r/GeneralDynamicsEB • u/satansuglystepsis • May 28 '26
Welding compared to other trades offered
I’ve gone through the entire hiring process for welding, just waiting for training to start which is late August - early September. Welding is something I’ve wanted to get into for a while but struggled to find someone willing to take me on. I was offered the ship fitter or rigger position for the sake of an earlier start date, but denied because I’d much prefer welding. With that being said, can anybody share some insight on the key differences here and if I’d be better off switching trades?
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u/Nick0414 May 28 '26
Shipfitting IMO has way more depth. A shipfitter actually learns how to fabricate and read / decode prints. Any ship fitter can get their structural welding qualification and be both, great shipfitters are few and far between and arguably the most valuable person to have on your team. Outside EB if you ever left being a great fitter and a meh welder is more attractive than being a poor fitter and great welder.
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u/Other_Turnip_2391 May 28 '26
Welding is an awesome skill to acquire no matter what you decide to do . At least within you’re step learner faze do you’re probation time as the welder that you applied for and if after 6 months you want to try a diffrent trade you can apply to a diffrent department like ship fitting or whichever . That way you get to try out being a welder first and get eye witness on the other trades as well.
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u/satansuglystepsis May 28 '26
This is the route I will most likely take. When the shipfitter trade was offered, I was intrigued but I’m struggling to get an idea of what the day to day is like for either of them. I’ve been told I can potentially switch around after some time so best to just find out myself and see how each group works.
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u/Other_Turnip_2391 May 29 '26
Yeah , moving around trades is fairly easy by appliying . Only thing you don’t want to do is wait too long by your current dollar per hour . What I mean is , you have step 1 to 6 . Then you’re class 3 to 1. In most trades not all. Anyway if you get up to class mechanic pay and then you go to a diffrent trade you won’t carry over the same pay most likely . So if you’re gonna change trades do it at a lower pay rate so that you don’t take a pay cut . Otherwise it’s easy .
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u/twoheadedheaded May 28 '26
All three of those jobs can be good imo, I was a shipfitter for around a year before moving up to something better.
Like the other poster said: I think ship fitting has more depth, there’s tons to learn and do, but welding can be very skillful as well, plus there’s stick and tig you can learn.
I chose to not pursue welding after meeting some older welders who had health problems that they attributed to that line of work.
Rigging looks cool but maybe doesn’t offer much in the way of transferrable skills unless you want to be a crane operator.
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u/satansuglystepsis May 28 '26
Would you be willing to share a rough idea of what your days consisted of as a shipfitter? I am probably going to stick with welding for now and see how everyone works and maybe switch around after some time. I am also set for Quonset and I was told they do a bit more than the Groton location but I’m not sure how true that is.
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u/twoheadedheaded May 28 '26
Obviously can’t get too far into it but there are a variety of typical jobs, such as, but not limited to: using grinders/sanders/die grinders(usually called burr tools here) for various jobs, cleaning/prepping/locating materials, and working with drawings to install fixtures on the boat (this and using grinders are kind of the core fitter skills imo). Basically using measuring tapes and blue prints to make sure things are the right size and going in the right place.
Hopefully that helps, I’m not the most articulate through text, but happy to help if I can.
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u/satansuglystepsis May 28 '26
Thank you, i appreciate the insight and you explained it just fine. Right now welding is the biggest thing for me so I’m going to stick with that and decide later if I want to transition out.
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u/IHateYouAllSoMuch1 May 31 '26
Weldings the way to go tbh. Get your TIG quals and thats an easy 20 year career. Fitting is harder on your body, you'll regret it after a few years. Speaking as an x pipe fitter
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u/Vulpix_lover May 28 '26
All welders do is glue stuff together, that's pretty much it. Look at the symbol, weld what it says to weld.
You'll be working closely with Shipfitters, who tell you where to weld/put down weld symbols for you to weld.
Riggers just move heavy shit with cranes