Welder

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Work Tasks

• Use heat to join metal pieces together
• Plan their work from drawings, specifications, or by looking at damaged metal
• Help build ships, cars, bridges, buildings, and other metal structures
• May use a welding machine to do repetitive work
• Work inside or outside, in the manufacture of transportation equipment, agricultural, mining, and construction machinery, and architectural and structural metals
• Work with steel, aluminum, and other metals; protective clothing, goggles, and helmets; drawings, blueprints, specifications, and electric, resistance, gas, laser beam, electron beam, and inertia welding equipment

Salary, Size & Growth

• $39,000 average per year ($18.75 per hour)
• A large occupation (352,800 workers in 2010)
• Expected to decline (0.2% per year)

Education/Training

• Minimum for Entry: Training in welding
• Employers Prefer: A 2-year degree in welding technology
• Skills/Courses: Courses in blueprint reading, shop math, mechanical drawing, physics, chemistry, metallurgy, and computers
• Certification/Licensing: Certification is available.