Canadian Welder/Forklift Driver/Pressman, checking in

pyr0gan

Hello everyone!

My girlfriend and I are going to be in Ireland on a one year working holiday visa, arriving in July.
I am a certified Journeyman welder in Canada, with several years of experience in manufacturing and maintenance. I can weld MIG, TIG, stick, oxy-acetylene, am very skilled with oxyfuel cutting torches and plasma cutters. I've worked with mild steel, high-carbon, stainless, you name it I can weld it. My eventual career goal is to become a welding instructor and pass on my skills and passion for joining metals.
I can drive many different types of lift trucks as well as scissor lifts, and have spent a few years working in warehouses. I have strong mechanical skills, a keen eye, strong hands and a willingness to bend my back to any task which needs doing. Most recently, I have been working at a web press running broadsheets like the Globe and Mail and Metro as well as small commercial jobs, so I know my way around a pressline.
I have many other skills besides, but foremost I would like to work as a welder. If, upon arrival, I cannot find work in my trade, I am definately willing to do anything else which will allow me to stay in Ireland.

I realize that it is not easy, quick, or painless to get hired in any country. Even in Canada I have faced many challenges in keeping my career alive since the meltdown. I am not coming to Ireland for a quick visit, I intend to stay the full year, and I am not averse to working several different jobs if that is the way it pans out.

I suppose my questions for you lot are:

Where are the major industrial areas located?
Which companies are you aware of that employ welders or forklift drivers?
How common are mobile welding operations, do you ever see trucks with welding gear in the back driving around?

If I can hunt down information on these companies and speak with someone before I fly across the Atlantic, I will be in a much better position to use my time effectively once I arrive.

Thank you for any help or insight you can offer,

- Rogan

pyr0gan

Wow, tough crowd. Ok.

This board was recommended to me by quite a few people as being a good resource- so I came here to ask my questions.
I sure hope the 90-odd reads and no replies isn't a sign of "why help the foreigner get a job when we're having a hard time finding work".

Thing is, as a well trained welder, I would be more than happy to teach people what I know in return for some friendship, a pint or two, maybe a couple of euros for consumables (not food, the welding kind of consumables).
From what I've read, the waiting lists at your post-secondary for high demand courses like welding can be fairly long. Help me help you?

gandalf

Well I read your post but know nothing about welding or associated industries and I would assume the majority here would be the same (you'll find that most are desk jockeys and techies). So its not a anti-foreigner reaction that you have hardly any responses.

One major problem that you may find is there is no real heavy industry in Ireland. I would suspect a lot of people who worked in welding were connected to the construction industry and that is more or less flat-lining at the moment with no real hope of resuscitation in the near future.

Good luck with your search though.

dan_d

No it's not a sign of not helping the foreigner...it's more that welding tends to be construction industry based...and that's dead right now.
FAS is your best bet to be honest. Try some of the job websites - jobs.ie, monster.ie. FAS have a jobs section on their site too.
I'm afraid you're coming from the one country that most irish people are leaving to!!!You guys have got away easy compared to over here. All I can suggest is to be as flexible and versatile as possible in your job hunt and best of luck.

cookiefive

Hi there,
This is the position with welding in Ireland. Since the construction industry is all but over, the only welding job you may get is in a factory or a small fabrication shop in the area you settle in when you arrive making gate's, railings, etc.

Unlike in the states where you would see a lot of mobile welding units driving around, there not as common over here, as nearly every farm has there own unit. Now the welding quality wouldn't be up to much but people over will have a go first before paying someone else to do it.

Over here you can be classed as over qualified,since a lot of employers here dont like paying to much money out. The average rate here for a factory is around 12/13 euro per hour for which the week is 39 hours .

Anyway, hope this gives you some insight, its not easy getting a job here at the moment but come over and have a Pint of the Black Stuff. Thats where you might find a job, while having a pint. It does happen.:)

AARRRGH

pyr0gan wrote: »

My girlfriend and I are going to be in Ireland on a one year working holiday visa, arriving in July.

Make sure you have enough savings with you to withstand a few months of unemployment as it's likely it will take you a while to find a job...

MagicMarker

pyr0gan wrote: »

Wow, tough crowd. Ok.

This board was recommended to me by quite a few people as being a good resource- so I came here to ask my questions.
I sure hope the 90-odd reads and no replies isn't a sign of "why help the foreigner get a job when we're having a hard time finding work".

Thing is, as a well trained welder, I would be more than happy to teach people what I know in return for some friendship, a pint or two, maybe a couple of euros for consumables (not food, the welding kind of consumables).
From what I've read, the waiting lists at your post-secondary for high demand courses like welding can be fairly long. Help me help you?

Sorry my friend, but you have picked the worst possible time to come to Ireland. Unemployment is at approx 13% right now, with thousands upon thousands of people unable to get work.

My advice to you is to bring as much money as possible and apply to everything and anything!

pyr0gan

Oh I'm aware it isn't going to be easy. Thanks for the information and support (even if you're all just faceless internet people to me right now, you're still people!)

Interesting point about being considered overqualified. Seeing as I'm constantly trying to keep a relevant, marketable skillset, it would be a shame to be passed over based on the fact that I'm trained to weld as opposed to being a labourer who is willing to weld. I'm not in it for the money, which gets me laughed at by a lot of people who think that getting out of bed for a job that pays less than 30-40$/hr CDN is a waste of time. I enjoy what I do, and as long as it can keep a roof over my head, well, I'm not greedy.

I'm not coming over broke, and I know that the timing is bad as far as unemployment goes.. Still, it hurts my heart just a little to see the optimism all but bled from a once proud nation of doers and thinkers.

Don't worry though.. I've got some tricks up my sleeve.

pyr0gan

cookiefive wrote: »

Hi there,
Over here you can be classed as over qualified,since a lot of employers here dont like paying to much money out. The average rate here for a factory is around 12/13 euro per hour for which the week is 39 hours .

Anyway, hope this gives you some insight, its not easy getting a job here at the moment but come over and have a Pint of the Black Stuff. Thats where you might find a job, while having a pint. It does happen.:)

12-13 euro would suit me just fine, man. I'm not expecting the world, just enough for food and shelter so I can enjoy the place on my time off.

turtlesdove3

MagicMarker wrote: »

Sorry my friend, but you have picked the worst possible time to come to Ireland. Unemployment is at approx 13% right now, with thousands upon thousands of people unable to get work.

My advice to you is to bring as much money as possible and apply to everything and anything!

Wise advice. Except in some countries unemployment problem is prevalent everywhere which leads to many problems.

tashiusclay

You definately haven't picked a great time to come to ireland, as regard work opportunities, but you never know your luck. As said above, apply to anything and everything and you never know your luck. Whereabouts are you planning on basing yourself during your year here?

The main thing thats missing in ireland compared to canada is an oil and gas industry, hence a lack of welding jobs from that as a start. And the huge decline in construction and infrastructure projects since the recession.

But you sound pretty flexible, so you've a good chance of finding something, you won't go hungry anyway.

I'm planning on heading to canada next year, hopefully getting work in industrial plumbing or pipe welding. Where would be the best places to consider going, i'd prefer to go pipe welding rather than plumbing if possible, but like yourself, i'll take whatever i can get!

eejoynt

you may not have considered this but good french - even Quebec French would be more useful than a welding qualification

Xiney

eejoynt wrote: »

you may not have considered this but good french - even Quebec French would be more useful than a welding qualification

very few people in Calgary speak French.

They exist but they're few and far between.