My Big Welding Audition
I recently took an aptitude and welding test for a new union. We started with a three-hour weld test, had a quick lunch, then moved on to a two-hour aptitude test that was followed by individual interviews. It was a long, mentally exhausting day that required my best performance, focus and composure in an environment that I had never been in.
On my drive home I had a laugh and a sigh of relief. Looking back, I realized that I am actually very well trained for these types of situations. I dub that day: My Big Welding Audition. With a background in performance arts and having been a dancer from a very young age (my mom signed me up for kinder ballet at 2 years old), I have attended probably more than 300 dance/singing/performance auditions. I am quite familiar with "performance on demand" as well as the excitement (and stress) that comes along with it.
Who would have known that Broadway would have prepared me for this? I'm chuckling about it even as I write this.
The transition from theater to welding is enough to fill a short novel... It was a humbling experience in short form. To scrape by and pay the bills, I went from theater to being a cashier at a coffee shop in the morning and working weddings and events at night. When I was dipping my toe in the blue collar world, I wasn't sure what to do, what I would be good at or what I would be genuinely interested in.
I took a four-month apprenticeship course on exposure to welding and metal fabrication with The Technical Training Group in Stratford, Ontario. While in my welding co-op, I received a three-year apprenticeship as a welder. My schedule was working Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and night school twice a week. There are different ways to be an apprentice, but the night school allowed me to work, learn, still pay the bills and care for my daughter. It was a grueling schedule at times but highly rewarding. I compare it (lightly) to childbirth.
Women are equally suited to welding as men, just in different ways. There is more to welding than fusing metal with metal.
It requires attention to detail, excellent hand-eye coordination and making things look pretty and appealing to the eye. This industry also requires adaptability, stamina, dedication, perseverance, grit and tenacity. Personally, welding has been the best career move since transitioning out of theater.
I was very fortunate that I started working for a mobile welding company in a rural Southwestern Ontario setting. I worked on smaller projects like aluminum trailers all the way up to heavy equipment like dozers, excavators, tractors and timber trucks. I have helped build grain bins and install commercial grain elevators. There's been some tear downs of structural demolition, which is pretty cool too. These days I'm building boilers at an ASME code shop.
My career goals are simple: more adventure and more skills for my "toolbox." My new "Broadway" of welding is to weld on the ropes as a certified Rope Access Technician.
Extras
What have you gained from working in a male-dominated field?
1) Confidence in myself: knowing that my work stands for itself without looking for external validation
2) Better communication: by being immersed in this environment, I have also been learning the “language of men.” And my colleagues also have a chance to learn how we women communicate, how effective we can be and how we show up in collaborative spaces.
3) Life long friends: I have acquired mentors and some really genuine friendships. We stand shoulder to shoulder. We support and encourage each other on both up and down days. It's “best case Ontario.” :)
About the Author: Laurin Padolina is a Journeyman welder from Stratford, Ontario. In addition to being part of the ambassador team at Kickass Careers, she is a lead welding workshop facilitator with the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program and the Avon Maitland School Board District.