Welder Resume Example & Writing Guide

What is a welder’s job?

A welder is a professional that joins metal materials in construction, repairs, and maintenance for anything made of metal. Some specific related tasks include calculating dimensions and positioning, aligning, and securing metal parts and materials. They also understand engineering drawings, blueprints, sketches, and material safety data. 

Why use this welder resume example?

As a welder, you know how important it is to start any project with a strong foundation. For your welder resume, that foundation is the format of your resume. There are many different styles of resume formats to choose from. The example resume uses a basic single-column reverse chronological format. This is a very popular style because it is simple and easy to read. 

Starting out your resume strong is another important step in creating a superior resume. The introduction or resume summary gives your potential employer a quick preview of your qualifications. This is crucial because most HR people and hiring managers will only glance at a resume for a few seconds before deciding to discard it or keep reading. Your introduction must immediately grab their attention so your resume doesn’t end up in the trash can. The introduction on the example resume does an excellent job of setting the stage by including some key skills and mentioning the number of years of experience. It also calls out some outstanding accomplishments and types of work performed. These are all good for getting the reader’s interest. 

The career experience section is where the electrode meets the metal. Briefly explain your most important job functions for each of your work experiences. Focus on just the key things you did, and especially anything you have expertise in or accomplishments to call out. End each job description with bullet points to highlight your achievements and anything else you did that was exceptional or above and beyond for that job.

How to write a great welder resume

Now that you’ve chosen a format and have a good idea of what content to put on your welder’s resume, we’ll give you some tips and information about writing a fantastic resume.

Number one is to be brief. You need to get all your resume content onto one page, or two at the most. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been a welder for 40 years and worked at many places, you still have to get it all onto a page or two. Most hiring managers don’t care much about work experience that is over ten years old. You can either summarize this into one-liners or leave it off entirely. What have you done lately? That’s what they’re most interested in. 

The next thing to focus on is including things that make you stand out from the crowd. What have you done that’s unique? Are you especially good at a particular type of welding? Do you have special training or knowledge that most welders don’t? These are all great things to put on a resume. Remember, you’re competing with other welders, so just knowing how to weld is not enough.

Speaking of education and training, don’t forget to include a section for this. It can be at the end or toward the beginning of your resume, depending on whether you want to emphasize it or not. If you have a lot of education and training, then you’ll probably want it upfront. Otherwise, putting it at the end is fine. Since welding is a technical and specialized job, you definitely want to include any formal training or certifications that you have related to the field.

Which key skills are relevant to a welder's resume?

Being a welder can be a hot and challenging job. It takes a lot of technical skills, but you also need to have some business savvy and the ability to work with people. Here are some great skills to put on your welder’s resume:

• Grinder control

• Metal fabrication

• Communication

• Customer service

• Parts and materials inspection

• TIG and MIG welding

• Safety practices

• Blueprint reading

• Time management