{"id":333,"date":"2009-04-16T09:04:21","date_gmt":"2009-04-16T17:04:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carmenelectrode.com\/?p=333"},"modified":"2012-06-06T10:44:33","modified_gmt":"2012-06-06T18:44:33","slug":"marcia-sommer-from-welders-helper-to-expert-consultant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/2009\/04\/16\/marcia-sommer-from-welders-helper-to-expert-consultant\/","title":{"rendered":"Marcia Sommer from Welder’s Helper to Expert Consultant"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"marcia-sommer250\"We first \u201cmet\u201d Marcia Sommer when she called in to Arc-Zone.com<\/a> looking for some equipment for a laser welding application. A welder for 25 years, Marcia is a technical consultant and teaches at two local colleges.<\/p>\n

\u201cCrowder College and Missouri Southern State University has an Alliance that does consulting and instruction in industry. They needed a combination welder who could teach and consult. It snowballed from there,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

She wasn\u2019t sure about the teaching part of the job at first. Marcia learned a lot about tools and troubleshooting from her father, a skilled craftsman, but got on the job training as a welder\u2019s helper for a pipe crew where she worked for two years and took night classes at the local trade school. She learned by being a good hand for the \u201cold welders.\u201d Marcia says you just have to \u201cbe still and listen. So that is how I teach now that I am the old welder,\u201d she jokes.<\/p>\n

That way of teaching seems to work for Marcia– on a lot of levels. \u201cAfter I finished [teaching] my first class I knew this was something where I could get all the best things you look for in a job. Great people, important work, paying back, and feeling blessed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her favorite projects are making something for the Agricultural Department\u2019s large, working farm at Crowder College. \u201cMy students enjoy doing real world projects,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Though GTAW with stainless or titanium is what she loves best, Marcia says that in the last few years she has enjoyed GMAW as well. \u201cI put together a large deer made of \u00bc\u201d round stock. The GMAW let me move as fast as the ideas.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m from the Ozarks. I truly love where I live: rolling hills, oak trees, red-tailed hawks, deer and clear streams. All these things show up in my work when I am making something for the family,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Over the span of her career, from aerospace to jet engine repair, production and pipe welding, Marcia says she has indeed experienced some discrimination. Especially \u201cback in the day.\u201d When she first started out she was riding back from a plant shut-down, a pipe job at a tire plant in Ardmore Oklahoma. Two of the male helpers had gone on home, too tired to work any longer. Marcia and another male helper stayed on. They rode home with the boss who told them that he really appreciated their hard work. Then he said he would raise Marcia\u2019s pay a quarter an hour– the male helper would get a 50 cent an hour raise because he \u201chad a family to feed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBack then, that was just the way of it, but it sure did stick with me. I learned that day what \u2018don\u2019t cast your pearls before swine\u2019 meant.\u201d Marcia found a job soon after where giving her best effort meant she would get the same pay as everyone else.<\/p>\n

Marcia prefers other kinds of challenges that are more fun to deal with. She says you have to have the ability to troubleshoot, problem solve and interpret prints and codes. Her biggest career challenge to day has been helping her corporate clients understand the importance and reasons for using the AWS Welding codes.<\/p>\n

Challenges are part of what makes welding a good career path for anyone, according to Marcia, and welding \u201cis a great opportunity to have a lifelong skill that will do more than just pay the bills. \u201c Not to mention opportunities to do things you never thought you\u2019d do. Marcia\u2019s favorite moment in working in the welding industry? \u201cThe thrill I felt when I was able to have lunch on top of a 120 foot structure!\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Not everyone will get opportunities like that, but the jobs are varied. \u201cWelding is sometimes dirty work, and sometimes I can do it an A-line skirt and pumps– that\u2019s what makes welding so great!\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Marcia would advise any young woman pursuing a career in welding to \u201cwork with integrity, always be ethical, and take every opportunity to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

And when asked what advice she would offer her younger self, Marcia says, \u201cIf I knew then what I know now, I would have set bigger goals for myself.\u201d Good advice for whatever your path.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We first \u201cmet\u201d Marcia Sommer when she called in to Arc-Zone.com looking for some equipment […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-rosies","entry","fw-tab-6 fw-tabr-4"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nMarcia Sommer from Welder's Helper to Expert Consultant - Carmen Electrode\u2122 Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Marcia Sommer from Welder's Helper to Expert Consultant - Carmen Electrode\u2122 Blog -\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/2009\/04\/16\/marcia-sommer-from-welders-helper-to-expert-consultant\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carmen Electrode\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/2009\\\/04\\\/16\\\/marcia-sommer-from-welders-helper-to-expert-consultant\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/2009\\\/04\\\/16\\\/marcia-sommer-from-welders-helper-to-expert-consultant\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Carmen Electrode\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e46282544508b6da8e7a7947fcbb3dc3\"},\"headline\":\"Marcia Sommer from Welder’s Helper to Expert Consultant\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-04-16T17:04:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-06-06T18:44:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/2009\\\/04\\\/16\\\/marcia-sommer-from-welders-helper-to-expert-consultant\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":727,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"New Rosies\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/2009\\\/04\\\/16\\\/marcia-sommer-from-welders-helper-to-expert-consultant\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/2009\\\/04\\\/16\\\/marcia-sommer-from-welders-helper-to-expert-consultant\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/carmenelectrode\\\/2009\\\/04\\\/16\\\/marcia-sommer-from-welders-helper-to-expert-consultant\\\/\",\"name\":\"Marcia Sommer from Welder's Helper to Expert Consultant - 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