Certificate in Advanced Welding (level 4)

Tim Halbert repairing a sea container. Picture / Graeme Sedal

THE QUALIFICATION
Certificate in Advanced Welding (level 4)
NZ Welding School, Papakura. Campuses also in Rotorua and Tawa, Wellington
Ph: 09 298 6920
Email: NZ Welding School
Web: www.weldingschool.co.nz
Cost of course: $4090
Starting wage: $10 to $16 an hour. Trade certified welders can earn up to $50 an hour.

An acute, worldwide, long-term shortage of welders and fitters makes trainees with welding skills highly sought after.

The NZ Welding School's Certificate in Advanced Welding is a level four certificate that builds on the basics learned through the school's level three training in welding and fabrication. The course, which is 14 weeks long, is 80 per cent practical which suits people who enjoy hands-on training.

Subjects covered include understanding of safety procedures, interpretation of drawings, marking out, development and calculations, fabrication, gas and plasma cutting. A number of welding techniques are learned such as aluminium MIG welding techniques which are used in the boat building industry, stainless steel TIG welding which are important in the dairy industry and chrome-moly welding which is used for vehicle strengthening.

The certificate consists of 75 credits from the Qualifications Framework which can be credited towards a trade national certificate.

Applicants need a level three certificate in welding and fabrication skills or the equivalent or appropriate industry experience. There can be up to 60 students training at any one time. New intakes start each month so there is an ongoing movement of trainees coming and going. Graduates can enter the industry either as an apprentice or a junior employee, depending on the employer. All students are supplied with their own gear and equipment as part of the course.

The students range in age from 16 to 60. However, a good 40-50 per cent are school leavers or people who left school a few years ago; sometimes recently unemployed.

Successful trainees enter jobs at entry or apprenticeship level in areas such as engineering, construction, transport and marine. Some continue in further study towards higher qualifications such as the National Certificate in Engineering (level 4)

THE GRADUATE
Tim Halbert
Container repairer
Container Sales and Leasing Ltd
Graduated in September last year

After I finished the course, my first job was working on truck bodies for about six months and then I moved here to work on containers.

I had studied full time at the welding school doing the level three and level four certificates so I could get my stainless steel ticket. Since working here I've also got my MIG welding ticket (gas metal arc welding).

I decided to learn to weld because it looked like fun and I wanted to learn how to do it. I wanted a job where I was doing something practical, not just sitting at a desk. I would hate that. I also wanted to be working with other people.

The course got me started, teaching me the basics of welding.

We mend damaged containers off ships. There is lots of variety and I'm still learning heaps because there are many ways to weld and things to think about. There are different kinds of damage and some of the damage can't be fixed by welding, so then we do things such as riveting.

I've been interested in working on containers since I started the course and I really wanted to get a job here. It is a cool job. It is hard to explain why but it is fun and there is always plenty to do.

THE EMPLOYER
Lance Beveridge
Supervisor at Container Sales and Leasing

Tim has been with us five to six months now. When he turned up on the first day, he was ready to go with welding gear and overalls, which was great.

I think the course provides a real advantage because Tim came already knowing how to weld properly. It teaches the basics you need to get started in welding and from the beginning Tim could take on a job and finish it. Once you get experience, you can get lots more tickets.

We work on containers that come back damaged after been out to sea. We have five guys working here and on average 60 containers go through us a day so it is a busy place. Our job is to get the containers wind and water tight again. We cut them up, cutting out the damage whether it is rust or other wear and tear. It might be that a wave has come over the bow of a ship and caved in doors and walls. That happens quite frequently. We weld in new panels, posts and replacement doors.