I graduated the day before COVID lockdowns. However, during the six months I attended the main instructor was fired and he was an amazing welder and teacher. As far as anyone could tell he was fired over some petty silliness. They, a few weeks later pulled some guys from their Wisconsin school who were good, taught a few days then left. Finally, we ended up with a mumbling instructor who did not think teaching was a good way to teach so he spent his time not teaching or instructing just approving or disapproving of work. It was all very strange. The school had promised to have businesses come in and recruit only one did so and we all lived in Vermont and he was recruiting for a company in Wisconsin. With no relocation package and kind of a screw-you attitude. So, yes we did get welding instruction from the initial instructor and all the class work. After that, we were sort of on our own. There was no job placement. We did get certifications but were not hooked up with any employer who cared. There seemed to be a lot of drama coming from the Advanced Welding Institute's office. They did put us in touch with the local welding union but did not contact any of us for anything. Ultimately, for me, the takeaway from this school is now I can weld things at home rather competently, and no employment developed from this. I did have fun with my classmates. The replacement instructor in my opinion had no business teaching. He could not speak clearly. He could not articulate what he meant in terms of instruction. For me ultimately it was a letdown. I did want to start in the welding profession but their incompetence in conjunction with covid lead nowhere. At a school that costs 25k, I just expect the institution to have all their kinks sorted out and the process to graduating smooth. The instructors know how to teach and gradually build students up. Also, this is a six-month training where are the employers who would want these skill sets I think the schools rep should have no problem getting students walking right into jobs from graduation. This is just my experience maybe everything is different now, perhaps they squared away. If I could redo the experience I would have gone to Texas to one of the welding schools I found there. read more