In my recent interaction with Weld-Ed, I came across an interesting resource: A graphic representation of potential future professions for prospective welders.
To represent these professions, they created a tree whose branches extend high into the sky. As you can see, there are six primary branches from which every other career stems:
- Welding
- Management
- Education
- Sales
- Inspection
- Engineering
Branches of Opportunity
The first branch might be a little redundant, seeing how the entire tree is focused on the subject. I probably would have renamed it “laborer” or something, though that name seems a little derogatory. This category is definitely what most people think of when they think of welding careers.
And this branch has a bit of a light load. What’s really missing?
Underwater welders (commercial divers), of course!
I really like what they did with the inspection section; often, Certified Welding Inspectors (CWI) get passed off as a simple, quick task to critique other people’s metal projects. There’s a lot more that goes into inspections, and it often requires many minds with different areas of specialty.
Education has a special place in my heart, as it does for Weld-Ed. They expanded here for the various levels of welding learning, from high school all the way into the professional world.
One other thing: I think those treeroots have a lot of potential: What kinds of symbolism could be assigned there? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
