Welding Career Paths After Graduation

Compare Welding Career Paths

National medians from BLS OEWS (May 2025); growth from BLS Employment Projections 2025–35. Welder, pipe welder and structural welder share one BLS occupation group, so they share one median.

Jobs After Welding School: Your First Welding Job

BLS says welders typically need a high school diploma plus technical and on-the-job training, and that entry-level workers with formal training still receive several months of on-the-job training. Most first jobs are in manufacturing, which employed 63% of welders, cutters, solderers and brazers in 2025. Many plants run two or three shifts, so evening and weekend work is common for new welders.

Employers hire on the weld test. Some ask for an AWS Certified Welder credential or a test to a specific code; some pay for that training and testing themselves.

Moving Up: Inspection, Supervision and Teaching

• Welding inspector: the AWS Certified Welding Inspector exam requires five years of welding-based work with a high school diploma, and a 72% score on each of its three parts.
• Welding supervisor: the AWS Certified Welding Supervisor has a path requiring at least three years of practical welding work.
• Welding instructor: the AWS Certified Welding Educator requires five years of experience in a role related to welding codes or standards.
• Technical sales: the AWS Certified Welding Sales Representative exam is two hours, closed book, 60 multiple-choice questions.
• Welding engineer: an engineering bachelor's degree is the credential; welding school is preparation.

Specializations You Can Train for Now

Pipe welding appears in 384 of the 667 verified programs we've reviewed, and robotic or automated welding in 68. Pipe work leads toward pipelines, refineries and power plants; automation leads toward robotic welding technician roles. Underwater welding adds commercial diving school on top of welding skills.

Inspection is the specialty most schools treat as a second step. 182 verified programs list inspection or weld testing in their coursework, and a few build a full credential around it: Tulsa Welding School-Houston offers a 14-month associate degree in Welding Inspection and Quality Management, Lee College near Houston has a Welding Inspection certificate, and Cosumnes River College runs a Welding Code certificate built on AWS D1.1 that prepares students for the CWI exam.

Welding Jobs by the Numbers

BLS counted about 437,700 jobs for welders, cutters, solderers and brazers in 2025 and projects 2% growth from 2025 to 2035, which it rates slower than average. That's an employment change of about 10,300 jobs, but most openings come from replacing workers who retire or change careers: BLS projects about 40,300 openings a year.

Welders, cutters, solderers and brazers held about 437,700 jobs in 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook.

Manufacturing dominates, which is why first jobs are so often on a plant floor. BLS says many plants run two or three shifts of 8 to 12 hours, most welders work full time, and some work more than 40 hours a week. Outside manufacturing, specialty trade contractors and repair shops put welders on construction sites and in the field, sometimes on scaffolds, outdoors in all weather or in tight spaces.

How Welding School Shortens the Path to Inspector

The AWS Certified Welding Inspector credential trades education for years on the job. With only a high school diploma you need five years of welding-based work; an associate degree in welding cuts that to two. Completed trade or vocational courses count for up to one year.

Source: AWS Certified Welding Inspector requirements. Every candidate also passes a vision test and three exams with at least 72% on each.

If inspection is your long-term goal, an associate degree is the credential that pays off twice: it qualifies you for entry-level welding jobs now and shortens the CWI clock by three years compared with a diploma alone. Compare the degree options in our guide to choosing a welding school.

Robotic Welding: What the CRAW Requires

AWS offers the Certified Robotic Arc Welding (CRAW) credential at two levels. Both require a high school diploma or equivalent and at least six months of manual or semiautomatic arc welding. Operators need 12 months as a welder (robotic and automatic work counts) and three years in a welding- or robotics-related occupation such as inspection or quality control; Technicians need 18 months and five years, plus a current CWI. A degree in welding, technology, robotics, electrical or engineering can substitute for up to two years of that experience, but never for the six months of hands-on arc welding.

Operators also complete a robot-programming course from an equipment maker or an AWS Approved Testing Center. Among verified schools, College of the Canyons pairs robotic welding automation with CRAW and FANUC programs, and Houston Community College offers a 24-credit Welding Automation certificate. Credentials stay current with re-examination or proof of active practice every three years.

Apprenticeship Routes Into the Trades

BLS notes that some employer apprenticeships take entry-level workers with no experience, while others target graduates of vocational welding programs. Several verified schools connect their graduates to union trades: Montana State University Billings says its AAS graduates may qualify for advanced placement in the Ironworkers, Pipefitters or Boilermakers unions, and John A Logan College prepares graduates for union positions including boilermakers, plumbers and pipefitters. See ironworker and millwright for those paths, and search openings on Apprenticeship.gov.