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

What is a millwright/welder and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

A Millwright is a highly skilled worker responsible for assembling, installing, dismantling, repairing, and maintaining machinery in their area of work. In order to be successful at their jobs, Millwrights must have a very good understanding of how the machines operate so that they can efficiently install or repair them.

For machine installations, they need to be able to analyze and interpret blueprints and layout plans to ensure that it works properly. Millwrights usually work in an array of industries, including factories, construction sites, power plants, mining sites, etc.

The day-to-day duties of a millwright include regular checkup and maintenance of machinery, assembling and disassembly of machinery, repair of malfunctioned machines, and ensuring the safety of machines for use. A millwright should have essential skills, including industrial math skills, blueprint reading skills, analytical skills, and attention to detail.

A millwright should also have physical strength since the job involves carrying heavy objects. Most millwrights work in different locations. Therefore, the job involves traveling from one location to another. The typical workweek is usually 40 hours but may occasionally go beyond this, especially when handling complex machines.

ScoreMillwright/WelderUS Average

Salary

2.9

Avg. Salary $37,213

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.8

Growth rate 2%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.61%

Asian 2.66%

Black or African American 10.45%

Hispanic or Latino 17.69%

Unknown 3.98%

White 63.62%

Gender

female 2.22%

male 97.78%

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

8.1

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.9

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a millwright/welder

Explore millwright/welder education requirements

Most common millwright/welder degrees

High School Diploma

42.7 %

Associate

20.9 %

Diploma

17.5 %

Start to develop specific millwright/welder skills

Skills	Percentages
MIG	9.72%
Safety Regulations	7.10%
Conveyor Systems	6.52%
Preventative Maintenance	5.19%
Hand Tools	4.68%

Complete relevant millwright/welder training and internships

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

Research millwright/welder duties and responsibilities

Fabricate and weld various item such as large furnaces used in aluminum smelter process using both mig and stick welders.
press breaks, plasma cutters, CNC, and all hand and power tools need for the job.
Used jigs and fixtures to weld stainless steel parts for refrigerate semi-truck trailers.
Install and fabricate air, water and high pressure steam 4"steel piping using SMAW.

Prepare your millwright/welder resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your millwright/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 millwright/welder resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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