Capstone: a full practice exam and career planning

Week nine is the full practice exam. Lucia runs it in the lunchroom on a Saturday morning under the same rules as a school final or an inspector's exam: 100 questions, a fixed time, no phones, a basic calculator and a printed copy of nothing. The questions are Hartwell's own, written over the years by Marta, Lucia, Elena and Raj, checked against the SENSE key indicators and the shop's codes and weighted the way Marta's plan is. None are copied from any real exam. Devon, Aisha and Mateo sit it; Jun and Kofi sit the first half. After it, Lucia marks every paper by topic, and the afternoon is spent on the part of the capstone that matters most: understanding every wrong answer. The second half of this lesson is about what comes after the certificates.

Running a practice exam properly

A practice exam only tells you something if it is taken under exam conditions. That means the full length, so fatigue in the last hour is part of the result; the real time limit; no notes; and a mix of questions in exam order rather than grouped by topic. It also means sitting it once, honestly. A candidate who looks up answers during a practice exam learns less than one who gets them wrong and studies why. Lucia keeps the answer key locked away until the papers are in, and she marks by topic as well as overall, because a total of 78 percent can hide a topic at 50 percent.

The program below is a small version of what Lucia does. It holds a handful of original practice questions, each tagged with a topic, scores a set of answers, and prints a report by topic with the ones below the pass mark flagged. The real bank has hundreds of questions; the logic is the same. Devon used it every week of his study with fresh questions, and by week nine the topic report was the first thing he looked at after every set.

# A tiny practice exam runner with a report by topic
bank = [
    ('safety',   'Which gas test is done first before confined space entry?', ['oxygen', 'flammable', 'toxic', 'temperature'], 0),
    ('cutting',  'Oxyfuel cutting works on which metal?', ['stainless steel', 'aluminum', 'carbon steel', 'copper'], 2),
    ('cutting',  'Strongly curved drag lines mean the travel was:', ['too slow', 'too fast', 'correct', 'stopped'], 1),
    ('SMAW',     'What does the 2 in E7024 mean?', ['all positions', 'flat and horizontal fillets', 'vertical down', 'DCEN only'], 1),
    ('SMAW',     'Which electrode must not be oven-dried hot?', ['E7018', 'E6010', 'E7018-1', 'E7016'], 1),
    ('wire',     'On a CV machine, current mainly follows:', ['voltage', 'wire feed speed', 'gas flow', 'cable size'], 1),
    ('GTAW',     'Aluminum GTAW uses which current?', ['DCEN', 'DCEP', 'AC', 'any'], 2),
    ('metallurgy', 'Hydrogen cracking needs hard structure, hydrogen and:', ['stress', 'argon', 'AC', 'slag'], 0),
    ('layout',   'A fillet symbol below the reference line is on the:', ['other side', 'arrow side', 'both sides', 'field'], 1),
    ('layout',   'Equal-leg fillet throat is the leg times:', ['0.5', '0.707', '1.0', '1.414'], 1),
    ('codes',    'In a code, should means:', ['required', 'recommended', 'permitted', 'forbidden'], 1),
    ('codes',    'Which NDE method is not used on austenitic stainless?', ['penetrant', 'magnetic particle', 'radiography', 'visual'], 1),
]
answers = [0, 2, 0, 1, 1, 1, 2, 0, 1, 2, 1, 1]   # Devon's answers in his first practice set
PASS = 0.70
by_topic = {}
for (topic, q, opts, key), a in zip(bank, answers):
    right, total = by_topic.get(topic, (0, 0))
    by_topic[topic] = (right + (a == key), total + 1)
score = sum(r for r, _ in by_topic.values()) / len(bank)
print(f"overall {score:.0%} ({'pass' if score >= PASS else 'below pass'})")
for topic, (r, t) in by_topic.items():
    flag = '' if r / t >= PASS else '   <- study'
    print(f"  {topic:<11} {r}/{t}{flag}")

overall 83% (pass)
  safety      1/1
  cutting     1/2   <- study
  SMAW        2/2
  wire        1/1
  GTAW        1/1
  metallurgy  1/1
  layout      1/2   <- study
  codes       2/2

Devon's early answers show the pattern from his self-assessment in lesson 2: a miss on drag lines in cutting, a miss on fillet throat in layout, the rest right. In the full practice exam in week nine the pattern has shifted. His layout score has climbed past the pass mark after Raj's floor session, and his weakest topic is now submerged arc, where he missed two of five. That is not a reason for alarm, because submerged arc carries few marks, but it is where his last week's flashcards go.

Reviewing wrong answers

Every wrong answer belongs to one of four kinds, and each needs a different fix. A knowledge gap means you did not know the fact or method: go back to the course lesson and learn it, then make a flashcard. A misread means you knew the answer but read the question wrongly, missing a not or except, or answering a question that was not asked: slow down on the stem and underline the key words. A calculation slip means the method was right but the arithmetic or units were wrong: redo it, and on the real exam check units before choosing. A second-guess means your first answer was right and you changed it: trust a first answer unless you find a fact that disproves it.

Lucia makes each of them sort their wrong answers into the four kinds. Devon's eleven wrong answers break down into five knowledge gaps, three misreads, two calculation slips and one second-guess. Aisha's are mostly misreads, which surprises her until she sees that four of them had the word not in the stem. Mateo has almost no misreads but several knowledge gaps in gas tungsten arc. The fix for each person is different, and that is the point of sorting.

The final week

The last week before his pipe test is light. Devon does twenty mixed questions each evening, reviews the flashcards still in boxes one and two, rereads the summaries at the end of each lesson in this course, runs two practice pipe coupons and does nothing new. He checks the facility's instructions: identification, arrival time, what to bring. The night before, he packs his gear and goes to bed early. On the day the 6G coupon goes well and passes its bends. A month later his apprenticeship ends: his hours are complete, his school finals are passed with an 84 percent average, and he holds AWS certifications in stick plate and pipe and Hartwell's code qualifications. Devon is a journey-level welder.

Where the trade can lead

A certificate is a beginning. Marta's last session for the group, on the Monday after the exam, is about careers. Welding opens into many paths, and each builds on different strengths. Production and structural welders work in shops like Hartwell on steady schedules. Pipe welders, especially those qualified for high-pressure pipe and pipelines, earn more and often travel. Pressure welders on boilers and vessels work in power plants, refineries and pulp mills, often on shutdowns with long hours and short schedules. Specialty welders in stainless, aluminum, titanium or exotic alloys serve food, pharmaceutical, aerospace and research customers. Some welders move into fitting, fabrication or layout; others into supervision, inspection, teaching or sales.

Inspection is a natural next step for many. AWS certifies welding inspectors as Certified Welding Inspectors after experience requirements and a three-part exam; Lucia started that way after twelve years on the tools. NDT is a separate path, usually certified by employers under ASNT's practices. Supervision is another: AWS's Certified Welding Supervisor credential recognizes it, and Glen Teskey moved from welder to supervisor that way. Teaching in a college or trade school usually needs journey-level credentials and several years of experience, and many schools look for AWS Certified Welding Educator status. And welding engineering technology degrees open the door to procedure writing and quality roles.

# Comparing career paths over five years (illustrative numbers only)
paths = [('structural shop welder', 26.00, 2000, 'none', 0), ('pipe welder (shutdowns)', 36.00, 2300, 'often', 6000), ('pressure welder (plants)', 33.00, 2200, 'some', 3000), ('welding inspector (CWI)', 34.00, 2000, 'some', 9000), ('trade school instructor', 30.00, 1800, 'none', 4000)]
YEARS = 5
for name, rate, hours, travel, training_cost in paths:
    income = rate * hours * YEARS - training_cost
    print(f"{name:<28} {rate:>6.2f}/h x {hours:>5} h/yr  ~{income:>10,.0f} over {YEARS} yr  travel: {travel}")
print('rates, hours and costs are invented for comparison; check current local data before deciding')

structural shop welder        26.00/h x  2000 h/yr  ~   260,000 over 5 yr  travel: none
pipe welder (shutdowns)       36.00/h x  2300 h/yr  ~   408,000 over 5 yr  travel: often
pressure welder (plants)      33.00/h x  2200 h/yr  ~   360,000 over 5 yr  travel: some
welding inspector (CWI)       34.00/h x  2000 h/yr  ~   331,000 over 5 yr  travel: some
trade school instructor       30.00/h x  1800 h/yr  ~   266,000 over 5 yr  travel: none
rates, hours and costs are invented for comparison; check current local data before deciding

The numbers in the program are invented to show the trade-offs, not to predict pay: the pipe welder's higher rate and longer hours come with travel and the cost of extra certifications, and the inspector's path has a training and exam cost up front. For real data, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics put the national median pay for welders, cutters, solderers and brazers at about 53,750 dollars a year in 2025, with wide variation by region, industry and skill, and union agreements set rates for many pipe and pressure jobs.

Keeping records and keeping current

Every career path rewards good records. A welder's own file should hold the certificate, every qualification and test record, continuity records, training certificates, the logbook of hours, safety tickets such as fall protection and confined space, and references. A record that can be shown on the first morning of a new job saves a retest and sometimes a week. Devon starts his file the day his result arrives, and the program below is the tracker he uses for hours and expiries, adapted from the continuity tracker in WLD-330.

# Personal record tracker: hours and expiries
from datetime import date, timedelta
today = date(2026, 12, 14)
hours = {'year 1': 1560, 'year 2': 1560, 'year 3': 1610}
print(f"total logged hours: {sum(hours.values()):,}")
items = [('AWS SMAW plate continuity', date(2026, 11, 20), 180), ('fall protection', date(2024, 3, 2), 1095), ('confined space entry', date(2025, 1, 15), 1095), ('first aid', date(2024, 2, 1), 1095), ('Section IX SMAW continuity', date(2026, 10, 28), 182)]
for name, issued, valid_days in items:
    due = issued + timedelta(days=valid_days)
    left = (due - today).days
    status = 'EXPIRED' if left < 0 else 'renew soon' if left < 60 else 'current'
    print(f"{name:<32} due {due}  {status}")

total logged hours: 4,730
AWS SMAW plate continuity        due 2027-05-19  current
fall protection                  due 2027-03-02  current
confined space entry             due 2028-01-15  current
first aid                        due 2027-01-31  renew soon
Section IX SMAW continuity       due 2027-04-28  current

The tracker shows his first aid due for renewal soon and everything else current. The validity periods in it are examples; each certificate states its own. Staying current also means learning. Codes change on their own cycles, processes change with the machines, and the welders who keep their careers longest are the ones who keep reading the box, the procedure and the code.

Marta's final session ends with a short speech. She tells the group that the tests showed whether Devon could do the trade, and that the trade will spend the next forty years testing whether he keeps learning it. Then she hands Aisha the SENSE printout, because her tests are next year, and the study group starts again.