Education · 1 of 5

The path

There is no degree and no license. You get good, you get paid more. Most people are useful within a year.

1. 1

   High school diploma or an equivalency certificate

   Grade 12

   Shop, welding and geometry classes matter more here than your grade point average.

2. 2

   Get in the door

   0 to 1 year

   Two routes. Hire on as a shop helper and learn from the fitters, or do a one-year welding and fabrication certificate first so you arrive already able to burn and weld.

3. 3

   Learn layout

   1 to 2 years

   Cutting and welding is the easy half. Reading a drawing, squaring a frame and allowing for the way steel pulls as it cools is what makes you a fabricator instead of a welder.

4. 4

   Pass welding qualification tests

   A day each

   Employers test you on the specific joints and positions your work requires. Those test records are your real credential.

5. 5

   Lead fitter or shop foreman

   4 years and up

   Running a job from the drawing to the paint booth, or moving into inspection, estimating or programming the cutting machines.