How to hire jewelers and precious stone and metal workers
A job description you can copy, interview questions tied to the real work, and what to pay. Free.
Job description template
Copy it, fill in the brackets, and remove anything that does not fit your job. Keep only must-haves you would really turn someone away for.
[Job title] at [Company name] [City, State] · [Full-time / Part-time] · [Pay range] About the role [Two or three sentences about your team, the work and why it matters.] What you will do • Clean and polish metal items and jewelry pieces, using jewelers' tools, polishing wheels, and chemical baths. • Compute costs of labor and materials to determine production costs of products and articles. • Create jewelry from materials such as gold, silver, platinum, and precious or semiprecious stones. • Cut and file pieces of jewelry such as rings, brooches, bracelets, and lockets. • Examine assembled or finished products to ensure conformance to specifications, using magnifying glasses or precision measuring instruments. • Make repairs, such as enlarging or reducing ring sizes, soldering pieces of jewelry together, and replacing broken clasps and mountings. • Position stones and metal pieces, and set, mount, and secure items in place, using setting and hand tools. • Smooth soldered joints and rough spots, using hand files and emery paper, and polish smoothed areas with polishing wheels or buffing wire. What you bring • [Required license, certification or years of experience, if any] • [Education, only if you truly need it. Typical to start in this job: High school diploma or equivalent] • Strong active listening, critical thinking, monitoring, reading comprehension and speaking skills • Working knowledge of customer and personal service, design, production and processing and sales and marketing • [Anything else you would really turn someone away for] Pay and benefits [Pay range]. For reference, the U.S. median for this job is $25.26 an hour ($52,540 a year). [Benefits, schedule and anything else candidates should know.] How to apply [Apply on JAI Bot. Every applicant hears back.]
Interview questions for jewelers and precious stone and metal workers
Ask every candidate the same questions, in the same order, and write down what they say. Questions about past work show what someone has actually done.
- Tell me about a time you had to clean and polish metal items and jewelry pieces, using jewelers' tools, polishing wheels, and chemical baths. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
- Tell me about a time you had to compute costs of labor and materials to determine production costs of products and articles. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
- Tell me about a time you had to create jewelry from materials such as gold, silver, platinum, and precious or semiprecious stones. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
- Tell me about a time you had to cut and file pieces of jewelry such as rings, brooches, bracelets, and lockets. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
- Tell me about a time you had to understand a request or problem that was explained poorly. How did you make sure you got it right?
- Describe a decision at work where the obvious answer was wrong. How did you work out the better choice?
- How do you keep track of your own work quality during a busy shift or week? Give an example of catching a problem early.
- Why this job, and why now? What would make you stay here for the long term?
Good answers name a real situation, what the person did themselves and what happened. Avoid questions about age, family plans, religion, health, national origin or anything else unrelated to the job.
What jewelers and precious stone and metal workers do
- Clean and polish metal items and jewelry pieces, using jewelers' tools, polishing wheels, and chemical baths.
- Compute costs of labor and materials to determine production costs of products and articles.
- Create jewelry from materials such as gold, silver, platinum, and precious or semiprecious stones.
- Cut and file pieces of jewelry such as rings, brooches, bracelets, and lockets.
- Examine assembled or finished products to ensure conformance to specifications, using magnifying glasses or precision measuring instruments.
- Make repairs, such as enlarging or reducing ring sizes, soldering pieces of jewelry together, and replacing broken clasps and mountings.
- Position stones and metal pieces, and set, mount, and secure items in place, using setting and hand tools.
- Smooth soldered joints and rough spots, using hand files and emery paper, and polish smoothed areas with polishing wheels or buffing wire.
Skills that matter most
Education, experience and outlook for jewelers and precious stone and metal workers
- Typical education to start: High school diploma or equivalent (BLS)
- Related work experience most have: 2 to 4 years (O*NET)
- Training on the job: Long-term on-the-job training (BLS)
- Job outlook: -3.2% over ten years, declining · about 3,700 openings a year (BLS)
What to pay jewelers and precious stone and metal workers
Pay depends a lot on where the job is. Highest and lowest median yearly pay by state:
| State | Median yearly pay |
|---|---|
| New York | $61,720 |
| California | $60,790 |
| New Jersey | $59,480 |
| North Carolina | $55,420 |
| Illinois | $54,990 |
| Rhode Island | $48,800 |
| Texas | $47,590 |
| Oregon | $44,510 |
See jewelers and precious stone and metal workers pay in every state
Related hiring guides
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- Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand
- Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic
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- Patternmakers, Metal and Plastic
- Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners
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Post a job freePay by areaJob duties and skills: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license; O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. JAI Bot has modified this information; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Pay: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025. Interview questions and the job description template: JAI Bot, based on the duties and skills above.