Job Interview Today!

So... I had an interview at Manitex today. I walked in... sat in the office for about 15 - 20 minutes... then the welding supervisor came in and got me. He walked me back to the welding shop... showed me around... then said all he needed to see was how I well I can weld.

So the guy gave me two pieces of 3/4" thick steel. I placed the one piece flat on the table, then balanced the other piece on top of it making an upside-down "T".

He told me to weld half of the front... stop... then start back up and finish that side. He then told me that he mainly wanted there to be no undercut. (Undercut is when you move too slow or let the work area get too hot... which creates a small indention on the top and bottom of the weld bead)

Well... I haven't welding in about 5 or so years... so I was a bit freaked out because I was expecting my beads to look terrible. But... I took a deep breath... tried to relax... pulled the trigger and began welding.

I got half way finished and stopped. I pulled up my welding hood... and surprise surprise... it didn't look that bad. I noticed that I moved a little too fast... so on the other half of the run I forced myself to slow down a bit.

I finished with the front side. The supervisor rotated the test plates and then told me to run a bead from start to finish on the back side.

Again, I took a deep breath... tried to relax a bit more... and began to weld. I remembered to move slowly... and the back turned out even better than the front.

The supervisor looked at it and said it was good.

Before I left the testing station... I noticed another test piece... which I'm assuming was done by the interviewee before me. It.was.terrible. Seriously. There was deep undercut along the entire test piece.

The supervisor then told me that he had one more guy coming in for an interview tomorrow... and then he'd call me up and let me know if I got the job or not. I'm hoping the next guy doesn't weld better than me... because I really want a job.

Then... once I finished with the interview... I got in the car to leave. After driving for about five minutes I began to notice that my left arm was stinging a bit. I looked down... then I busted out laughing. Ok... so I welded for a total of maybe 30 seconds... and I have a very noticeable sunburn from where my sleeve ended all the way to the bend of my elbow. I completely forgot how much UV rays those machines kick out. Thankfully... if I get the job... the company will provide me with some leather sleeves to wear. That will definitely prevent me from getting a crazy farmer's tan like I had in the Marine Corps. (yes... we welded in t-shirts just about all the time)

Anyways... if ya'll could keep me in your prayers that would be awesome. I would really enjoy having a welding job... so if I don't get this job, please pray that I can find another welding job.

Oh... and one good thing about this company... they don't work on Sundays! :)