Welders, Cutters, and Welder Fitters

About the job

Use hand-welding or flame-cutting equipment to weld or join metal components or to fill holes, indentations, or seams of fabricated metal products.

What you'll do

• Dismantle metal assemblies or cut scrap metal, using thermal-cutting equipment such as flame-cutting torches or plasma-arc equipment.
• Estimate materials needed for production and manufacturing and maintain required stocks of materials.
• Gouge metals, using the air-arc gouging process.
• Hammer out bulges or bends in metal workpieces.
• Join parts such as beams and steel reinforcing rods in buildings, bridges, and highways, bolting and riveting as necessary.
• Melt lead bars, wire, or scrap to add lead to joints or to extrude melted scrap into reusable form.
• Mix and apply protective coatings to products.
• Operate brazing and soldering equipment.
• Signal crane operators to move large workpieces.
• Use fire suppression methods in industrial emergencies.

Things you need to know

• Production and Processing – Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• Design – Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
• Administration and Management – Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Mechanical – Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• Mathematics – Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Abilities you'll need to have

• Critical Thinking – Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Operation and Control – Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
• Monitoring – Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Reading Comprehension – Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Active Listening – Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking – Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Operation Monitoring – Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.