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

What is a metal welder and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a metal welder. For example, did you know that they make an average of $17.65 an hour? That's $36,706 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 2% and produce 6,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreMetal WelderUS Average

Salary

2.9

Avg. Salary $36,706

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.8

Growth rate 2%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.59%

Asian 2.62%

Black or African American 9.97%

Hispanic or Latino 17.83%

Unknown 3.97%

White 64.02%

Gender

female 3.66%

male 96.34%

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 metal welder

Explore metal welder education requirements

Most common metal welder degrees

High School Diploma

42.2 %

Associate

20.3 %

Diploma

17.2 %

Start to develop specific metal welder skills

Skills	Percentages
MIG	22.30%
Hand Tools	11.54%
Arc Welding	10.00%
Stainless Steel	9.54%
Tack	8.58%

Complete relevant metal welder training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New metal 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 metal welder based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real metal welder resumes.

Research metal welder duties and responsibilities

Manage and run production parts through the brake.
Fabricate various jigs for various stools and chairs, school desks and cages.
Set up jigs to weld pallets for individual orders, also mark measured and stamp material for jobs.
Perform MIG and stick welds and erecting structural steel utilize for building skeletons including specific/ detail measurements for accuracy.

Prepare your metal welder resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your metal 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 metal 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 metal welder resume templates

Build a professional metal 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 metal welder resume.