How to become a welder, 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.
Steps to get there
Most employers expect usually requires a high school diploma or ged, though some occupations may not..Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
What welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers do
- Operate safety equipment and use safe work habits.
- 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.
- Prepare all material surfaces to be welded, ensuring that there is no loose or thick scale, slag, rust, moisture, grease, or other foreign matter.
- Examine workpieces for defects and measure workpieces with straightedges or templates to ensure conformance with specifications.
- Weld components in flat, vertical, or overhead positions.
- Mark or tag material with proper job number, piece marks, and other identifying marks as required.
Skills that matter most
- Monitoring
- Critical Thinking
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Learning
- Mathematics
- Learning Strategies
Is welder, cutters, solderers, and brazers a good career?
On the numbers, this job is close to the average across occupations. Median pay is 5% above the all-occupation median. Whether it fits you depends on the work itself, the schooling you are willing to do and where you want to live.
Where it pays most
- Alaska $80,840
- Hawaii $79,000
- Connecticut $64,880
- Wyoming $63,820
- Washington $63,020
Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers salary by state and city
Sources: O*NET® 31.0 (CC BY 4.0, USDOL/ETA) and BLS Employment Projections 2025–35. Pay: BLS OEWS May 2025.