On this page
- Resume guide for a welder resume
- How to write a welder resume
- Choosing the best resume format for a welder resume
- Include your contact information
- Make use of a summary
- Right vs wrong: the same welder summary, twice
- Outline your welding experience
- Process, position and procedure: your qualification record is the resume
- Build a snapshot of your key skills
- List your education and certifications
- Choose the right layout and design
- Welder job market and outlook
- What salary you can expect as a welder
- Key takeaways for a welder resume
- Related production resume examples
- FAQ
In short, a welder resume is a one to two page document built around one thing: the qualification record. Processes, positions in code letters, base materials and thicknesses, the code you tested to, and the date that proves it is still live.
Nobody hires a welder in general. That is because a shop hires against a specific welding procedure specification, and the only question in the foreman's head while he reads your file is whether you are already qualified to run it or whether he has to pay for a test to find out.
Resume guide for a welder resume
Specifically, this guide and the corresponding welder resume example will cover:
- First, how to write a welder resume, section by section
- How to write your qualification record so a foreman can read it in four seconds
- Next, three adaptable summaries: structural fitter, pipe welder and weld shop foreman
- Then what the AWS Certified Welder credential is, and why continuity keeps it alive
- Finally, what the trade pays and where the work sits
How to write a welder resume
Overall, five sections: contact header, summary, qualification record, work experience, and education with certifications. In general, one page for your first ten years. Then two once you run a shop, hold procedure documentation or train testers.
Above all, the qualification record goes directly under the summary, above experience. After all, it is the only block a hiring foreman is guaranteed to read, and burying it inside job bullets is the single most common mistake on a welding resume.
SectionWhat it is answeringWhere it goes
- Qualification recordCan this person run our WPS without a retest?Directly under the summary
- Work experienceWhat have they built, in what materials, to what code?Reverse chronological
- Fitting and layoutCan they set up work, or only burn rod?Inside experience bullets
- CertificationsIs the paperwork current?With dates and the test facility
Write the four variables in one line, not four paragraphs
A welding qualification has four variables: process, position, base material and thickness, and the code the test was run to. Put them on one line each and a foreman reads your whole scope in seconds.
"GTAW and SMAW, 6G, carbon steel and 316L stainless pipe, tested to ASME Section IX, current."
Compare with "experienced welder proficient in multiple welding processes with a strong safety record". The second version forces the foreman to schedule a test to find out what the first version already told him, which is why the first version gets called first.
Run the finished file through the free ATS resume checker before you send it. Large fabricators and mechanical contractors run applications through a parser, and a qualification table in two columns is exactly what a parser scrambles.
Choosing the best resume format for a welder resume
In other words, reverse chronological, with the qualification record hoisted to the top as its own block. Of course, that hybrid is standard in the trade and no foreman finds it odd.
Do not use a functional format. However, welding hiring is suspicious of gaps for a specific reason: continuity of qualification. A format that hides when you were welding also hides whether you have been welding, and that is the question the format is being asked.
Include your contact information
Emiliano Zabala
Pipe Welder, 6G, GTAW and SMAW, ASME Section IXAWS Certified Welder, maintenance current to September 2026(719) 555-0166, emiliano.zabala@example.com, Pueblo, COEmiliano Zabala
Hardworking welder with great work ethicAWS certified(719) 555-0166, sparky_emiliano@example.comThe second line is doing more work than the rest of the page. Process, position, code. For example, a foreman scanning twenty files is looking for exactly those three tokens and nothing else.
Make use of a summary
In practice, four lines: your trade and years, the processes and positions, the materials and code, and one number about output or quality.
Structural welder adaptable resume summary example
Pipe welder adaptable resume summary example
Weld shop foreman adaptable resume summary example
Right vs wrong: the same welder summary, twice
In short, the right column can be put on a joint on Monday. The left column has to be tested first, and testing costs the shop money before you have made it any.
Outline your welding experience
Next, employer, what the shop builds, and dates. Then three to five bullets naming the process, the material, the joint type and a number.
- Instead of
Welded various metals using different processes
UseRan FCAW on carbon steel plate from 1/4 in to 1 in, full penetration groove welds to AWS D1.1
- Instead of
Responsible for high quality welds
UseHeld a 2.1% weld repair rate over 14 months across visual and magnetic particle inspection
- Instead of
Read blueprints
UseWorked from fabrication drawings and weld symbols, doing my own fit-up, tacking and bevel prep
- Instead of
Worked on pipe
UseWelded 2 in to 12 in carbon steel and 316L stainless process piping, GTAW root with SMAW fill and cap
- Instead of
Followed safety procedures
UseRan hot work permits, confined space entry and fire watch on live-plant turnaround work
Adaptable resume employment history example
Pipe Welder, Front Range Mechanical Contractors, Colorado Springs, CO, April 2021 to Present. Process and utility piping for food, chemical and municipal water clients.
Weld 2 in to 12 in carbon steel and 316L stainless process piping, GTAW root with SMAW fill and cap, qualified 6G to ASME Section IX.
Held a 97.4% radiographic first-time pass rate across roughly 900 welds on the last two plant turnarounds.
Work shutdowns and turnarounds on live sites, including hot work permits, confined space entry and fire watch, with no recordable incidents in five years.
Do my own layout, bevel prep and fit-up on spool fabrication, working from isometrics and weld maps.
Log every heat number and weld identification against the weld map for the client's turnover package.
Process, position and procedure: your qualification record is the resume
Every other section is context. In fact, this is the section a foreman reads.
Put simply, a welder is not hired as a welder. Instead, a welder is hired against a welding procedure specification, a WPS, which fixes the process, the base metal and thickness range, the filler, the position, the joint design, the preheat and the electrical parameters. Your qualification either falls inside that procedure or it does not. So write your record in the same vocabulary the procedure uses.
Processes, in their code letters. SMAW for stick, GMAW for MIG including short circuit and spray transfer, FCAW self-shielded or gas-shielded, GTAW for TIG. Write the abbreviation and the common name together the first time, then use the abbreviation. Naming four processes when you are genuinely fluent in two is a mistake, because the test will find out.
Positions, in code. Groove welds run 1G flat, 2G horizontal, 3G vertical, 4G overhead, plus 5G and 6G on fixed pipe. Fillet welds run 1F through 4F. Say plate or pipe, because they are not the same test. 6G is the one most pipe shops test on: the pipe is fixed at a 45 degree angle and cannot be rotated, so it puts every position into a single weld.
Welding materials, codes and continuity records
Base materials and thicknesses. Carbon steel, stainless by grade, aluminum by alloy, chrome-moly, duplex. Give the thickness range on plate and the diameter and schedule range on pipe. A shop that runs thin-wall stainless tube has a different problem from one running 1 in structural plate, and both need to see the number.
The code you tested to. AWS D1.1 Structural Welding Code, Steel, is the usual structural test. ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section IX governs procedure and performance qualification on pressure work. Name the code, name the test facility, and give the date.
Adaptable resume qualification record example
Processes: GTAW, SMAW, FCAW gas-shielded, GMAW short circuit and spray
Positions: 6G and 5G on pipe; 1G through 4G groove and 1F through 4F fillet on plate
Materials: carbon steel; 304 and 316L stainless; pipe 1/2 in to 12 in, schedule 10 through schedule 80; plate 3/16 in to 1 in
Codes: ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section IX, performance qualification, current. AWS D1.1 Structural Welding Code, Steel, carbon steel plate.
AWS Certified Welder: tested at an AWS Accredited Test Facility, maintenance documentation submitted and current to September 2026.
Inspection experience: radiographic, ultrasonic, magnetic particle and dye penetrant testing on my own work; weld map and heat number logging for turnover packages.
Then the part almost nobody writes down, and the part that makes the whole block worth something.
A lapsed continuity record turns a certification line into decoration
The AWS Certified Welder program is strictly performance-based. There is no prerequisite course. You take a hands-on test at an AWS Accredited Test Facility, and the test is judged by an AWS Certified Welding Inspector. Testing follows the AWS QC47 specification and AWS Standard Welding Procedure Specifications, and some facilities will test you to an employer's own procedure instead (American Welding Society program page, read 12 September 2026).
The part that catches people out is what happens afterwards. AWS states that to keep the certification active, the welder must submit certification maintenance documentation every six months confirming that they continue to perform the process for which they were certified (AWS, September 2026).
So a resume line reading "AWS Certified Welder, 2019" is worth almost nothing on its own. A hiring foreman reads it and immediately wonders whether the maintenance has been filed since. Write the currency instead: "AWS Certified Welder, GTAW and SMAW, maintenance documentation current to September 2026." One clause, and the question is closed.
The same logic applies to employer and code qualifications. If you have been off a process for a long stretch, say what you have been doing and say you are ready to retest. Foremen respect that answer. They do not respect finding out on the test coupon.
Also, the negative case, which is worth stating plainly. "Certified welder" with no process, no position and no code named tells a shop nothing at all. It cannot be matched to a procedure, it cannot be verified, and the reader has to assume the least favorable interpretation, because the applicants who could name their scope did.
Build a snapshot of your key skills
In addition, ten to fourteen entries in three groups: processes and equipment, fabrication skills, and site skills.
Adaptable resume skills example
Processes and equipment: GTAW, SMAW, FCAW, GMAW, oxy-fuel and plasma cutting, carbon arc gouging, orbital tube welding, inverter and engine-driven machines
Fabrication: Blueprint and isometric reading, weld symbols, layout and bevel prep, fit-up and tacking, pipe fitting, grinding and finishing, preheat and interpass temperature control
Quality and inspection: Visual inspection, weld map and heat number logging, working alongside radiographic, ultrasonic, magnetic particle and dye penetrant testing, WPS and PQR documentation
Site: Hot work permits, confined space entry, fire watch, rigging and signaling, aerial lift, turnaround and shutdown work
List your education and certifications
Certifications with dates and the testing facility, then the trade program, then the safety cards.
Adaptable resume education and certification example
AWS Certified Welder, American Welding Society, tested at an AWS Accredited Test Facility, GTAW and SMAW; maintenance documentation current to September 2026
ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section IX performance qualification, 6G, carbon steel and 316L stainless, employer-held, requalified 2025
AWS D1.1 Structural Welding Code, Steel, carbon steel plate, 3G and 4G, 2018
Associate of Applied Science, Welding Technology, Pueblo Community College, Pueblo, CO, 2017
OSHA 30-hour Construction, 2023. Confined space entry and rescue awareness, 2024. First aid and CPR, 2025.
Choose the right layout and design
Finally, single column, 11 or 12 point, no photograph, no graphics, no skill bars. Put the qualification record in plain labeled lines rather than a table, because that is the block you cannot afford to lose to a parser.
Do
- Write processes in their code letters and positions in their code numbers.
- Say plate or pipe.
- Give material grades, thickness and diameter ranges.
- Name the code you tested to and the date.
- State the currency of your AWS maintenance documentation.
- Say whether you do your own fit-up and bevel prep.
- Give a repair rate or a radiographic pass rate if you have one.
Don’t
- Do not write "certified welder" with nothing after it.
- Do not list a process you cannot pass a test on today.
- Do not hide dates, because continuity is exactly what the reader is checking.
- Do not put your qualification record in a two-column table on a file going through a portal.
- Do not claim a code qualification that was held by a previous employer without saying so.
Welder job market and outlook
A large trade with slow growth and steady replacement demand, concentrated in manufacturing but paid best outside it.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Welder, cutter, solderer and brazer jobs, 2025 | 437,700 |
| Projected jobs, 2035 | 448,100 |
| Projected change, 2025 to 2035 | 2% (slower than average), +10,300 |
| Projected annual openings | ~40,300 |
| Typical entry-level education | High school diploma or equivalent |
| Median annual wage, May 2025 | $53,750 ($25.84 per hour) |
Most welders work in manufacturing; the best paid ones do not
Manufacturing employs 63 percent of welders, cutters, solderers and brazers. Specialty trade contractors account for 8 percent, self-employed welders 4 percent, and repair and maintenance 4 percent (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025).
The pay ranking is close to inverted. Specialty trade contractors pay a median of $59,440, repair and maintenance $56,080, and manufacturing $51,210 (BLS, May 2025).
That is a gap of $8,230 a year between the largest employer of welders and the best paying one. The work in the higher band is field and contract work: mechanical piping, structural erection, plant maintenance and turnarounds, and it is gated almost entirely by position and code qualification rather than by years served. A shop welder with 3G plate qualification and a pipe welder with a current 6G ticket are in different markets, and moving between them is a test, not a promotion.
What salary you can expect as a welder
First of all, the median annual wage for welders, cutters, solderers and brazers was $53,750, or $25.84 an hour, as of May 2025. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $39,240 and the highest 10 percent more than $77,530 (BLS, May 2025).
For comparison, the whole production occupations group had a median annual wage of $46,990 in May 2025, so welding sits meaningfully above the average production job (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025).
Three things move a welder up that range: the position and code you are qualified in, whether you can fit up your own work, and whether you will travel for shutdown and turnaround work. Moreover, all three are things a resume can prove in one block. Indeed, none of them is a personality trait, which is why the qualification record earns its place at the top of the page.
Key takeaways for a welder resume
- To sum up, put the qualification record directly under the summary, above experience.
- Then name processes in code letters and positions in code numbers, and say plate or pipe.
- Also, give base materials by grade, plus thickness on plate and diameter and schedule on pipe.
- Similarly, name the code you tested to: AWS D1.1, ASME Section IX, or an employer procedure.
- In addition, state the currency of your AWS maintenance documentation, not just the year you tested.
- Say whether you do your own layout, bevel prep and fit-up.
- Finally, give one quality number: repair rate, radiographic pass rate, or rejects per weld count.
Related production resume examples
- Machinist resume
- Manufacturing technician resume
- Machine operator resume
- Quality assurance resume
- Assembler resume
- Production worker resume
- Factory worker resume
- Material handler resume
- Forklift operator resume
- Production resume
- Operations manager resume
- Operations director resume
Welder resume questions, answered
How long should a welder resume be?
One page for your first ten years. Two once you run a shop, maintain welding procedure specifications, or hold a long list of live qualifications that genuinely needs the room. The qualification record is worth the space. A career objective is not.
What does AWS Certified Welder actually mean?
It is a performance-based credential: no prerequisite course, a hands-on test at an AWS Accredited Test Facility, judged by an AWS Certified Welding Inspector, following the AWS QC47 specification and AWS Standard Welding Procedure Specifications, or an employer's own procedure at some facilities. To keep it active, AWS requires certification maintenance documentation every six months confirming continued use of the process (American Welding Society, read 12 September 2026).
My qualification lapsed. Do I still list it?
Yes, with the honest date and a sentence about retesting. "ASME Section IX 6G, last qualified 2023, available to retest on request" is a normal, respected line in this trade. Leaving the date off so it reads as current is the version that ends badly, because the test coupon settles it in an afternoon.
Do I need to say which positions I am qualified in?
Yes, and in code. 3G plate and 6G pipe are different jobs at different rates. A foreman matching your file to a procedure needs the position codes to do it at all, and a resume that omits them puts the burden of finding out onto the person deciding whether to call you.
Is shop welding or field welding better paid?
Field and contract work generally pays more. Specialty trade contractors paid a median of $59,440 in May 2025 against $51,210 in manufacturing, though manufacturing employs 63 percent of the trade (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025). Field work also asks for travel, shutdown hours and a broader position qualification, which is what the difference is buying.