Materials Technician (Welders) Questions

[CanadianStrong]

I am currently on my way to becoming a materials technician full time and am going to college for welding before basic training in the forces. I just have a few questions for anyone who is heavily into the welding side:

Does going to college before joining give me an advantage other than knowledge? (AKA skip certain courses or the whole of the welding specific course)
Does getting process and position tickets give me an advantage or boost?
Can you get your Red Seal while working as a Mat Tech? Or other tickets?
I have also heard about more advanced courses such as TIG and more complicated processes and I am wondering how best to get those opportunities?
How does the transition back to civilian go after my years go? Do all my skills and certs transfer over or do i need to start at square one?

Thank you ahead of time to anyone who can help me out,
Thank You.

 

[BrewsKampbell]

I'm not a Mat Tech but I had considered going that route as I am a Journeyman/Red Seal welder. My response is based on information given by the recruiting office when I was getting back in last year, so if its incorrect an actual Mat Tech can chime in. When speaking with the recruiting centre I was told holding my Journeyman and Red Seal in welding would allow me to have a portion of the QL3 course written off. How much they didn't say and I didn't ask as this wasn't really a trade I wanted but was listed as my third choice.

After your QL5 you can apply for your Journeyman (at least in Alberta, I don't know about other provinces, see links below for more information). Once you have your Journeyman you're able to go in and write the Red Seal exam.

Link for trade equivalences (AB): https://tradesecrets.alberta.ca/experiencedworkers/recognized-trade-certificate/

You can select the trade then select DND in the issuing jurisdiction and it will tell you what trade and QL level is equivalent to a Journeyman.

Information on hiring military trades people: https://tradesecrets.alberta.ca/sources/pdfs/forms/military_trades.pdf

This is all Alberta as that's where I did my trades time so I know more about their system but once you have a Red Seal its good for all of Canada (minus, of course, Quebec). I would assume its probably the same system for the other provinces but I can't confirm. Alberta makes it a fairly easy process.

 

[octovanyo]

Hello,

I think you might get better results if you post this in a different section of the forums. This part of the forum is only for people who just signed up for an account and thus is unlikely to have anyone who can effectively answer your questions.

octovanyo

 

[Pitohui]

I am currently on my way to becoming a materials technician full time and am going to college for welding before basic training in the forces. I just have a few questions for anyone who is heavily into the welding side:

Does going to college before joining give me an advantage other than knowledge? (AKA skip certain courses or the whole of the welding specific course)
Does getting process and position tickets give me an advantage or boost?
Can you get your Red Seal while working as a Mat Tech? Or other tickets?
I have also heard about more advanced courses such as TIG and more complicated processes and I am wondering how best to get those opportunities?
How does the transition back to civilian go after my years go? Do all my skills and certs transfer over or do i need to start at square one?

Thank you ahead of time to anyone who can help me out,
Thank You.

If you're getting the college degree or certificate out of your own pocket before joining then it would have an advantage over untrained applicants in the recruiting process and can give you a signing bonus.
Having the CWB/DOL tickets have no value in the military, different jurisdictions, on the other hand it would add little to boost your chances of being recruited as it would add experience to your background (except SMAW, FCAW on mild steel, that experience would be a given with the certificate/degree).
If all your experience is mild steel SMAW and FCAW I would suggest to get some experience in GTAW, GMAW and MCAW, welding different alloys and using different filler metals so when the opportunity comes down to your level for advanced training it would give you an edge if those doing the selection learn you have experience in the processes they are looking to make specialists in.