How to Become a Well-Paid Welder

If you’re like me, at some point in your life you’ve thought about how to get rich quick. You probably Googled it. Then you quickly realized that achieving lightning-fast wealth requires a whole lot of luck or money and not much patience. You could enroll in a four-year university and hope to land a good job that way… or you can get hands-on training and become a welder in two years or less.

If you’re willing to put in the time and you like working with your hands, a welding career could be your answer to earning a nice income.

So how does one become a welder? There are a few options: self-taught, schooling, and an apprenticeship. The most successful welders have highly honed skills, which takes — yes you guessed it — time and patience.

If you’re a skilled self-taught welder, you’ve probably been at it for years already, good for you friend, time is on your side. Now a welding certificate or apprenticeship would be a great idea to improve your technical skills. Another bonus — certificates and apprenticeships look especially good on paper to potential employers.

So you know you want to get paid to weld, now you need to know the most common welding processes used on a job. And as you might have guessed, the higher your skill level, the higher your income.

Here are three common types of welding:

Shielded Metal Arc Welding (or Stick) — If you’re an old soul who reminisces about the simpler days, you might prefer welding the old-fashioned way with Stick welding. Compared to other types of welding, Stick welding equipment is pretty basic with usually only a couple of controls on the machine. Fun fact — Stick welding is a commonly used process for underwater welds.

Metal Inert Gas (MIG) — This is another type of simplistic welding. Although it requires more knowledge than Stick welding due to its shielding gas use, MIG welding is the preferred choice by hobbyists who aren’t looking to invest in pricey equipment. MIG welding is also the most widely used industrial welding process.

Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding — Compared to MIG welding, TIG welding is a more difficult process that offers the flexibility of being used on many types of metals. In terms of clean and professional-looking welds, its precision makes it the most popular welding process for intricate designs and structures. It’s also the go-to choice for thin metals.

Become a Welder to Create New Opportunities

However you choose to become a welder, if you give yourself the time and patience needed to hone your skills, many well-paying jobs will be waiting for you.