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Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers
Use hand-welding, flame-cutting, hand-soldering, or brazing equipment to weld or join metal components or to fill holes, indentations, or seams of fabricated metal products.
Other titles employers use
Assembly Line Brazer · Brazer · Fabrication Welder · Maintenance Welder · MIG Welder (Metal Inert Gas Welder) · Solderer · TIG Welder (Tungsten Inert Gas Welder) · Welder
Inside the work
What you would actually do.
6 responsibilities that define the role, before job titles and workplaces change the details.
- Operate safety equipment and use safe work habits.
- Examine workpieces for defects and measure workpieces with straightedges or templates to ensure conformance with specifications.
- Weld components in flat, vertical, or overhead positions.
- Detect faulty operation of equipment or defective materials and notify supervisors.
- Recognize, set up, and operate hand and power tools common to the welding trade, such as shielded metal arc and gas metal arc welding equipment.
- Select and install torches, torch tips, filler rods, and flux, according to welding chart specifications or types and thicknesses of metals.
Who it suits
Would this work hold your attention?
This career often appeals to people drawn to practical and organizing work.
- Practical
- Building, repairing, using tools, or working outdoors
- Organizing
- Creating order, checking details, and keeping work accurate
Skills and strengths
What you would get good at.
Compare the skills the work relies on, the subjects behind it, and the abilities that make it easier to learn.
Core skills
- Quality Control Analysis
- Monitoring
Subjects to know
- Production and Processing
- Mechanical
Useful strengths
- Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Near Vision
- Problem Sensitivity
- Finger Dexterity
- Manual Dexterity
Working day
Picture yourself doing it.
These measures show how much of the day involves people, movement, conversation, and hands-on work.
| Measure | Out of 5 | What that means here |
|---|---|---|
| Close to other people | 3.3 | Shared rooms, but not shoulder to shoulder |
| On your feet | 3.5 | Up and down through the day |
| Talking face to face | 4.3 | A regular part of the day |
| Working with your hands | 4.5 | Handling tools, instruments or materials |
Preparation
How people prepare for this work.
Employers usually ask for a high school diploma. Other routes may also lead into the field.
- High school or less 74%
- A certificate or some college 23%
- A two-year degree 2%
Tools of the work
Technology you may use.
- Electronic mail software
- Data base user interface and query software
- Spreadsheet software
- Office suite software
- Operating system software
- Analytical or scientific software
- Computer aided design CAD software
- Calendar and scheduling software
Opportunity near you
See where this work is growing.
Choose a state to compare the size of the field, annual openings, and expected hiring change.
- People doing this work
- 55,510
- Job openings each year
- 5,640
- Expected hiring change, 2022–2032
- 10.7%
Compare every available state
| State | People doing it | Job openings each year | Expected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 55,510 | 5,640 | 10.7% |
| California | 31,600 | 3,150 | 6.8% |
| Wisconsin | 20,690 | 2,090 | 9.3% |
| Ohio | 19,470 | 1,900 | 1.9% |
| Pennsylvania | 17,640 | 1,720 | 2.4% |
| Illinois | 17,030 | 1,680 | 4.6% |
| Florida | 16,880 | 1,720 | 11.1% |
| Georgia | 16,580 | 1,720 | 16.7% |
| Indiana | 15,750 | 1,560 | 5.4% |
| Tennessee | 15,710 | 1,610 | 12.7% |
| North Carolina | 14,950 | 1,520 | 10.6% |
| Michigan | 14,020 | 1,350 | — |
| Louisiana | 12,580 | 1,270 | 9.9% |
| Alabama | 11,180 | 1,140 | 10.5% |
| Minnesota | 10,600 | 1,060 | 6.1% |
| Virginia | 10,530 | 1,050 | 7.1% |
| Missouri | 10,450 | 1,020 | 1.3% |
| South Carolina | 9,800 | 990 | 9.5% |
| Oklahoma | 9,740 | 950 | 2.3% |
| Iowa | 9,400 | 950 | 8.4% |
| New York | 8,880 | 0 | −6.9% |
| Washington | 8,730 | 910 | 4.6% |
| Kentucky | 8,270 | 830 | 8.1% |
| Arizona | 7,730 | 800 | 14.7% |
| Kansas | 7,180 | 720 | 6.8% |
| Mississippi | 7,060 | 720 | 12.6% |
| Arkansas | 6,520 | 660 | 8.7% |
| Colorado | 5,930 | 600 | 8.8% |
| Oregon | 5,330 | 550 | 15.1% |
| Utah | 5,050 | 530 | 21.4% |
| Nebraska | 4,690 | 470 | 7.3% |
| New Jersey | 4,350 | 430 | 5.3% |
| Idaho | 4,140 | 440 | 24.7% |
| South Dakota | 3,800 | 390 | 11.4% |
| Maryland | 3,490 | 340 | 2.6% |
| North Dakota | 2,890 | 290 | 11.6% |
| Connecticut | 2,700 | 270 | 12.0% |
| West Virginia | 2,430 | 240 | 5.2% |
| Wyoming | 2,410 | 250 | 13.7% |
| Rhode Island | 2,360 | 250 | 18.0% |
| New Mexico | 2,210 | 230 | 13.9% |
| Nevada | 1,940 | 200 | 12.8% |
| Maine | 1,910 | 180 | −3.5% |
| Montana | 1,860 | 190 | 13.4% |
| Puerto Rico | 1,370 | 140 | 7.9% |
| Massachusetts | 1,300 | 130 | 4.0% |
| New Hampshire | 1,300 | 130 | 6.6% |
| Alaska | 850 | 90 | 18.1% |
| Delaware | 670 | 70 | 6.3% |
| Vermont | 360 | 40 | — |
| Guam | 170 | 20 | — |
| District of Columbia | 140 | 10 | 7.7% |
| Virgin Islands | 60 | 10 | 20.0% |
Career to college
Build a path toward this work.
Start with a related major, then compare colleges where students complete that field.
Where to study
Colleges with strong activity in these fields.
Start with program size, admission, and likely cost. Open a college for the full picture.
East Carolina University
- Degrees each year
- 193
- Admit rate
- 90%
- Annual cost after aid
- $15,000
Purdue University-Main Campus
- Degrees each year
- 124
- Admit rate
- 50%
- Annual cost after aid
- $9,000
Texas A & M University-College Station
- Degrees each year
- 104
- Admit rate
- 63%
- Annual cost after aid
- $17,000
Ferris State University
- Degrees each year
- 86
- Admit rate
- 81%
- Annual cost after aid
- $8,000
Mississippi State University
- Degrees each year
- 76
- Admit rate
- 76%
- Annual cost after aid
- $19,000
University of Southern Mississippi
- Degrees each year
- 69
- Admit rate
- 99%
- Annual cost after aid
- $23,000
University of Wisconsin-Platteville
- Degrees each year
- 58
- Admit rate
- 87%
- Annual cost after aid
- $12,000
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
- Degrees each year
- 57
- Admit rate
- 90%
- Annual cost after aid
- $10,000
Compare every college offering industrial production technologies/technicians