“The American Welding Society predicts there will be a 200,000 (person) shortage of certified welders by 2020.” -- Mike Taylor

WILMINGTON -- If you want to learn how to weld at Cape Fear Community College, you’d best sign up early. Each of its three welding programs has a waiting list, and their popularity shows no signs of abating.

CFCC’s welding students, who range in age from 17 to 50-plus, hail from all walks of life -- high school students, high school and college graduates, career changers and retirees. While some students take the program for fun, most want to gain a skill that leads to a good job.

Welding is that job, according to Mike Taylor, the CFCC Welding Department’s lead instructor.

“There’s a great future in welding,” Taylor said. “The American Welding Society predicts there will be a 200,000 shortage of certified welders by 2020.”

Welding jobs are available in a variety of industries, including construction; manufacturing; mining; aerospace; and automotive, railcar, and ship building.

And they pay well. Beginning welders earn $13 to $15 an hour. After two to five years of experience, with overtime and per diem pay for travel, they can earn $75,000 a year, Taylor said.

“The sky’s the limit, and salaries are going to go up because there’s so much demand,” Taylor contends.

Like most welding programs, CFCC’s gives students the skills to obtain an entry level position upon graduation. But what makes CFCC’s welding program stand out is the dedication Taylor and his co-teachers bring to the students -- they support them from the classroom to the job.

First, because CFCC’s welding students vary in the knowledge they bring to the program, each works at his or her own pace. That’s especially true when they’re learning to manipulate the torch and other welding devices.

The personalized instruction pays off. CFCC’s welding students become proficient, self-confident welders

“We learn something new every day, and I see myself getting better and better,” says Derek Girardot, a current CFCC welding student.

Taylor also counsels his students on interview strategies, warning them that partying the night before an interview could cost them a job.

Next, Taylor and his team do everything possible to help their students land a job -- a task made easier because of the high esteem local businesses hold for CFCC’s welding program and the relationships Taylor has built with these businesses. In fact, local companies such as Container Products Corp. and Bradford Products regularly call Taylor when they need a welder. Then, the instructors meet to determine which student is best fitted for the position.

It’s a system that works. The majority of CFCC’s welding graduates find employment upon, and sometimes before, graduation.

The promise of a bright future and instructors who do all they can to make that future happen is what draws students like Girardot to CFCC’s welding program.

“The instructors cover every aspect of stuff they know we’ll see when we’re out there,” says Girardot. “They go out of their way to help you. They want to see you succeed.”

CFCC has 60 Vocational/Technical Education programs, which include traditional vocational courses such as welding, construction, and automotive technology to newer programs such as health science, computer integrated machining, veterinarian/medical technology, and marine technology. The programs take one or two years to complete and give students the skills to pursue a specific career.

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