NDT Jobs and Career Discussion
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Interested in NDT as a career
Interested in NDT as a career
Hello all, I recently heard about this trade through a family member. I’ve been looking into it for the past couple days and I have a few concerns. It appears there aren’t many hands on opportunities. I’ve spent my first 5 years out of high school working different construction related jobs. Im currently in a union trade and am not in love with my location or the trade.
NDT sounds like a fun and exciting trade that provides a well paying future. Im looking for something non typical and exciting like NDT. Now I have a few questions about this trade and I thank you for any response.
1. How much daily hands on construction, equipment use, hand and power tool use, and general labor can I find with this trade? I would prefer a mostly hands on job.
2. How long does it take to reach a level 1 tech? And can I expect to make livable money my first 2 years in the industry? Liveable meaning above $20 an hour
3. How long does it take to become a level 3 technician and how much class time?
4. What environments can I expect to work in? Is there any aspect of this trade that would put me outside frequently?
5. Finally, what is the cost to get through all the certifications?
- 1 Reply
This is an international forum, where on the planet are you?
The industry has many different aspects and routes of entry, if you already are trade based you can take a weekly course at a local college and get into the labour end of X-Ray assistant or Ultrasonic thickness surveys, ground penetrating radar operator, drone operator etc.
If you have the time there are 1 year NDT foundations courses at various colleges in Canada, USA I can point you to, programs in Canada are about 12,000 CAD for the full year. Other 2 year technology programs such as Welding Engineering Tech, Materials Tech etc get you well on your way for the higher end of the market sector.
https://www.nde-ed.org/ is a good resource to start on the material and basic understanding.
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