Welding involves the joining of metals using manual, semi-automatic and automatic arc welding equipment. Welders generally plan their work from drawings and blueprints and may use hand tools and machines to fabricate, assemble and welding to make products. Manual welding is controlled entirely by the welder, while semi-manual welding uses machines to perform some of the tasks.
There are many different types of welding depending on the material, equipment and techniques used, the nature of the final product and the degree of expertise required. These categories include Arc welders, Mig welders, TIG welders, Pressure welders, Fitter-Welders and flame-cutters. Welding provides a lucrative and rewarding career, with highly transferable skills and can offer very diverse work and challenges.
Welders perform some or all of the following duties:
- Read and interpret blueprints or welding process specifications
- Operate manual or semi-automatic welding equipment to fuse metal segments using processes such as gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW), gas metal arc welding (GMAW), flux-cored arc welding (FCAW), plasma arc welding (PAW), shielded metal arc welding (SMAW), oxy-acetylene welding (OAW), resistance welding and submerged arc welding (SAW)
- Operate manual or semi-automatic flame-cutting equipment
- Operate brazing and soldering equipment
- Operate metal shaping machines such as brakes, shears and other metal straightening and bending machines
- Repair worn parts of metal products by welding on extra layers.
- Operate previously set up welding machines such as spot, butt and seam resistance or gas and arc welding machines to fabricate or repair metal parts
- Operate previously set up brazing or soldering machines to bond metal parts or to fill holes, indentations and seams of metal articles with solder
- Start up, shut down, adjust and monitor robotic welding production line
- Assist with the maintenance and repair of welding, brazing and soldering equipment
- May adjust welding heads and tooling according to work specifications.
The key Skills for Success for this career path are:
- Reading
- Numeracy
- Adaptability
