Production
Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers
Also called: Assembly Line Brazer, Brazer, Fabrication Welder, Maintenance Welder
US median pay
$53,750
per year, 2025
Job growth 2025–35
+2.4%
about average or slower
Openings a year (US)
40,300
437,700 employed
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
Preparation 2/5 · Some preparation
What this job is
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.
What they do day to day
- 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.
- Mark or tag material with proper job number, piece marks, and other identifying marks as required.
- Determine required equipment and welding methods, applying knowledge of metallurgy, geometry, and welding techniques.
- Prepare all material surfaces to be welded, ensuring that there is no loose or thick scale, slag, rust, moisture, grease, or other foreign matter.
- Align and clamp workpieces together, using rules, squares, or hand tools, or position items in fixtures, jigs, or vises.
Skills and knowledge that matter most
Skills
- Quality Control Analysis3.1/5
- Judgment and Decision Making2.9/5
- Time Management2.8/5
- Operations Monitoring2.8/5
- Operation and Control2.6/5
- Troubleshooting2.5/5
- Complex Problem Solving2.5/5
- Coordination2.4/5
Knowledge
- Production and Processing3.5/5
- Mechanical3.1/5
- Mathematics2.9/5
- English Language2.9/5
- Design2.8/5
- Engineering and Technology2.6/5
Importance rated by people working in the job (1 = not important, 5 = extremely important).
Education and preparation
Preparation level 2 of 5 — Some preparation. Usually a high school diploma; some previous work experience or training helps.
Typical entry education (BLS): High school diploma or equivalent.
Highest education of people in this job:
- High school diploma54%
- Less than high school21%
- Post-secondary certificate12%
Who this job suits
Mostly Realistic
Hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals
Conventional
Organising data, details and procedures
Based on the Holland (RIASEC) interest profile for this occupation.