How To Become A Steel Grinder: What It Is and Career Path

What is a steel grinder 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 steel grinder. For example, did you know that they make an average of $15.64 an hour? That's $32,522 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -5% and produce -45,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreSteel GrinderUS Average

Salary

2.5

Avg. Salary $32,522

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.0

Growth rate -5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.03%

Asian 2.68%

Black or African American 7.22%

Hispanic or Latino 14.85%

Unknown 4.74%

White 69.48%

Gender

female 5.22%

male 94.78%

Age - 46

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 - 46

Stress level

6.0

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.5

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.3

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a steel grinder

Explore steel grinder education requirements

Most common steel grinder degrees

High School Diploma

65.5 %

Diploma

16.4 %

Associate

9.1 %

Start to develop specific steel grinder skills

Skills	Percentages
Grinders	49.25%
BARS	27.37%
Stainless Steel	12.69%
Machine Operation	10.69%

Complete relevant steel grinder training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New steel grinders 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 steel grinder based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real steel grinder resumes.

Research steel grinder duties and responsibilities

Grind out surface defects using portable grinders ,
Grind and smooth top & bottom surfaces of various car rims using air/electric hand power disk and wheel grinders.
Calculate dimensions and tolerances using knowledge of mathematics and instruments such as micrometers and vernier calipers.
Machine rolls to precision tolerance and desire finish while operating an OD grinder.

Prepare your steel grinder resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable steel grinder resume templates

Build a professional steel grinder 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 steel grinder resume.