The CWB Association Welding Podcast
The CWB Association Welding Podcast
Episode 215 with Shawn Laporte and Max Ceron
The CWB Association brings you a weekly podcast that connects to welding professionals around the world and unrepresented communities as we continue to strive for a more diverse workforce. Join us as we celebrate National Volunteer Month to showcase the incredible contributions of our Chapter Executives from across Canada and globally.
"Be patient, try everything, find your niche, and make yourself valuable," is a brief glimpse into the knowledge Shawn Laporte shares from his 30-year journey through the welding industry. Our conversation with Shawn is a masterclass in career resilience, continuous learning, and the impact of mentorship. As Shawn transitioned from hands-on welding to inspection and quality assurance, he found a new purpose in guiding the next generation.
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All right, I can check. Check, I'm good. So I'm Max Duran. Max Duran, cwb Association Welding Podcast. Pod pod podcast. Today we have a really cool guest welding podcast. The show is about to begin.
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Speaker 1:Hello and welcome to another edition of the CWB Association podcast. My name is Max Ceron and I'm always all over the country and the world looking for the guests that bring you an hour of enjoyment on your easy listening day. Today we have a wonderful guest who is a friend of mine and part of my local chapter here in Saskatchewan and, as being a part of National Volunteer Month, there's going to be a great episode here with sean laporte. Sean, how are you doing? Doing well, maxing yourself? I'm doing pretty good. I was on holidays for a bit, but now I'm back and in the real world and, uh, work, work, work is less fun than I remember it at 30 years old. I don't know what. What do you think we're getting up there, man?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I have to agree, you feel the aching bones at the end of the week.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's for sure.
Speaker 3:The rebalance will take longer. Hangovers even take twice as long.
Speaker 1:Well, let's not talk about those. But, Sean, you know, thank you for being on the show. You know I met you through the local chapter here and the topic in general is going to be about volunteerism and National Volunteer Month. But let's start at the start, where I always do. Where's Sean from? Where'd you come from? Where are you born? Where's the roots?
Speaker 3:Well, I was born and raised in North Bay, ontario and lived on the outskirts of North Bay, ontario and lived on the outskirts of North Bay in a little, small little township called Chisholm Township and just outside of Blossom. My parents were my dad was blue collar and my mom was an LP nurse and I pretty well learned all doing everything with my dad hands on doing.
Speaker 3:He was a jack of all trades he was a heavy equipment operator and then I graduated from high school in Salt River on Magwin Highlands in 93. So I did do a lot of shop classes in there, more electrical side, anything else Did the school have welding? Yeah, actually it did have a welding program, had a machine shop, a carpentry shop, automotive drafting, and it still had all the good. Had a machine shop, a carpentry shop, automotive drafting, and it still had all the good shops. Like back in the day type thing. It was like in the late 90s, that's when they were starting to pull all those programs out. I had a great instructor, my electrical instructor. I remember he was awesome. He was an electrician so he would let us do offsite wiring on people's other teachers' houses, which I didn't understand why. But cheap labor, I guess.
Speaker 1:Hopefully the one burnt down is looking for a lawsuit right now.
Speaker 3:Yes, but and then we had a a great drama program and so all the local, all the shops would build all the props for it. Um, we did all the like, we did all the wiring for all the lighting, we built our own light board and everything, uh, light board, and um, we had the carpentry shop who built all the props. So it was pretty cool cool in that way. So I was able to maintain I was part of the maintenance crew on keeping that up and going. And then I went to school, originally for electronic technician down in Toronto and at Rio College, canada, but towards the end of my exams my dad had cancer and he passed right at the end of them. So I didn't finish that program, which I kind of regret because he put a lot of money and time into me for going.
Speaker 1:That's a good program too, yeah it was a great program.
Speaker 3:I don't regret not doing it, because it sure helped me with my future career in welding type thing and inspections and then in.
Speaker 3:So I took a few years off, always being good with my hands, like when I was 13. I helped my uncle build his house, rebuilt it, dug the well, put the foundation in, right up to framing all the walls and finishing everything, and so he was really my high and mentor type thing. So after that program I went and worked at a few remote camps just to get my bearings back to normal just in ontario, yeah yeah, in ontario, I was still still in ontario.
Speaker 3:Um, then, about four years after that I decided to go back to school and in 96 I know about two years, I should say um in 96 I decided to go and take the welfare program at um in kirkland lake at northern college. Um, when I was talking to my uncle and his brother they were both great carpenters and everything and I asked them I'm deciding, either go to do Victorian homes restoration at Gonquin College in Ottawa or should I go into welding and become a welder fitter. And both of them said if you want to make money back, then just go into welding and become a welder fitter. And both of them said if you want to make money back, then they said, go into welding. So that's why it's still true.
Speaker 3:But yeah, no, they were great mentors for me over the years. So they had my program in Northern college, did the pre-employment course. That's a two-year course that they have there or a one year course. It was just a one year course type program. Um, a great pro, it was a very good program. Um, my instructor was a well technologist that graduated from the school. It was kind of funny. Um, when we were doing layouts for stairs I had to show the class how to build stairs because with my carpentry background.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but it was neat having the technologist there to teach us how to do WPSs and PQRs, how to develop them. He really strongly showed us that the procedural side of it not just throwing beads down. Yeah, and that helped a lot and I got really interested in that him and har and about going into their well technologist program. But I wanted to get into the field and make money at that age, when I was in my late 20s.
Speaker 3:So then I I had to do a two-week work placement, so I asked my instructor where are some of these old guys?
Speaker 3:I wanted to learn how to weld and how to fit properly, and anyway there was a shop, a small two-brothers shop in Kirkland Lake and they did a lot of work for Macasa um Kid Rock, kid Creek, um a gold mine, a local gold mine there, and they did a lot of work for them. So I went in there and bugged him multiple times and he says, no, I don't have any work for you. And then one day it turned up and I went there the next week. Every week I kept on going to this guy and keep on bugging him for my work placement and it panned out at the end and he says, yeah, I got work next week. If you could get the time off from school, you can do your two weeks starting next week. I got a big contract coming up and I have work for you anyway. So when asked, my instructor begged him so I can do my work placement with this guy since I got my foot in the door.
Speaker 3:Anyway, it was the best work I ever done for myself is getting working with those two brothers. We built stuff and they built an underground crossword, units for the mine and everything Okay, and that was always a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it. I got to learn work with. It was a real small shop. It was a total of five guys in it and there was still the day that you bring the 40-foot sheet, you drag the 40-foot sheet into the shop with the forklift and you'll start laying it all out yeah, just get the work on right from right from plate.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, there was no plasma tables or nothing. It was by hand, neither with the little beetle doing long street cuts and all that. And we cut all our plate work out of that. So and then he was very anal on the model wastage too. He would wait, a wait at wait, uh, the wastage. At the end of the day, I've been a part of that.
Speaker 3:I've been a part of that I I thought that was the best experience in there and to this day is still real highlight of my career. Yeah, rebuilt a crosser unit down on the 5750 level in Macasa and we only had to blow one hole out of the whole project because the formers didn't put their anger bolt in the right spot. Rebuilt it all on top, on surface. We double checked our dimensions to make sure it could go go down the shaft and then down, yeah, and down.
Speaker 3:So it was a neat learning experience there. Um only I was able to work there for price during that early 2000s. So then I took a contract job with the Canadian Coast Guard as a welder there.
Speaker 1:So I got the work done In the middle of Ontario yeah, in Parrysall.
Speaker 3:So I stayed around in Ontario, prairie Sound. It was a great opportunity. It was a short contract six months but I was able to get her to go on to an icebreaker and we had to cut out the baffles to take out a piece of equipment.
Speaker 1:Down in the hall. Yeah, yeah, it was neat.
Speaker 3:It was a neat experience and all that.
Speaker 1:Now, if we go back in time to like when you first got into it, you said you like you went for electronics training. Um, you know, radio canada right from that was coming out of high school now you told me like lots of your family was in the trade, lots of the family was, like, involved in blue collar work. Were you ever at that point as a young man thinking that you may have wanted to get out of blue collar work or or not follow kind of in the same path? Because I know that that's something that happens. It has happened in a lot of households. You know a lot of blue collar parents convince their kids that being blue collar is the worst thing you could do, and it doesn't sound like it was like that in your home well, yes, it was.
Speaker 3:My dad was very much into education. He wanted me to do better than him. He got hurt in a younger age, hurt his back in an injury at work. Um, he fell off the the cable, um steps on the greeter and instead of letting himself fall he grabbed onto it and he ruptured his lower barabrace on his lower back. So he was dealing with that for a lot of years. And a lot of my cousins were going into engineering. I had one cousin is electrical engineer, another one went went to school for chemical engineer. So my dad wanted the pride thing to push me into that kind of field. He wanted me to go and work on working on office in a cubicle and not get hurt. Then he realized when I was at Radio College, canada, he realized when I was at real college canada, um, he realized that I had add over the years and they never diagnosed me until I was in high school and just did everything for me I was able to get past that way.
Speaker 3:Um, when I went to real college can I was able to get a teacher. A teacher seen me struggling with the verbal communication tests and all that and he went up to the dean there and said to him that he wanted me to get my stuff vocal because I was barely passing the exams. But he seen me in the labs acing them like I was flying through the labs quicker than everybody else in my class. He knew that I was very hands-on and all that and his wife was also add um, so he understood what the struggle I was having. So I started getting all my stuff read to me and dictate, which made me help me lots. But again, being in high school, being bullied for that, being pulled out of the, the, the help to get all the help all the time. You kind of feel bad on that, not being an older student, but back to your saying that, uh, for your parents not wanting you to do that. He was strong not to about that, but he realized that I was very good with stuff with my hands.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it would be a waste.
Speaker 3:Waste of talent too as well, but he just wanted me to do better than him. That was the key thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, for sure. And then, once you like, you said your dad passed away when you were fairly young. Yeah, yeah, for sure. And then, once you like, you said your dad passed away when you were fairly young, yeah, you know, the rest of your family supporting you as you kind of. You know, I'm going to go off into this now. I'm going to become a welder, I'm moving up to this town, I'm going over to this job.
Speaker 1:You know, how was the family support? How did the people feel about your career as it started to develop?
Speaker 3:My aunt and uncle. They really seen it in me when I was younger and they always had big debates with my dad on it. Why not let him keep in the trains and everything? Yeah um, but they were my uncle, who I helped build, my uncle gilbert that who I helped build his house. He was my that who I helped build his house. He was my big supporter on my aunt Sue.
Speaker 1:He was team Sean.
Speaker 3:Yeah, big time. And my mom was very supportive too as well. So she really she, she's another big supporter. She was in her 49. She went back to university and get her master's social work in four years. She went back to university and get her master's social work in four years. Wow. So like there was people that in my life that taught me how to work hard and you can exceed quite well, but hard work and now we're catching back up to where you were in in your, in your history.
Speaker 1:You're, you know you're picking up contracts. Now you're doing a little bit of the travel. That isn't necessarily the normal for welders. Like a lot of welder, fitters dream of these really cool jobs. They dream of wanting to do cool stuff, but they don't necessarily get out there and do it right, because it isn't necessarily easy and it's scary. You know um, to be pushed kind of past your skills, because I find that whenever you get sent out to a new job in the middle of nowhere, you don't really know what you're getting into and you're going to have to be pretty wily about how it gets done. So you know how did you like those type of jobs where you're going out there and having to figure out these. You know how you're going to get this done.
Speaker 3:Actually I loved it honestly um, I worked in shutdowns up in kid creek in timmons, ontario, for for right up to before I moved out to scatch one in 2000. Um, we did uh like we at kid creek's uh copper foundry. There we put a whole new bottom dish on the furnace and that was neat, doing all that construction work or just doing the last job I was in ontario I was working on and always it was um grand forest products, but miller, I think might be I'm not sure who took over them anyway now, but they were put in a OSB recovery system. That was my major job I did and they always kept on pushing me as being lead, all my formants type thing. They really seen that I like to do stuff and organize stuff and everything and they put me on these lead jobs. But I was still quite independent. I'd rather been left alone and fit by myself type deal than babysitting a bunch of people yeah, yeah, just leave me alone, let me get the job done.
Speaker 3:Yes, and it was I found in my career by. Yeah sure, in my resume it showed that I had a bunch of uh employment areas, but each place I learned something new which made me better into my craft. Um, like, just doing simple rigging and foolish rigging type deal, Just get the job done. So today's standards is not quite well. We would have been written off and sent away from that call quite easily.
Speaker 1:What are you guys doing? Hey, man, Safety's come a long way in my career, and that's only 30 years, man. Yes.
Speaker 3:I agree. And then also a lot of the foreman's. They sent me to deal with the engineers when stuff was wrong At my younger age, type thing to debate with them who was in the wrong, and all that on a contract, and a lot of times they would send a junior engineer to me and all that, and then I had to somewhat tune them in, type thing when stuff's going wrong, what's like. One example we're putting a big stair tower up and they wanted me to put a landing with staircase and there is a steam line going across this old plant and I said, sure, I could put your staircase there. And he says, well, why can't you? And I says, well, I don't think they're going to be happy with me. And they said, oh, why? And I says, until I, when I go and cut that steam line up on top and put a big loop so I can put your staircase there, we better change our plan on how we're going to do this.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And they said well, you guys put it in the wrong spot. No, I know, I didn't put it in the wrong spot.
Speaker 1:My elevations are bright. Yeah, yeah, but engineer didn't come out and look before he drew it up.
Speaker 3:That's what happened, yeah. Well, yeah, they were going off the old site plans and that you know that osb plant been around since the 50s so and it was on a little old wind structure at the time but it was that was a great opportunity to learn how to adopt and conquer.
Speaker 1:That was a key thing oh for sure I, when I did my turn my time at evra's ipsco back then. This is a steel mill from the 30s that you're still keeping alive. Uh, even if you buy new equipment it doesn't hook up to the old equipment. So you gotta figure all that out because it doesn't exist and some of it you actually have to invent, send off to get machined and whole thing, whole processes. And I always tell people maintenance of major industrial sites as a welder is some of the funnest work you'll ever do.
Speaker 1:It is, it's just random every day you're always putting out a fire or some disaster and that keeps you on your toes right.
Speaker 3:Very much so Like or just even trying to rig something into putting a big heavy piece of equipment into this old building, like you can't slow or sling over top of that old wooden eye, joist up on top and try to drag it in afterwards. But, yeah, no, it was neat and I really, I really missed that kind of work. Um, in my I was quite proud of my happy with myself. I got the opportunity to do that. But it's not really a great job with a family and everything no way you know a lot.
Speaker 3:That's the tough part. Um, but yeah, and then, and then in in 2000, I decide I that's when I met my wife and she lived in the scotch one and how'd you meet her?
Speaker 1:I shouldn't, maybe I shouldn't ask you on here, but I know your wife.
Speaker 3:She's wonderful, it was on the internet, actually I did okay, yeah, I think good, we met on that. And then, um, it was october of 90 and october 2000. I came out at thanksgiving to meet her on the weekend and a lot and she brought me to her parents and all that and it was great. And then I had a job interview in november at babcock and wilcox in melville at the, the and I got on there then I said to my mom in my last, that would have been as a pressure welder likely right yeah, at that time babcock, wilcox and melville was mainly pressure piping and, I believe, joints.
Speaker 1:I think they used to do like the, the, uh, what are they called? I forget what they're called now.
Speaker 3:They built all the super heaters and the the board assemblies into the power plants. Um, yeah, I had my pressure ticket. And also when I was in Ontario to do another shutdown. So I went and worked in uh power cogen generation which burnt old wood products out of the sawmills and all that right, and the pretty neat story on that part. Um, with my pressure ticket I didn't want it originally.
Speaker 3:My boss of the gun shut down, shut down I was working with. He sent me in there to go and get my pressure ticket and it was my old boss from Technowell, brian. He became the instructor at the Northern College of the filter program and he became one of the testers for the boiler branch. And anyway, when I went in there for my crusher ticket and he says, oh good about trying to do this, he says to me and I said I don't want it, I don't want to do spaghetti lines, and he starts laughing. He starts laughing. He says no, no, this is going to be the best part of your career. No, it's not going to be the best part of my career. Like, I don't want to do this part. Work anyway. He got on doing that and I says fine, okay, like, let's do the test anyway. He puts nicks in the on the tube with my grinder and telling me this is my for indicating your roots on your coupon on your 6g anyway.
Speaker 3:I started doing it all. I mean he says yep, fine, you're good, well, grind it up and wrap it up. So, on purpose, to try to get out of this test, I caught where his lines were just being a, not like a jerk. Anyway I caught them all on that and he says well, since you're a real good smarty here, I'm gonna root bend all your bends I'm not gonna face that enough and I said here's the coupons.
Speaker 3:You might as well root bend them with the cap on and everything, so I can really fail it. Good, he says, no, you're not gonna fail, you're gonna pass it anyway. He bends them all with the all the reinforcements and all that on it, and then I had a uh, we call them bird's eyes.
Speaker 3:Up on top is where your tie ends at times and you know always get, then nothing wouldn't open up on that one. You put the rod on top, yeah, you pass. You got your ticket today, dang it. I tried everything to get out of that and since that day I've been welding pipe.
Speaker 1:Then yeah, yeah. So now you're in saskatchewan, yeah and uh, you, you get a job in melville, which my wife is from melville, so I know the area well yeah, she's actually very nice yeah, yeah, nice little valley there. Were you sure this was the right choice? I mean, a lot of Ontarians moved to Saskatchewan and we never let them leave. Yeah, but you know, I know where you're from North Bay's beautiful Like that whole area's beautiful Ontario land.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's I really miss it actually, um, I was just amazed how long my main goal when I moved out west was going to work up in fort murray. That was I had a interview one time to work on the millennium project and my mom wasn't ready for me to leave yet from home. She wanted me to stick around home a bit longer. So I turned that down in 99 on that job application for not going out to fort murray and the very next year you came up anyways, yeah, next, yeah.
Speaker 1:She says, now you can go.
Speaker 3:well, that's when gold really dropped down to below 205 and the industry was the forestry industry was starting to go down too. Um, so then it was a good, wise move on myself to move out here, and so I worked at Babcock for a few months and then my wife's mom had cancer, so we moved back to and she passed away in September not 9, 11. So it's a bad time. Every time you hear about it on 9, 11, 11. It reminds me, it reminds us of her mom passing that time.
Speaker 3:but anyhow, I fell foggy for a bit and I helped her dad get him back on the road. He had a little logging company logging trailing off uh haul logs. So he had a little logging company logging trailing off uh haul logs. He had a little trucking company and I rebuilt his logging trailers. He was trying to make excuses for not being able to go out, so rebuilt, rebuilt all his trailers up and to get them out, and so I worked in his shop for a bit and there and then then I couldn't find not much work up in Prince Albert. That was the hard part. Around Prince Albert it's not really much of welding industry. The paper mill wasn't hiring anybody so that was hard during that time to get around. So I went back home to Northern Ontario, to Timmins, to do a shutdown. It was supposed to be like three months shut down and only ended up being like four weeks but I got never mind I got sent home and then that summer, um, there was a little small shop in oxbow, scotch one.
Speaker 3:I was looking for a pressure welder, so I applied there and it was a little family-run business. Um and uh, he was looking for a guy to run one of those rigs. So, and that's where we came about being and living in Alameda for the last 20, 20 years 20 years, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, let's take a break right now from our advertisers. Perfect segue, because when we get back we'll talk about your career in Saskatchewan and, and you know, and how that developed over the years. Because you know, now you're out there, uh, inspecting the world awaying the world away and gone down another route, and of course, we'll talk about your work with the Regina chapter. So, listeners, don't go anywhere. We'll be right back after a word from our advertisers and we'll be back after the break with Sean Laporte.
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Speaker 1:And we are back here on the CWB Association podcast. My name is Max Theron. I'm here with Sean Laporte who's calling in from Alameda, saskatchewan. In the first half of the show we were talking about how he came over from Ontario, developed his career as a welder fitter and then a pipe welder, and now he's in Oxbowaskatchewan working for an outfit running a rig. Now you know that's 20 years ago now. If I put my thinking hat on, uh, you graduated, you said, high school in 93. Um, that puts you at about 50 years old right now. Um, so 20 some years ago you would have been 30, late, no, early 30s. At that point it's usually when welders start getting kind of a little bit, either not tired of pulling the trigger or burning the rod, but you start looking around and wondering am I gonna do this for the next 20 years of my life? You know, did you hit that wall, uh, then yet? Or were you still just as happy as ever, just getting out in that truck and going to go work?
Speaker 3:I. I enjoyed it, but it was again I was able to do like it. Bring me back to my shutdown days you had to think on the fly jerry rig your way to get your piping in place and all that and it was great and. But I didn't like the winters too much, like working in the winter, so slow.
Speaker 3:Neither slow, it sucks out here yes, I think like when I first moved out here from ontario I didn't find at minus 50 was that cold, as in ontario, at minus 30 with a humidity level of 70, it's colder yeah, it's lots colder so when I first moved out here I thought it was great, and then I seen the snow conditions and all that and I sold my sled in ontario because, I knew not to bring it out here, because it looks like it's like driving on ice all the time kidney bashers and all that yeah yeah, I left the sled out in Ontario type thing.
Speaker 3:But so when I was welding in on in Oxbow I worked there for a few years, uh, with Lane NACA, uh, naca, welding down there and welding pipe. We built headers and and tie-ins and pipeline, a little bit tie-ins or pipelines, and all that into batteries and oil the repair tanks, simple like like that when the oil patch starts things.
Speaker 3:It was great, it was fun. Learned how to do different piping techniques. I'm not wasn't used to, like you know, natural process piping you're always doing up end, and now with pipelining with the oil pass, they always like doing down hand pass.
Speaker 1:Yeah, which I still don't like it. I'm still not 100% used to it.
Speaker 3:No, I'm not. I'm still above ground type person. Yeah, yeah. Then I worked in a little small shop in Knoxville it was a little fab shop, was their shop foreman for a bit, did that and got into forming Back to my fitting days type thing, building toolboxes for rigs, and built a water tank for one of the local rigs too as well, and that was a good job. I drew all the drawings for it and went and looked at a water tank unit with the dog I was that falls there, and then goes in place when they transport it and I copied off about from that rig and built it for this other guy's rig.
Speaker 3:And it was fun doing that, trying to do your own little engineering type thing, and it was great. It was a fun job and all that. Then I started. Then I moved into Aspen. I wanted to get back a little pressure vessel shop called Freeflow in Aspen. They were looking for a lead pressure vessel shop called free flow in s man um. They were looking for a lead pressure welder. So I was there for about 10 years working a while and it was great, I it was.
Speaker 3:It was a family-run business and when I first started it was prior during the oil boom type deal. My first four years, I think, I did not any less than 60 hour weeks type thing kept it like that. Then I got tired of that afterwards.
Speaker 3:I said I have to cut my hours back and because I wasn't able to see my son most of the times because I was born in 06. So I think, and when you're working on those long days and all that you don't get the opportunity to come home and see him grow up much, but it was okay and was good. So then I cut my hours back to 50 hours and then only 58 yeah, so it's only 50.
Speaker 3:And then I started doing side gigs and carpentry work. That's when I started to realize, um, chasing my tails and not the thing I want to keep on doing it gets tiring, you start well, you start to burn out, especially when you got a family now yeah, type thing, and so I worked there till 2014, and it was a hard decision to make.
Speaker 3:They didn't want me to leave, but I had a feeling that that's when stuff was going to fall out in the world again and I figured well, I've been working weekends, every night, and all that with my carpentry business for people, and they were starting to ask me and do bigger jobs. So I took a break from welding and opened up my own little home renovation business, which I learned when I was in high school. I went and worked with my uncle and doing maintenance work for camps. So I enjoyed that. It was something different and did that for a bit, Did that for six years. Then COVID happened and then the great equalizer, the equalizer.
Speaker 3:Nobody was allowing you to go in their house. I was unsure how things were going to go and the wife and I talked and we said well, maybe you should go back into welding Carpentry and Zorbolo funds and all that.
Speaker 3:So might as well, get back to welding, get that savings back. And in 19, freefall asked me if I would come and help them. They were behind on a couple of assholes. So I went to Bren brandon, to their sister shop, can steal in brandon, and well, that um vessels built some vessels for going down to the states and so I had the opportunity to work with um as me organizations because they were going for their audit or, as me, get their u-stamp, yeah, um, for their vessel, for these vessels going on the states. So I had the opportunity to. I had to demonstrate what we're doing how to put a nozzle into a vessel what the steps are, all the steps, yeah yeah, and it was a neat experience.
Speaker 3:I thought that was great. It was funny. I'm a contractor and all the local guys in the shop they want to go, come close to that girl, so they threw me into the wolves On that job. So it was great. It was a great opportunity.
Speaker 3:Then then in in during COVID, I took a job with SASARC in Oxford and I hadn't had my CWB tickets since 1998 was the last time I had my CWB tickets. So I had to get my four position, bus core and metal core tickets that's that's for fab work and all that and I was able to pass them on the first try, which was quite surprising since I didn't really get that back in. Then I had to do my stick ticket and that went well too. But yeah, in 2004, I forgot one part. In 2004 I challenged my journeyments and scotch one because I realized that albert wouldn't let me weld pipe alongside my journeyments. That's right, that's right. So I went and challenged my journeyments in 2004 and the written part was good. I passed that first. But the practical was the challenge was the time when 6010 was all the on the plate work. That was uh, that was different. Pipe and plate are completely different.
Speaker 1:Well, they're different steels, they're different steels, they're made differently, they have different qa? Um. I mean it not. I find that pipe steel is way better quality. It reacts better, it holds on better, it doesn't drip as much and you try to run an open root plate and uh and it's not the same as pipe man.
Speaker 3:No, it's not like um a lot of times with pipe. You only have like a couple of inches of one position. Yeah, and then, instead of doing, six inches in one position so every time I pass on when the journeyman's, I always flaunt her with one, one coupon, but usually it was my horizontal summary.
Speaker 3:It was tying horizontal that's very common, you know it had to open up on me and the instructor says, yeah, it was just slightly over the 1A rod and made me come back again. So I took the pre-employment upgrade course so I was able to do the seven weeks program, which I should have done in the first place. But I was being bullheaded like any other welder that think you can do everything.
Speaker 1:It's tough. It's a tough test, like a lot of people think they just come in and challenge. I taught the red seal program and the amount of people I saw walking off the street thinking they could do it and walk out with their head between their knees is like yeah, it's not that easy, mother.
Speaker 3:That's not one coupon. I only had one problem on one coupon all the time.
Speaker 1:but but yeah. So, so at this point, you know you're, you're running through your career, you're doing all this amazing work. Are you thinking kind of long-term of your future, of the industry, like I mean, it sounds like so much of your life has just been chasing jobs. You know what I mean Chasing jobs, chasing jobs. You've had a hundred jobs. They're all great, great, all great learning experiences.
Speaker 3:But you know, at some point are you starting to think like what's my end game here? Well, yeah, like it's like, every time I did a different job, I learned something new like I could and then also I provide something to somebody else. Um, the longest job I stayed at was with FreeFlow. That was 10 years. Yeah, it was 10 years with them, and just a week ago I went and built two, a couple scrubbers for them, and never rolled a pipe, for since I did my last pressure ticket.
Speaker 3:And then they turned around and tell me, after I get it all done, is it going to be XREED? Well, thanks for telling me like, and so they pass x-ray anyway, but good. But um, one thing was in my when I started out with that one shop in Kirkland, with with those two brothers, and one day with the with brian, he pulled me to the side and it's still to this day it still sticks with me. Um, he said to me that I was rushing and making a mess and he says quality first and quality will follow. Yeah, and I started thinking what are you talking about? And he kind of explained it. But being young and full of vinegar type thing, you don't think of that. And I said it took me about five years to realize that that saying makes perfect sense.
Speaker 1:It's true.
Speaker 3:And I had to go and see him about five years later and say thank you. And he says well, what are you thinking of me? And I says that one day you set me aside and said follow you first and call me false. And he says I said now I talked to apprentices town apprentices, that and they give me that same dumb. Look what I gave you that day. Like what you mean, tell me to slow down and not go faster, but it's true Like if Like what you mean. Tell me to slow down and not go faster?
Speaker 3:But it's true, like if you do it right in the first place, you go quicker.
Speaker 1:Oh for sure, Rework is the death of money.
Speaker 3:Yes, and that is the best thing I ever heard in my career was that saying, and I I preach it still to this day, I think, to new parents and and other people even with, even within, with my now and with my inspections. I even tell them that too, like quality first and quality of fall, and and you don't get to rework, and I don't have to be the person to tell you you have to rework it now at what point did you think that you're going to start heading down that inspector route?
Speaker 1:You know when you're thinking like you know, this is kind of neat. I've worked on WPSs. I've done some cool stuff with some cool companies. I've been a part of the process with ASME, cwb. You know API If you were doing some tanks, probably some in there. So you know, at what point did you start thinking this might be something that you'd like to get into what point did you start thinking this might be something that you'd like to get into?
Speaker 3:Well, with my career with SASAR, when I came back in in 2003, they I was only on the floor for about three months and then they brought me into the quality department um to do inspections and all that, and I thought, great, I'm starting to. Well, I'm 51 now. Three years ago I was 49 so and I knew I couldn't weld like I used to. I was being called backs on my ut scans and all that and and it really bugged me like, come on, like I've been doing this for, like that it doesn't mean anything. But, uh, it's just that my eyesight, my eyesight, is not perfect. It was like 20 years ago. It's one thing and just that you're, you still have the technique and everything, but it's hard to get that technique to be perfect again. It's not like being young again, like you're able to go quick and all that yeah, you, you can.
Speaker 1:You can't go back in time, that's for sure.
Speaker 3:Yes, so I realized that, well, maybe this inspection way is to be great. Then I can be more of a mentor this way. Um.
Speaker 3:I realized that, um, a lot of inspectors we got come on the floor. They never had a bad welding background. So when I challenged the inspector telling me that I'm fit, I failed this well area, okay, prove it to me how, why I failed it, what did I do wrong? And all that, I asked him multiple questions what can I improve myself on? What am I doing wrong? Like. And then, and then again, he gave me the stunned look like well, that's your job, you're supposed to figure that out.
Speaker 3:But when you can't communicate to the welder and trying to tell him okay, maybe try changing your rod angle and work with them to be able to make them improve better, it's, it's not, it's not a beneficial part. But that's where I got into quality. It's more for doing mentorship and also it gave me a great opportunity to learn what I was doing wrong. The last time I seen W59 was in when I was in that program that program also to that working at TechnoWeld, like with Brian and Tom Ray type deal. They were just getting certified with CWB and all that and and W59 was only like 125 pages back in the early late 90s, I think so it was. And then now today, w59 is like just under 600 pages, so there's a lot of things that changed over the years that people weren't, that we were doing wrong in the industry.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the science and technology advances too. The methodology for testing gets better.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and again too, like with my age there there I'm so used to using the transformer welders, like then you get these inverter, things like, okay, like get this run so nice it does run nice, but okay, I gotta re-educate myself how to use this piece of equipment again, like like.
Speaker 1:Like the laptop and the whole works trying to figure out what I was calling like like today's call, yes yeah, yeah, yes, get my mic to work, and I just had to reset the computer but now, now we've ran through your entire career and you've brought up some great pieces of information that I'm going to key in on, because you repeated them over and over and you said it about a number of the different jobs you've had is that you had someone be a mentor. You know you've had you know teachers that were mentors. You had an uncle that was a mentor. You had. You know people in the workplace that said things to you to mentor you, and now you sit kind of on the back end of your career.
Speaker 1:I won't say that we're still young at heart, but you know you, you want to now actively mentor as well. It's important for you to to not just you know, get in the hole with all your knowledge, but to share it right now. How, how do you do that? How do you become a mentor? You know, how do you help get that information that you have from your career out into the next generation?
Speaker 3:Well, now I'm doing is I work with the apprenticeship programs in Saskatchewan. I grade the IP exam and the practical exam. I started doing that about two years ago now and I thought at first I thought, oh great, I get to be the dink again that who failed me when I got my journey.
Speaker 3:But actually it feels like the first day back on to get my coupons. Yeah, I feel the nervousness of the student coming up and I feel those days back again like I was doing that and it was great. It's a great feeling seeing that, seeing them exceeding, passing their hard work, and all that to get their craft, master their craft, to prove that they master it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And also when the time when you have to tell the person what they did wrong, um that they failed and they have to come back again.
Speaker 1:It's a it's heartbreaking oh, it is, it is, there was nothing worse than having a student fail it after you see the work they put into it. And and I mean there's a couple angles to that Some people are gifted with skills but they may be terrible at book skills and the written test will crush them. And then there's some people that you know they'll get a 99 on that written test without even thinking about it and can't pass their MIG flat or some you know position and ah, it's so hard to see because you're so close.
Speaker 3:A lot of times when I do do the testing on that, I ask the student what do you think you did wrong? What caused? This to break.
Speaker 3:Those are the kind of questions and they said, well, what do you mean? I said no, no, why did you fail this coupon? Do you know what you did wrong? And just ask those little simple questions and kind of make them think, well, it may help them on the next challenge, like what to look for. And then if they ask you, like the graders and all that, I'm more than willing to tell them what it could have been, what could have cost it. In my visual scene like that, like it could have been the way your rod on you angle on your rod at the time, or your your nozzle, or how you dip that tungsten in or your gas mix or anything.
Speaker 1:So many things.
Speaker 3:So many variables that could have been wrong. But sometimes just telling them maybe try it this way and then try it again, and then practice, practice what you did wrong and then that may stick the next time to go on doing it and sometimes it helps them a lot of times we do the practical exam before they do the written and that's how we did it at sass poly yeah yeah, and just asking these questions of that sometimes I might give them a helping hand on their.
Speaker 1:For the question on the exam exactly it's by hearing it the day before working on the ip is interesting because I work with I work with trades board in the red seal program, um, and I've always wondered like some of those questions are easy and some of them are so hard. It's like who knows this, who would know this?
Speaker 3:I saw him with my level one for 178.2 just like really my journeyman's exam. All the questions were identical in the journeyman's exam, like, like about that. Just a little few things were different is reading the cold book and all that that's different, but just the principle of all the welders, the welding applications and blueprint readings and all that. That's the same as the journey notes.
Speaker 1:I said it's just like rewriting my journey exam yeah, I always tell welders too, like I mean, you don't have to become a journey person, that's. That's a choice. You do what you want to do. But if you want to learn about welding in a less stressful environment, the two-week level one inspector course is a fantastic course. Even if you don't even want to be an inspector, even if you have no desire to be an inspector, in two weeks you're going to learn some fundamentals of welding and metallurgy that are really good to have.
Speaker 3:Like you should just have those period as a welder, right actually I learned that with my level, like doing the inspector courses, how much I did wrong over my years of welding, what I got away with and everything what I did wrong in the hindsight is now I know what I can get away with to go forward to, on certain applications too as well. Yeah, that's the flips and all that. Um, that is a key thing is is educating. Like a lot of inspectors won't educate the person why they're failing um, say, where, like a lot of times, I bring bring the code out to the, to the welder, when they're challenging me about my decision to why I'm making them rework it and I'll bring the code book out and show them. This is what I have to follow. This is the reason why I have to reject you on your weld on this part. Yeah, it's laid right out, it's laid right out.
Speaker 3:Black and white type thing. I know there's a lot of gray areas, but it's debatable. But and also that's by experience at the same point of what you see, nor do yours, yeah, and then then turn around and explain to them maybe try this way, maybe it's your way, your application on certain things, and just take time, clean it better, like a little bit of cleaning will help you on the long way, right? Thanks?
Speaker 1:in, in your, in your travels, you know, going all the way back to the beginning when you first started welding. Did you ever have any interactions with the association? Because, like, at that time back then there was a chapter in the big nickel. Um, they're not anymore, but uh, you know, there's always been a pretty strong selection of ontario chapters. There's always been the saskatchewan chapters. Did you even know about any of that side of this industry? Um, you know, coming up through your career, no, I never realized that.
Speaker 3:I just knew about the cwb ticket. Everybody was asking for that. Before you left, your course, make sure that you have these tickets to be employable. That was the key thing. But yeah, about the CWB association, I didn't know anything until I started getting involved with the. Actually, it was when I got contacted with you a couple couple times to help with a high school teacher. That was the key thing where I started realizing about the association, what they can help and everything. It was listening off your podcast actually. Really, yeah, that's when I started realizing more about this, the association stuff yeah, and then, how'd you get involved here in saskatchewan?
Speaker 1:what did you do? Like? Uh, you know the did you. Who did you reach out to, or was it? Um, it was, I remember. All of a sudden you were just around, yeah, and then, and then we never got rid of you, which was awesome, pretty well it was the first games night actually.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that games night, that was the first time. And I thought James said how about you come to games night and then we'll talk there, and then. I said to James? I says yeah, I would like to help out and he never left me alone in that sense.
Speaker 1:Well, we got to recruit where we got to. Yes, now, in your short time, then with the association, you know, when you compare it to the length of your career, you know what value do you see in volunteering, like, what is it that you get out of volunteering? And you know you invite, you promote, you bring your wife out to events. You know what do you get out of it.
Speaker 3:And then what do you hope people get out of it that attend Just to help somebody, a younger generation, to give them the encouragement, like um, to go and talk to people Um like um when we had our first welcome, when we, when we had our first welcome in the beginning of the year in the season type thing, and I had a couple kids that were sitting with my with myself and she kept this little, this girl who's taking the.
Speaker 3:I forget her name, I'm bad with names, that's the worst bit. I can remember faces but um, I, my wife and I were really encouraging this girl to talk to like with the boiler branch and I says this is a great opportunity for you to excel on your career, if you like. When I started asking her a question what she enjoyed about her program and the areas that she liked in the program and she says well, I like doing tenacious work and all that nicest, the best spot you for you to be is getting into exotic metals and in the fire industry.
Speaker 3:No do you get your niche yeah yeah, then you get to work with exotic metals and a lot of times females are better than males at that because they have the patience, not the rushing, and a lot of these exotic metals you have to be patient with them. But uh, that was the key thing is just mentoring the younger kids and, um, giving the encouragement that welding is not always dirty, it's fun yeah, there's lots of opportunities but the thing is I have a hard time.
Speaker 3:Um, giving in is when I, when it's a person is on their final year and they say well, I'm not going back to school, it's like your third year, well you put three years of your apprenticeship already and you just have to do your final exam.
Speaker 3:Just go and do it. Friends of mine, their son, was going for his last year of he had his last year of electrician and he kept on telling his mom and dad, I'm not going to my final year, anyways. Parents asked me, that was tell me about that. And I said dad, I'm not going to my final year, anyways, parents asked me about what's telling me about that and I said okay, I'll hustle this kid to get into school.
Speaker 3:I and I said it in front of his dad and I said to him, if I, when is the date when you go to school? And he says, well, it's supposed to be October, I says, okay, if I don't see you in your car and not, you know, like the 6th of October going to Moose Joe, I'm bringing you to Moose Joe and making sure you stay there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Like you're so close to the finish line man.
Speaker 3:And he excelled, like he was aces class, like yeah, I says that's the thing. Like you took all that energy to go through this program, finish it. And I regret it for not finishing my electronic technician course. It's a sad thing about that and that's why I have a hard time not giving in to people not finishing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you know what? It's bad statistics for journeypersons versus apprentices Less than 25% of apprentices become journeypersons. Apprentices is less than 25 percent of apprentices become journeypersons. That means three quarters of the welders that go through school are either never welding again or not going back to school and welding just as a level one or level two.
Speaker 1:And I I just feel like, well, I guess there's two angles if I really stop and think about it. Like number one no one can make you do anything if you you don't want to. If you, you know, are working at a shop and you're getting paid well and you got the benefits and you're happy there and you don't need your journey persons, you know good on you if that's what you like. But for the amount of journey person jobs I see available and the amount of money that I know some people could be making right now, like I think about putting the tool belt back on. Honestly, when I see some of these jobs out there where it's like you know, I make great money now, but damn, some of these jobs being posted out there are insane and they'd be super fun and I think you know all these jobs people could be taking advantage of, you just got to get back to school and write that damn test, you know know?
Speaker 3:Yeah, very much so. Like that's the thing, just write that exam, like they can't take that away from you. No, it's forever, it's forever. Like even right now I'm working on my blue seal and that I'm in that process right now working on that. I wish I did that earlier in my career, but I just started finding out more of it when I started getting more involved with the apprenticeship program.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and like I got my blue seal and I loved the course, I learned lots about business and I had no idea about management and and I mean those tools helped me out today.
Speaker 3:Right, Yep, any type of education helps you. It improves every aspect of yourself, type thing. It's not a disadvantage of you. Okay, awesome. And then other volunteer systems I work in. I was with the cadet corps. That was great. My son was part of that. I was a CI for that, and I'm also a volunteer fireman and a medical first responder in my area.
Speaker 1:Just everywhere.
Speaker 3:That's the thing, that's my volunteer type thing, and I'm also part of this week and on Friday where I'm going up to Sastun to judge the provincial skills.
Speaker 1:Well, I'll see you there then. Yeah, yeah, I'll be up there in a booth all all week up for skills and well, skills is in regina this year for nationals, so that's going to be a blast.
Speaker 3:we're going to be heavily involved as a chapter there, so yeah, it's a great, great thing your venture to go to um I when I went two years ago to winnipeg when they had their nationals there, that was awesome I it was great great to see other trades and then how these, these students are, how they master their crafts so well and in and being competitive on it and the workmanship they get out of that type thing it's.
Speaker 1:Uh, I feel like every trades person should check out um a skills competition a national one if possible, but even provincials is fun, but the national one really puts it into perspective how much investment industry is willing to make in these kids. It's like it's no joke, right? Everyone's like, oh, I'm worried about my kids getting jobs, or I'm worried about my kids having a future in the trades. Go to one national skills event and you will not question it anymore. These companies are putting up millions just to find the next batch of kids, because they need them. They need the best of the best, and that's the fastest way to find them is through skills.
Speaker 3:Yep, no, it's a great place for that skill aspect, I think, and it's neat watching them work on it and and the quality of the wilts and everything. It's amazing, it's impressive.
Speaker 1:I'm jealous of them well, I didn't even know about that stuff when I was a kid. So, like I mean, and I didn't become an, an apprentice until I was way late in the game, so I didn't get my journeyman's until way later. So I mean, I did everything wrong. That's what I always tell students yeah, I came out all right in my career, but I did everything wrong. You know, yep, right, yep. So now, what's the future for Sean now? Like you, the future for sean now? Or like you, you, you got your inspection gig. You still weld. You're a part of a number of committees and associations. You're busy. Still, I, you know you're a guy that likes to be busy. You know, what do you see in your future? Because, let's face it, we're 50, right, we?
Speaker 3:we got to start thinking about where, what, what's happening well, my wife told me I'm not allowed to quit working until I'm 80, I think. So I figured inspection I should be still able to do my, be able to keep doing it when I'm 80, type thing. But I am also now I'm a level two inspector. Now I do third-party inspections for clients type thing. I work for access inspection.
Speaker 3:So I had a Winnipeg so they got a contract with SAS power here, um, so I it's a great little gig right now, um, but I'm working towards right now on my API five, 10. So I can be an in-service inspector. Um, my main goal is to get into my, get my course just now. I'm not looking forward to doing the like seminar exams, but anyhow, um, but I'm looking at the hindsight of that tickets right now, get my in-service and also get my national board. Key thing is like, since gash one is really promoting a nuclear, I want to get on to one of those projects. So I could say I have something else I could put on my stamp of buckle this. So I don't yeah ahead of the microwave?
Speaker 1:yes, well, and nuclear is going to be coming one way or another. Whether it's easy or hard, it's, it's really going to be the way of the future. So that's some smart thinking. And you know, when that industry starts to move, they're going to be the way of the future. So that's some smart thinking. And you know, when that industry starts to move, they're going to need leaders and mentors too. You know, um I volunteered with the win-win, the women in uh, nuclear, women in mining, and um, they're talking about all the potential work for both mining and nuclear in saskatchewan and it's like, where are we going to find all these people?
Speaker 3:like yeah, that's the thing. I see one post like we're complaining about um, that all the work was went overseas. Like china is building all those mods for the lng project. I I started thinking to myself, sure, yeah, we could do that in canada, where we're going to get all the manpower to do it.
Speaker 3:If we're crying about the manpower is right now, yeah, or the people I should say play, yeah, correct way saying it, um, but um, just this finding the skill aspect is the key thing is it's hard to find the skills, um, that is why I really promote, I'm really active of trying to get more trades into like elementary schools, like high schools like when I was in grade 8 we had shop class.
Speaker 3:Still we had a machine lathe and welding welding machine in our woodworking shop, like it was a small little shop. In grade seven and eight I built a candlestick for my mom on the lathe and she still had it. Like I don't know why she kept that metal heavyweight. I wouldn't plug it in because probably short out and electrocute you. But I built that in grade eight. My mom still has it. Like I thread all the inserts to yeah, yeah and and like those, those programs. I do not understand why, but back in our when we were in high school we were still challenging against baby boomers. Yeah, um, they were. It was hard to get a apprenticeship anywhere like, um, in any trade actually. Well, I remember when I, when I got into welding.
Speaker 1:I started welding in 93 and getting into a union back then, forget about it Like it was, like they were all protected jobs, no chance, and getting in with the city, those you know dream jobs without cooperators. Good luck, good luck, good luck. You'd have to know someone's kid or aunt or something to get in there.
Speaker 1:And so, like for for most of us, we just went into manufacturing or mining, because mining I mean mining would always kind of take whoever was left over. Um, because a lot of people couldn't cut out the lifestyle, because you may want to go work at the mine, but you don't realize camp life, camp life is hard, it is, it's a struggle.
Speaker 3:I think it's great when you are younger, before you have a family to experience it. Trying to encourage my son to experience it that way, Great way to make good money. Save it up. Then you can go with those local jobs close to home when you're raising your family. Get more education.
Speaker 1:You know cause, then you can. You can go to school and get proper training and get those better jobs. Yeah, that's that's. One thing I learned is like I said, I was late to the train station for education for welding, but once I figured it out in my thirties I was like, well, I got to stay on this. So it was like red seal number one, then red seal number two, then blue seal, then college classes at night. You know like it's like I make good money. There's no reason I shouldn't be learning more. You know like sure I can spend the money on my kids and stuff like that. But what about me? Why am I? I can spend a thousand bucks a year to take a couple of classes a year. And you know what, down the line, every single thing I learned, whether it seemed like it was relevant or not they've all helped me professionally.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they all come around Never fails you.
Speaker 1:It doesn't matter what you learn, it'll come around and there'll be that day where you're like thank you, I know how to do this.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and you're the end, and you're just the rock star of the conversation at the time. You can name that thing out for you. Yeah, I was the person doing that final troubleshoot.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, you're the hero.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I enjoy troubleshooting. That is my key thing. That's why I kind of that's why I'm coming back into, I want to go into shutdown work and all that. It's just thinking on the fly type, think how to troubleshoot, how we can get this going on, this timeline type thing yeah, and shutdowns are better now.
Speaker 1:They're not as bad as they used to be. No, they'd be like take that pile of scrap and turn it into something usable. Yeah, it's gotten better.
Speaker 3:Yes, yes, very, very much. So, yeah, because you're going into the pig and trying to find some sort of metal and you're hoping that it's not raw, but you're going to blow some, you're cutting apart a crushed staircase to build a new platform?
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 3:Pretty well. It's still an oil patch, still like that, but not big industry projects anymore.
Speaker 1:And what about saying the Saskatchewan that's in the cards forever now you guys have started a family here and it's home now.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we're still home in Saskatchewan, I think Haven't left yet, but I enjoy working on the road too, experiencing that way, since my boy's 18, graduated high school and he's working on his own. So that way, um, since my boy is 18, graduated high school and he's working on his home, so I figured he could survive. I know I did when I was his age yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm just saying I've always I did road work since I was a kid, and I still do right I still do it's part of the job, part of the jobs I look for is uh to get out there and travel and learn new things right, but I still have goal sets.
Speaker 3:I want to get my level three in weld inspection. I just want to get that say I've done it all. Um, I still want to be involved with the do more of the api side. Um, sure I may go to alberta and work on stuff too there. Um, get my in-service inspector inspector course there too to do shutdown work out there. You know, there I'm looking forward to just working a little bit in the summer and take the winter off, or vice versa that's nice plan.
Speaker 1:Yeah, working summer winters off is nice, because then you can go to somewhere else warm, yeah, and then you get somewhere all year round.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so, but I'm there is a lot of big infrastructure projects going to be on the horizon, I think, and there'll be a lot of work on that work type.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Well, for the people that are listening, you know what. What would you say to someone that's young and looking at the steel trades? You know what would you say to someone that's young and looking at the steel trades?
Speaker 1:You've been a part of lots of different parts of the steel trades and sometimes that's almost overwhelming for kids to look at and be like okay, well, you say welding. Then you go to the school and there's like 17 different things to sign up for. How or what advice would you give to someone that's looking at it in terms of what to do?
Speaker 3:Be patient, try them all out. You can find something that you like or you don't like, and then you find your itch. But don't be just stuck in one one thing that you think you're only good at expand yourself and then make yourself more valuable. That's a key thing is making yourself valuable is a crucial thing yeah, then then they need you, people want you, your services yeah yeah, and don't be afraid of learning and don't stop learning.
Speaker 1:I think nobody knows everything yeah, and what about your world of volunteerism? Now, what would you say to young people that are like, have a job, they're in the welding industry, but you know they see the invites to the chapter stuff, they see the invites to the other. You know there's aws sections, there's apis, there's as we, all of them, and they're like na na na na. What would you say to someone young in their career starting out about these associations?
Speaker 3:it's a great, great place to meet mentors. You talk, don't be afraid of talking to people. My wife really taught me that she'd been in management management all her life and she enjoys meeting people and talking to people and that's she's my good mentor on that. To encourage me to go and talk to these people and encouraging them. I think, yeah, there is a lot of people out there are willing to share their knowledge. You are not afraid of picking it to the grave with them anymore.
Speaker 3:It's not like the time when we were there yeah, everyone was like knowledge hoarders yes, we didn't have to buy that bottle to get something knowledge out of some old guy on the corner, but the key thing is, those are the people to learn from still like that's I to my to this day. I still not regretting the time when I work with those older guys. No, and and and be very respectful to them absolutely.
Speaker 1:I like I think of the old grumpy guys I worked with. I love them to death. You know like the grump is just a front. Once you get past that they're they're so helpful and you know they got so much knowledge in them. I think about that myself, like I almost am like everyone. Once they're past 50 or once they're like 30 years in a trade should have to write a book. Right, they should have to leave a book behind, because if I just get hit by a car tomorrow, there's so many little tips and tricks that I learned over the years that I wish I could have handed off and I just won't have the opportunity. And I like I mean, how do you? Sometimes you don't have the opportunity to teach that trick unless it's in front of you, Cause you even forget that you know the trick, you know don't be afraid of asking why.
Speaker 1:Right, right.
Speaker 3:That's a key word why, why do it that way? And and if your mentor or somebody comes up to you and you ask, see something you did wrong? And they go up and say to you why you choose to do it that way, and it makes the reason is why they say that to you is to make you see what, what the other side, to make you see what, what the other side relook what you just did. Yeah, the cost would be an error. Um, don't be afraid of that. Why question?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and people criticizing your work. You can't take it personally. No, like you gotta just be like okay, yeah, I screwed up. Okay, what do I gotta do to not repeat that Welding is a science? I I've heard very strong arguments lately that we shouldn't even call welding programs welding. We should call them weld tech programs. Because you are a technician. It's like we we undervalue our knowledge. Uh, no, there's some serious science into that weld. If something's wrong, the answer is right at your fingertips. We just gotta figure it out, go through variables and we'll fix it. Yep, right.
Speaker 3:And the next thing, too, is our trade is the most scrutinized job Of all. Like we're tested more than a doctor is or a lawyer, and they aren't any better than enough. Yeah, in my eyes. Yeah, my eyes um, with our knowledge, what we know, type thing in our craft they can't, can't, uh, match it yeah, and you can't look down on it like I mean no I think, society did that for a while.
Speaker 1:I hope we're past that hump, because you go out and try to find a plumber now, or an electrician or a welder, there's not a lot of them, not as many as we need and and we're realizing how, how important that is for our infrastructure very much so.
Speaker 3:Like that's the thing. At times I feel that I'm in the wrong air type thing because, uh, like 100 years ago crossmen were crossmen. Like you, look at old houses and everything and to this day a lot of them are still tight, joint miter and everything, and they're still not open. And that guy there was not making five cents an hour yeah, I was thinking about that.
Speaker 1:I was just in chile walking on a cobblestone street that was paved 800 years ago and it's still perfectly straight, and I think they could build a road out of rocks a thousand years ago and keep it straighter than the guy I see painting the yellow lines on this on the highway looks like he's painted him with a spaghetti map like what? What are we doing wrong here?
Speaker 3:well, I guess, that little pinky ring, that means a lot, I guess, oh hey that's coming. Let's not yell at the engineers too much today, but yeah, agreed the key thing is with inspections you have to learn is how to communicate with people. You got the trace person you have to deal with. Learn how to talk their lingo. Then you got their upper management people like engineers and all that, and how to communicate with them is key. That is one of the struggles I learned. I had to correct myself quite often.
Speaker 1:Check yourself before you wreck yourself.
Speaker 3:It's how they communicate with these different professionals. I'm supposed to say.
Speaker 1:Sean, thanks so much for coming on the show today. This has been a fantastic conversation. I love hanging out with you. Also, say hi to your wife. She does know how to talk like a professional. Me and her can talk all night. She's just so good at that. She should host a Toastmasters or something she's so good. But, um, but, I'm sure I'll see you at the. Well, we have an event tomorrow, but this will be released during April. Um, I hope I see you at all our events. I'm sure you'll be there. And for all the people following, reach out to your local chapters. Reach out to your local you know associations Like, like Sean said, you want to find those mentors. You want to educate yourself. Don't be scared, don't be shy Everyone starts somewhere, so thanks a lot, buddy.
Speaker 1:Thanks All right, yeah, and all the people that are following along online. Thanks so much for downloading, sharing and commenting. We do have a fan mail feature on our website at Buzzsprout. We've already had some people sending in some great questions. Don't be shy. I got a couple of questions in there that cut to the bone to me and I'm going to answer them. So we're right now working out of the platform on how we're going to answer the fan mail as they start coming in, but within the next few weeks we'll probably start releasing them through Reels. So make sure you follow us and know what's going on and, again, appreciate all the followers. You guys take care, stay tuned for the next one. We hope you enjoy the show.
Speaker 2:You've been listening to the Cwb association welding podcast with max. If you enjoyed what you heard today, rate our podcast and visit us at cwbassociationorg to learn more. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions on what you'd like to learn about in the future. Produced by the cwb group and presented by max, this podcast serves to educate and connect the welding community. Please subscribe and thank you for listening.