Welding Tips and Tricks

Hi guys,
So I'm getting tired of these little b.s. subcontractor gigs that only pay $15 - $20/hr. I want a real job with a real future and real pay that can support a family of four with something left over to play with and retire on. And Lockheed isn't very far from me in Marietta GA. I know they pay really good for aluminum tig weldors but I have zero idea about how to get my foot in the door. I'm more comfortable welding aluminum tig than I am with any other metal or process. I just like it. I can't find any welding jobs on their web site. I want the big pay and I want the big per diem. I don't care if they send me to work all over the country and I only get home a couple of months out of the year. Everything in the images below is my work.
I would appreciate any guidance from you guys who either work for them currently or have worked for them in the past.
Thanks for reading

You could try the 'front door' approach to at least become known and obtain more specific information from them.

Try to find the address (email of physical) of their HR department and send them a letter expessing your desire to work for the company and your qualifications/experience and why you think you could be a good match/candidate. Determining that you are indeed a good match is up to them though

Inquire wether or not they are hiring and how they expect you to apply for certain positions and what qualifications/certifications they tend to look for in candidates and for certain jobs/positions.

Even if they are not hiring at the moment the HR department may well keep your info on file and also send you a bucketload of background info on the company and the types of jobs/people they normally have available.

Makes it a much more definite 'target' to work to.. Then see if there's anything they like to see that you perhaps need to get additional training or education in and work on those areas. Also decide for yourself what YOU want long-term from the job. Would you like to grow away from 'the shop floor' over time and move more towards the engineering/WPS side of things? Or would you like to grow into more specialised areas of welding techniques and processes.. Also something you can express as to your goals and desires.

If you show genuine interest in and knowlegde about the company and do some background research on it so you know things like how it started, why they are there, etc. etc. then you will come across as someone who's not just there for a 'quick buck' but who wants to be part of the team and help the company along. Probably loads of Youtube videos and online stuff to be found about such an iconic company.

Even if they don't haveny open positions directly, every so often politely inquire if any positions are available and update them on any progress you made on ontaining extra qualifiactions.

No guarantee it works, but with bigger and more higher tech companies it's usually persistence, consistence and a level head with a willingness to learn that pays off in getting their attention.

You don't talk to 'the boss man' like in smaller companies. The person doing the hiring in these big companies probably has about a zillion more managers and others above them so they don't want to make mistakes in hiring the 'wrong' people either as they get the blame for it but on the other hand they are not really making the decisions or setting the requirements.

Also.. Working in/for a big company does mean you are more of a small cog in the whole machine so you will often need to be able to work with the fact that some things are done a certain (stupid ) way because 'it was decided by upper management' and you're not allowed to deviate from it and that can be very frustrating for some people.

Getting such (stuid) things changed is often a slow and laborious process of loads of paperwork and convincing other people but can have it's own rewards if you like that sort of thing.

Bye, Arno.

Thanks guys.