A lead welder heads a team of welders on a specific project. Welders design, cut, and join metal parts to create new structures and tools. Their jobs are invaluable to any project that requires metal, either it's an apartment complex or a steel gate. Welders use specialized equipment that converts electricity to heat, bonding metal pieces. The job is potentially dangerous and requires skill.
A lead welder's day-to-day may change, depending on the project and team size. He or she may create a work plan for the day, supervise team members' work, and meet with clients. Lead welders may also be involved in finding new contracts for the welding team and hiring or firing welders.
Welding is a technical profession, so you need to attend a school of vocation. Skills necessary for the position of lead welder include physical strength, communication and precision
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a lead welder. For example, did you know that they make an average of $24.45 an hour? That's $50,851 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 3% and produce 14,500 job opportunities across the U.S.
There are certain skills that many lead welders have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed detail oriented, manual dexterity and physical strength.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a lead welder, we found that a lot of resumes listed 10.1% of lead welders included safety rules, while 8.9% of resumes included stainless steel, and 8.3% of resumes included aluminum. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the lead welder job title. But what industry to start with? Most lead welders actually find jobs in the manufacturing and construction industries.
If you're interested in becoming a lead welder, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 6.9% of lead welders have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 1.8% of lead welders have master's degrees. Even though some lead welders have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a lead welder. When we researched the most common majors for a lead welder, we found that they most commonly earn high school diploma degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on lead welder resumes include diploma degrees or bachelor's degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a lead welder. In fact, many lead welder jobs require experience in a role such as welder. Meanwhile, many lead welders also have previous career experience in roles such as welder fitter or pipe welder.