How To Become A Welding Lead Burner: What It Is and Career Path

What is a welding lead burner and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a welding lead burner. For example, did you know that they make an average of $22.39 an hour? That's $46,563 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 2% and produce 6,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreWelding Lead BurnerUS Average

Salary

3.6

Avg. Salary $46,563

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.8

Growth rate 2%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.60%

Asian 2.65%

Black or African American 10.36%

Hispanic or Latino 17.71%

Unknown 3.98%

White 63.69%

Gender

female 2.06%

male 97.94%

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 welding lead burner

Explore welding lead burner education requirements

Most common welding lead burner degrees

High School Diploma

41.9 %

Associate

22.6 %

Diploma

12.9 %

Start to develop specific welding lead burner skills

Skills	Percentages
MIG	23.04%
Plasma Arc	15.04%
Safety Equipment	13.51%
Arc Welding	9.82%
Overhead Positions	9.56%

Complete relevant welding lead burner training and internships

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

Research welding lead burner duties and responsibilities

Manage process selection according to material specifications, as well as WPS and PQR.
Change parts on HAAS auto lath and VF model CNC.
Used propane and oxygen torches to cut metal into smaller pieces.
Operate oxygen acetylene torches and plasma cutters.

Get welding lead burner experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a welding lead burner. The most common roles before becoming a welding lead burner include welder, welder fitter team lead and heavy equipment operator.

Prepare your welding lead burner resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable welding lead burner resume templates

Build a professional welding lead burner 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 welding lead burner resume.