How to hire structural metal fabricators and fitters

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
• Lay out and examine metal stock or workpieces to be processed to ensure that specifications are met.
• Move parts into position, manually or with hoists or cranes.
• Position or tighten braces, jacks, clamps, ropes, or bolt straps, or bolt parts in position for welding or riveting.
• Position, align, fit, and weld parts to form complete units or subunits, following blueprints and layout specifications, and using jigs, welding torches, and hand tools.
• Set up and operate fabricating machines, such as brakes, rolls, shears, flame cutters, grinders, and drill presses, to bend, cut, form, punch, drill, or otherwise form and assemble metal components.
• Study engineering drawings and blueprints to determine materials requirements and task sequences.
• Tack-weld fitted parts together.
• Verify conformance of workpieces to specifications, using squares, rulers, and measuring tapes.

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, reading comprehension and speaking skills
• [Anything else you would really turn someone away for]

Pay and benefits
[Pay range]. For reference, the U.S. median for this job is $24.68 an hour ($51,330 a year).
[Benefits, schedule and anything else candidates should know.]

How to apply
[Apply on JAI Bot. Every applicant hears back.]

Copy the template Check your finished job post

Interview questions for structural metal fabricators and fitters

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.

1. Tell me about a time you had to lay out and examine metal stock or workpieces to be processed to ensure that specifications are met. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
2. Tell me about a time you had to move parts into position, manually or with hoists or cranes. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
3. Tell me about a time you had to position or tighten braces, jacks, clamps, ropes, or bolt straps, or bolt parts in position for welding or riveting. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
4. Tell me about a time you had to position, align, fit, and weld parts to form complete units or subunits, following blueprints and layout specifications, and using jigs, welding torches, and hand tools. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
5. 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?
6. Describe a decision at work where the obvious answer was wrong. How did you work out the better choice?
7. Tell me about written instructions, a policy or a manual you had to follow closely. How did you make sure you followed it correctly?
8. 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 structural metal fabricators and fitters do

• Lay out and examine metal stock or workpieces to be processed to ensure that specifications are met.
• Move parts into position, manually or with hoists or cranes.
• Position or tighten braces, jacks, clamps, ropes, or bolt straps, or bolt parts in position for welding or riveting.
• Position, align, fit, and weld parts to form complete units or subunits, following blueprints and layout specifications, and using jigs, welding torches, and hand tools.
• Set up and operate fabricating machines, such as brakes, rolls, shears, flame cutters, grinders, and drill presses, to bend, cut, form, punch, drill, or otherwise form and assemble metal components.
• Study engineering drawings and blueprints to determine materials requirements and task sequences.
• Tack-weld fitted parts together.
• Verify conformance of workpieces to specifications, using squares, rulers, and measuring tapes.

Skills that matter most

Active ListeningCritical ThinkingReading ComprehensionSpeaking

Education, experience and outlook for structural metal fabricators and fitters

• Typical education to start: High school diploma or equivalent (BLS)
• Related work experience most have: 3 to 6 months (O*NET)
• Training on the job: Moderate-term on-the-job training (BLS)
• Job outlook: -6.2% over ten years, declining · about 4,800 openings a year (BLS)

What to pay structural metal fabricators and fitters

Pay depends a lot on where the job is. Highest and lowest median yearly pay by state:

See structural metal fabricators and fitters pay in every state

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Job 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.