Welder Dave
Senior Member
You have to learn how to do the job right before you try to do the job fast. The same when trying to take short cuts. Very few people can do both! Hopefully you have a good foreman that realizes you're new and understands it takes time to develop skills. I worked in a shop where the plant manager had a meeting on the shop floor and said we don't push you too hard because we can't afford mistakes and then showed some bolts that the welds broke when they went to bolt a large vessel on a skid. He said this is unacceptable and it was. They built oilfield equipment mostly on skids and would have to assemble everything to make it sure it goes together and then take it apart for shipping. The bolts are welded from the underside of large I beams because you can't get under the skid to hold them. The bolts barely had any weld on them and the slightest little bump knocked them off. Then they had to take a bunch of stuff off the skid so they could raise it up to reweld the bolts. An expensive screw up from someone too lazy and not taking the time to do it right.
I worked in another shop and had only had my pressure ticket for about 6 month's. I was on night shift and never complained about the jobs I was given. The foreman thought it would be good experience for me to do some pipe spooling. I worked beside another guy who had 6 or 7 years experience and was obviously faster. I'd check all my root passes with a flashlight to make sure I had full penetration because they had to pass X-ray. Experienced guys will only check the odd one. I had very few repairs but was quite a bit slower. Foreman always told me as long as your x-rays pass you're good. Speed comes with experience. Well one day this other welder said he wanted to talk to me. He was questioning how much I had done that night. I was a little upset and asked if the day shift foreman had said anything and he said yes. Before the end of the shift I asked the night shift foreman about it and he said the day shift foreman never said a thing. He again asked if my x-rays passed and I said yes. He said to ignore the other welder and they were happy with my work.
Fast forward a couple month's to early December and they announce they have to lay some people off temporarily while they wait for blueprints. The other welder who had been with the company at least a year before I was hired was laid off. I ended up getting a Christmas bonus! The laid off workers were called back about the 2nd week of January and were told unfortunately if you were laid off you won't be receiving a bonus! I was holding the biggest grin in you could imagine. Oh I'm sure this idiot trying to get me in trouble had a lot to do with him getting laid off. He even tried to change employee numbers with me on the time cards because my number matched his birthday. Payroll told him no!!! I found out later he was trying to get me kicked out of pipe spooling because they had hired a friend of his and he wanted him to down there.
Moral of the story is do the best job you can and get along with your co-workers and especially the foreman and if they're any good they'll look out for you. Ask questions and don't be afraid to ask for help, just don't be a brown noser and try to make yourself look better by putting other people down. A good foreman will see right through these types.
I worked in another shop and had only had my pressure ticket for about 6 month's. I was on night shift and never complained about the jobs I was given. The foreman thought it would be good experience for me to do some pipe spooling. I worked beside another guy who had 6 or 7 years experience and was obviously faster. I'd check all my root passes with a flashlight to make sure I had full penetration because they had to pass X-ray. Experienced guys will only check the odd one. I had very few repairs but was quite a bit slower. Foreman always told me as long as your x-rays pass you're good. Speed comes with experience. Well one day this other welder said he wanted to talk to me. He was questioning how much I had done that night. I was a little upset and asked if the day shift foreman had said anything and he said yes. Before the end of the shift I asked the night shift foreman about it and he said the day shift foreman never said a thing. He again asked if my x-rays passed and I said yes. He said to ignore the other welder and they were happy with my work.
Fast forward a couple month's to early December and they announce they have to lay some people off temporarily while they wait for blueprints. The other welder who had been with the company at least a year before I was hired was laid off. I ended up getting a Christmas bonus! The laid off workers were called back about the 2nd week of January and were told unfortunately if you were laid off you won't be receiving a bonus! I was holding the biggest grin in you could imagine. Oh I'm sure this idiot trying to get me in trouble had a lot to do with him getting laid off. He even tried to change employee numbers with me on the time cards because my number matched his birthday. Payroll told him no!!! I found out later he was trying to get me kicked out of pipe spooling because they had hired a friend of his and he wanted him to down there.
Moral of the story is do the best job you can and get along with your co-workers and especially the foreman and if they're any good they'll look out for you. Ask questions and don't be afraid to ask for help, just don't be a brown noser and try to make yourself look better by putting other people down. A good foreman will see right through these types.
