You can attend welding machine trade technical schools that offer a certificate in gas metal or shielded metal arc welding to help in the construction or repair of ships, offshore platforms and pipelines.
To work in deep sea contract positions it will require that you have experience as a commercial diver, if not you can always apply to a commercial diving school.
Ocean Science Career Opportunities
Wet welding is part of the ocean science and offshore engineering industry. Your job will require you to work below the ocean using scuba gear to inspect, repair, remove, or install equipment and structures.
Depending on who you work for or the location of the company your job classification as a underwater welder can also include such job titles as salvage diver, scuba diver and marine diver.
In either case you will still operate similar power and hand tools, such as drills, torches, and welding equipment. There is also a need for workers who operate laser cutters or laser-beam machines.
The American welding society (AWS) has a list of accredited underwater welding schools with a mission to support welding education and technology.
Welding academic training
Some of the academic courses you can expect to learn are in the areas of metal joint design, voltage power, and semi-automatic welding.
In the case of metallurgy science you will learn how to evaluate welded metals with ultrasound tests as well as gain knowledge about stainless steel, mild steel and aluminum alloy welding.
The benefits of earning an associates degree is that your training will be more in dept covering things such as pipe and plate welding along with repairing manufacture welding equipment.
Gaining skills in welding equipment maintenance, gas tungsten arc welding, flux colored arc welding, shielded metal arc welding and welding safety practices will give you an edge and qualify you for top paying positions.
Welding Safety Guidelines
If you choose this type of profession remember that it is dangerous and it is important to work in a well ventilated area to avoidwelding health hazards such as inhalation of zinc oxide fumes and gases.
Follow the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidelines by wearing goggles and masks with a protective shield to prevent burns and eye injuries.
As a career counselor working with students many of them want to know which occupations pay the highest salaries with the least amount of experience or education.
I can understand why many people would like to spend the least amount of time training for their dream job, especially if one is out of work and needs to update their skills for better employment opportunities.
My recommendation is to find a quality 2-year college that offers an associates degree or certificates in welding technology. This will give you a good foundation to build upon.
Underwater welding job openings
The types of employers that hire precision instrument and equipment repair graduates are usually in the automotive manufacturing sectors, oil rig refineries, military construction, and metal fabrication shops.
Advancement in technology has lead to the use of robots for welding, brazing, soldering, or for heat treating of metal components.
The upside is that robots can not do everything so there is still a need for monitoring by a welding machine operator where your job duties include such things as setting up, and operating soldering or welding machines.
Once you graduate from school you can start your job search on the web with many online employment boards listing of continuous recruitment for divers at the Oceaneering Import located in Morgan City Louisiana.
The company works with the defense and aerospace as a global oilfield provider of engineered services to the offshore oil and gas industry. So with a focus on deepwater applications they will know exactly what employers will expect.
