How to Become
a Welder.
Joins metal. Everything from your car frame to nuclear submarines. The trade with the highest variance in pay.Here's the honest path — from zero to journeyman, with the numbers and warnings that nobody puts in the brochure.
The Path.
The union apprenticeship is the gold standard — earn while you learn, no debt, progressive wage increases. Here's the honest step-by-step for the Boilermakers, Ironworkers, UA — depends on specialization path.
Start with a community college welding program — 1–2 semesters, under $5K in most states. Learn MIG, TIG, and stick. Ignore the $15K trade school version of this.
Pass your first AWS D1.1 structural test — this is your baseline credential. Without a certification test on your record, you're a 'helper' even if you can weld.
Get into a union apprenticeship or a structured non-union program — Boilermakers, Ironworkers, and UA all sponsor welding apprenticeships. The union path gives you structured wage progression and portability.
Chase the 6G pipe test — this is the watershed certification. A 6G open-root pipe weld proves you can weld in any position. It opens pipeline, refinery, and industrial work. This is the cert that changes your income bracket.
Add API 1104 if you're going pipeline — pipeline welding is a separate world with its own certification standard. The pay is real. The travel is also very real.
Protect your body and track your certifications — welding certs expire. Keep them current. PPE is not optional — lung disease, UV eye damage, and burns are documented career-shorteners.
The Money.
What the Brochure Leaves Out.
Trade school welding programs vary wildly. Community college is usually a better bet than for-profit.
Pipeline welding pay is real but the work is feast-or-famine and brutally far from home.
Underwater welding pays huge but has a fatality rate to match — research it honestly.
Many welders develop lung issues, back issues, or eye damage — PPE discipline matters from day one.
Requirements by State.
Every state has different licensing requirements, exam providers, and code editions. Choose your state for the specific path in your market.