How to hire welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers

A job description you can copy, interview questions tied to the real work, and what to pay. Free.

$25.84U.S. median hourly pay
$46,790–$63,010Middle half, yearly
416,210People in this job in the U.S.

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
• Detect faulty operation of equipment or defective materials and notify supervisors.
• Determine required equipment and welding methods, applying knowledge of metallurgy, geometry, and welding techniques.
• Examine workpieces for defects and measure workpieces with straightedges or templates to ensure conformance with specifications.
• Mark or tag material with proper job number, piece marks, and other identifying marks as required.
• 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.
• Select and install torches, torch tips, filler rods, and flux, according to welding chart specifications or types and thicknesses of metals.
• Weld components in flat, vertical, or overhead positions.

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 monitoring 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 $25.84 an hour ($53,750 a year).
[Benefits, schedule and anything else candidates should know.]

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

Check your finished job post

Interview questions for welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers

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 detect faulty operation of equipment or defective materials and notify supervisors. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
  2. Tell me about a time you had to determine required equipment and welding methods, applying knowledge of metallurgy, geometry, and welding techniques. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
  3. Tell me about a time you had to examine workpieces for defects and measure workpieces with straightedges or templates to ensure conformance with specifications. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
  4. Tell me about a time you had to mark or tag material with proper job number, piece marks, and other identifying marks as required. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
  5. How do you keep track of your own work quality during a busy shift or week? Give an example of catching a problem early.
  6. 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 welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers do

  • Detect faulty operation of equipment or defective materials and notify supervisors.
  • Determine required equipment and welding methods, applying knowledge of metallurgy, geometry, and welding techniques.
  • Examine workpieces for defects and measure workpieces with straightedges or templates to ensure conformance with specifications.
  • Mark or tag material with proper job number, piece marks, and other identifying marks as required.
  • 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.
  • Select and install torches, torch tips, filler rods, and flux, according to welding chart specifications or types and thicknesses of metals.
  • Weld components in flat, vertical, or overhead positions.

Skills that matter most

Monitoring

Education, experience and outlook for welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers

  • Typical education to start: High school diploma or equivalent (BLS)
  • Related work experience most have: 1 to 2 years (O*NET)
  • Training on the job: Moderate-term on-the-job training (BLS)
  • Job outlook: +2.4% over ten years, about as fast as average · about 40,300 openings a year (BLS)

What to pay welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers

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

StateMedian yearly pay
Alaska$80,840
Hawaii$79,000
Connecticut$64,880
Wyoming$63,820
Washington$63,020
Georgia$48,430
Tennessee$48,040
Arkansas$47,970

See welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers pay in every state

Related hiring guides

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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.