up your skills.

10. The Welder

Another site that is geared toward becoming a better welder is The Welder, an offshoot of The Fabricator. Its informative and technical How to Improve Your Welds: Helpful hints for GMAW is divided into sections such as “Welding Parameters” and “Welding Manipulation Techniques.”

Here you can get highly technical tips that will help you incorporate the science of welding into your skills. This article also provides in-depth information about the anatomy of a welding machine and how to get the best results for the task at hand.

This site is designed for the serious craftsman who loves welding and wants to learn how to become a welding expert.