Also called: Weld Lab Technician
Helps welding engineers test welds, set up equipment and qualify welders and procedures.
You make test welds, saw them into strips, and bend them in a hydraulic press to see if they crack. You record the data and help certify new welders who come to take their test.
Estimate.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Associate's degree (2-year), about 2 years after high school. Associate degree in welding engineering technology.
Ways in: 2-year college, On-the-job training. Training cost: Under $15k.
Majors to look at: Welding Engineering Technology (2-year).
Growing about average.
Low risk for 10 years. Testing welds, running destructive tests and qualifying welders are hands-on lab tasks; AI helps with reports.
Classes: Welding CTE class, Chemistry, Algebra II.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-3029.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.