How To Become A Combination Welder: What It Is and Career Path

What is a combination welder and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

A combination welder or combo welder joins metals together using welding equipment. The process of combo welding may also involve preparing the materials to be welded together. The combo welder also manages and maintains welding equipment like the welding torch, thermal cutters, and grinders and ensure they are always in optimal working condition. Usually, combo welders don't specialize in any particular welding type. However, they may use processes like arc welding and oxy-fuel welding to join various metal components together. Combo welders may also work on fabrication projects and may also be called to repair holes and cracks in various metal products.

The specific responsibilities of a combo welder may vary from one role to the other. Regardless, they are expected to have an idea of different methods of welding, including TIG, MIG, Flux Core, and Stick Welding. This means a combo welder must have undergone a significant amount of training in all of these welding types. Dexterity and physical strengths are also needed for this role. The average annual salary of a combination welder is $42,740.

ScoreCombination WelderUS Average

Salary

3.5

Avg. Salary $45,432

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.8

Growth rate 2%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.58%

Asian 2.60%

Black or African American 9.76%

Hispanic or Latino 24.32%

Unknown 3.96%

White 57.77%

Gender

female 3.30%

male 96.70%

Age - 40

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40

Stress level

5.8

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.7

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.9

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a combination welder

Explore combination welder education requirements

Most common combination welder degrees

High School Diploma

36.2 %

Diploma

21.0 %

Associate

20.2 %

Start to develop specific combination welder skills

Skills	Percentages
Arc Welding	13.59%
Tack	9.50%
Minor Maintenance	6.70%
MIG	6.44%
Gmaw Welding	4.59%

Complete relevant combination welder training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New combination welders learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a combination welder based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real combination welder resumes.

Research combination welder duties and responsibilities

Fitter-Qualify in SMAW, FCAW, GMAW, as per AWS D1.1.
Repair wrecked tank cars using plasma, torches, welders, and air arc.
Fabricate numerous shop projects using all processes in variety of positions on carbon, aluminum, and stainless.
Assist lead welder in various welding, brazing, grinding, thermal, gouging, and arc cutting operations.

Prepare your combination welder resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your combination welder resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a combination welder resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable combination welder resume templates

Build a professional combination welder resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your combination welder resume.