Welder Resume Examples and Skills

A welder resume is screened against a short checklist before anyone looks at your welds: the processes you run, the certifications you hold, and the inspection numbers that prove your work passes. This guide walks through a real annotated example, the sections and ATS keywords parsers look for, and before-and-after bullets you can copy.

What makes a strong welder resume?

A strong welder resume leads with certifications and inspection results, not a duty list. Put your welding processes (SMAW, GMAW, GTAW, FCAW), your AWS or ASME qualifications, and your test-position certs near the top, then back each bullet with a number: X-ray pass rate, reject rate, joints per shift, or years without a recordable incident. That is what tells a foreman you can hit code and rate safely.

• List your processes and positions. “GTAW and SMAW, 6G on carbon and stainless” is a hard filter; “experienced welder” is not.
• Put certifications up top. AWS D1.1, ASME Section IX, and 6G pipe certs are pass/fail keywords, and many trade screens reject resumes that omit the exact standard.
• Quantify quality, not just effort. Radiographic (X-ray) pass rate and weld reject rate prove your beads hold. “Reduced rework from 6% to 1.8%” beats “hard worker.”
• Name your materials and thicknesses. Carbon steel, stainless, aluminum, and your gauge range are separate keyword tokens a parser matches against the posting.

Here is a one-page example for a mid-level combo welder, where every bullet leads with an action and closes with a measurable result:

Welder resume sections & skills

Keep the layout to a single column so an applicant tracking system reads every line, and order the sections so your certs and processes surface in the first scan.

• Header: Name, city and state, phone, email. Skip the photo, which can break ATS parsing.
• Summary: Two or three lines with years of experience, welding processes, your top certification, and one headline metric such as X-ray pass rate.
• Certifications: AWS Certified Welder, ASME Section IX, AWS D1.1, test positions (3G, 4G, 6G), and OSHA training, listed high on the page.
• Experience: Company, title, dates, and four to six quantified bullets per role covering process, material, quality, and safety.
• Skills: Processes, materials, cutting methods, and blueprint reading, grouped so a scanner reads them cleanly.
• Education: High school diploma or GED, welding program or trade school, and any apprenticeship hours.

ATS keywords for welders: welder, MIG welding, TIG welding, stick welding, SMAW, GMAW, GTAW, FCAW, flux-core, AWS D1.1, ASME Section IX, 6G, pipe welding, structural welding, fabrication, fit-up, blueprint reading, weld symbols, plasma cutting, oxy-fuel, grinding, carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum, radiographic testing, OSHA. Pull the exact wording from each posting, since “TIG” and “GTAW” can be different tokens in a keyword screen, then drop those terms into a clean ATS-friendly resume template so nothing is lost in a two-column layout.

Before and after: welder resume bullets

Weak bullets describe duties; strong bullets prove your welds pass. Two rewrites:

• Before: “Responsible for welding pipe and steel.” After: “Produced pipe and structural welds to ASME Section IX, passing X-ray inspection at a 98% first-time rate across 1,200+ joints.”
• Before: “Did MIG and stick welding on different jobs.” After: “Laid up to 40 linear feet of fillet and groove welds per shift on 1/4″ to 1″ carbon steel using flux-core and stick.”

How long should a welder resume be?

One page. Trade hiring moves fast, so a foreman scans for processes, certifications, and inspection numbers first. Keep it to a single column, put your AWS or ASME certs, test positions, and X-ray pass rate near the top, and cut unrelated history so the numbers that prove your welds hold to code stand out.

Common welder resume mistakes

• Listing duties (“responsible for welding”) with no pass rate, reject rate, or production numbers.
• Leaving off the exact code or position (AWS D1.1, 6G) that a posting explicitly filters for.
• Writing “welding” without naming the processes (SMAW, GMAW, GTAW, FCAW) an ATS matches on.
• Using a two-column or graphic-heavy template that scrambles ATS parsing.
• Padding with generic soft skills (“hard worker,” “team player”) instead of measurable output.

Ready to build yours? Start from a clean ATS-friendly template, tailor the bullets to the posting, and run the result through the ATS resume checker. For related trade and hourly roles, see our warehouse worker and truck driver resume examples, or browse the full resume examples library.

Skills and keywords for a Welder resume

Most trade ATS filters rank you on how closely your resume matches the exact processes, certifications, and materials in the posting, so list the relevant terms in plain language.

Hard skills and technical keywords

Hard skills / technical:

• Welding processes: SMAW (stick), GMAW (MIG), GTAW (TIG), FCAW (flux-core), and submerged arc (SAW)
• Certifications and codes: AWS Certified Welder, AWS D1.1 and D1.5, ASME Section IX, API 1104
• Test positions: 1G, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, and 6G on plate and pipe
• Materials: carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum, chrome-moly, and nickel alloys
• Fabrication: fit-up, tack welding, spool and structural assembly, blueprint and weld-symbol reading
• Cutting and prep: plasma cutting, oxy-fuel torch, air carbon arc gouging, grinding and beveling
• Quality: visual inspection, radiographic (RT) and dye-penetrant (PT) testing awareness, preheat and interpass temperature control

Soft skills

Soft skills:

• Attention to detail and steady hand-eye coordination
• Safety awareness and consistent PPE discipline
• Physical stamina and comfort in confined or elevated positions
• Dependability and strong attendance on production schedules
• Teamwork with fitters, inspectors, and other trades

Mirror the exact terms each posting uses, then run your draft through the free ATS resume checker to catch any missing keywords before you apply.

Frequently asked questions