The Application Process- At “HOME”
The application process was all done from home but seemed to take quite awhile. Consider allowing a good 5-6 hours of your “time” to be used up for this. Maybe more.
Paperwork
The paperwork required was typical as far as the application went but was time-consuming. (I have yet to understand why a “standardized” electronic form of a résumé cannot be developed that is standard. Of courses the same goes with medical records.)
All the paperwork was either performed online or was a .pdf document that I could send back when completed. Understand that you will need good ID documents such as a passport or valid birth certificate (raised seal intact) in addition to your regular driver’s license and SS card.
Resume.
The start of it all is a resume. There are specific things listed for the positions that are ship related only and you need to make sure you have those skills and experiences listed. The welding test is hard. Don’t think that getting your foot in the door is the key. You need to be able to do what you say as a minimum! I imagine there are quite a few applicants just because of the $$ being offered.
References
My recruiter let me know that the references I give would need to be able to speak to my welding abilities. Make sure you have good contact information for your references. I had a couple that were difficult to get in touch with which slowed down the process.
Online Forms
There is information you may have to fill out online from your recruiter. Aerotek had a website where I had to do a few things along the way for the process. Other agencies may be different.
You should have a computer. Doing some of these things from a handheld device could be challenging.
Communication
Being contacted by email or phone easily is suggested if you’re in a hurry.
My recruiter was very good about being available when I called with a question and letting me know if anything was needed on my end. This was a very slow process for me and for a 2 month period, I was somewhat hesitant to take on any other projects that I may have had to leave unfinished.
I received actual confirmation that I was going to Newport News a week before it happened!
Background check
There will be an extensive background check after a review of your résumé is completed and references verified. DO NOT LIE on any background information. If there is something you are unsure of, let it be known. If I could remember it, I wrote it down! (I may have forgotten about some of that stuff I did in 5th grade!)
Drug screen
The drug screen is a hair follicle test. The hair sample may be taken from any place that was hairy. It should be long enough to provide a 90-day history, I think.
Should you be a competitive swimmer with no hair, let your recruiter know as that would be a problem!
If you need a way to “cheat” the drug test, understand that it probably won’t work, and you will have wasted a great deal of time on all the previous paperwork and discussion.
The Yard probably has a apprenticeship program but does not have enough people for the demand. I felt I was a good welder and always thought you tested for the work you would be doing. The company to save on money should have let you practice a few days to get comfortable before the test. Performance and passage I believe would have gone up. The government is loosing dollars on this and the not being able to come back and test again is wrong. There are good welders out there.
I agree. Though for $50.00 an hour, some may have the perception that an individual can “do anything” but the truth is that the skills and abilities among welders vary widely among industries, companies, and individuals.
The guy that has spend his life welding on parts for NASA is NOT ready to climb in a boiler and reach 3 tubes deep in an economizer.
I have been supervising/administering welder tests for years. Not any to 248, but I’m familiar with the content. Its a shame that so much time is put into the processing of people to only have this as the screening point.
The shipyard does have an apprenticeship program and it takes 5 years. To get journeyman’s. To get into the apprenticeship program you have to apply for a position through the website and go through their onboarding process by applying for a job that puts you in it.
Good effort on your part. The last time I did serious pipe work it was ASME sec IX and sec VIII
B31.1 and B31.3. They gave me 2 days to practice withering best guys. I passed Alum Stainless and Steel from 1/16 to unlimited wall thickness. I learned all about pre heat n post heat. The company was not union. But moved from Ma to Louisiana
Some practice time would have helped me but Im sure a few people just walked in cold and passed…I just didn’t have that level of skill.
Have a good one!
Was the tig a scratch start or how did you get the arc started?
It was a start stop switch on the Tig Torch. High Frequency Start but no remote amperage control.
They set the machine at 85 amps and you could not adjust it.
How many tests were there?
I don’t know. I was looked out on the 1st one. :). Youd have to ask a good Welder.
I once worked there as a structural welder. Conditions were not too awesome. I also took the pipe test and busted. In the Navy shipyard industry, those exact tests and fail rates are common.
The Newport news shipyard has probably the highest turnover rate of any welding related place of work I have ever been, simply put, because it is government subsidized and they can afford it. Also, they have a HUGE training program, so there is literally no need to hire guys off the street. Add to that a handful of undeserved arrogance, and there you have it.
Most of the welders that work for ingalls itself can’t pass a 3g. Ugh.
Last note: I quit without notice and was not allowed to come back for 7 years.
In other words, besides the 50 an hour, you didn’t miss much. Besides that, in Texas in the same year you could make 45 with 150 a day per diem welding pipe.
There is a 1/2” copper nickel socket test to I worked for them in Mississippi and I had to take 10 pipe test and 2 socket weld test before I was hired on I’m actually going to Virginia next week to take the test all over again on the stainless socket test the best way to pass it is to fuse the root and add just a little wire on the cap wash the socket use the metal off of it to fill her up and you will pass every time be sure to use scotch bright on the pipe socket and wire helps a lot
Copper Nickel is difficult in Socket Welds. When in Navy welding school, those were common failures in my class. Not legal…but we did the same thing. A bur bit before the root helped. With all the high nickel alloys and copper, the arc has to touch the base metal. No wetting out. Let us know how it goes.