Pipe welding is agreed by several experts to be one of the most difficult skills when learning to weld. Many students quit the training and move to work in another welding works unaware of the benefits and advantages pipe welding can bring them.
Here are some benefits of becoming a pipe welder or pipefitter:
1.Master welding
Like a master key, pipe welding can open the door to the rest of the welding types like structural welding. That is because, in general it requires a high skill level, so if you learn to weld a pipe, you can weld almost anything. Becoming a pipe welder will make it easier if you want to continue learning to work in other sectors but it does not work vice versa.
2. Wide range of industries in different countries
It’s true that the oil & gas sector offers several opportunities for welders but skilled pipe welders are also required in water treatment plants and sewer systems to maintain the steel pipes used in industrial scaffolding. Gaining insight and knowledge into many different industries and fields is attractive to employers in many different industries and can open up many doors not only in your country.
If you enjoy traveling, pipe welding can be an excellent career path since pipe welders frequently move around to different locations worldwide. There are employment opportunities in the United States, Germany, parts of Africa, South America and plenty of other areas.
3. Long-term and well-paid career
The ongoing demand for pipefitters isn’t likely to dissipate any time in the near future, so they aren’t likely to be unemployed. According to official and institutional data, such of those from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the salaries of pipe welders are around 32.000 to 45.000 € annually in Europe and almost $50,000 in USA.
4. Travelling
Pipewelders are required all around the world, and more specifically they tend to be required in really remote places where pipelines are not really cared for or supervised. This brings the possibility of knowing places with extreme weather conditions like Alaska or Iceland, but it also requires the dedication of going to some of these places on your own to perform your welds.
5. Extensive Knowledge
When it comes to pipewelding, not everything is about the welding bead, you need to extend your knowledge to everything related to it. Features like the weather, the place where the pipe is placed, the content that will go through it and even postcleaning for the bead are crucial in this sector. Quality controls are really strict, and they need to make sure everything around the weld has been carefully analyzed.
