Structural welding is plate, beam and connection work to a code the inspector checks. Employers want your positions, the code you have welded to, and whether you can fit and burn as well as run a bead.
Structural welder in shop and field on beams, columns and moment connections. Flux-cored on heavy plate, tested to AWS D1.1 in the vertical and overhead positions, with a low ultrasonic repair rate on inspected joints.
Here is how to write your own, and what actually gets you the call in this trade.
Structural welding is commonly qualified to AWS D1.1 for steel, with the qualification tied to process, position and material thickness ranges rather than being a general licence. Fall protection and competent person training are expected for field steel, and aerial lift training is normal. Some jurisdictions and owners require welders to be qualified by an approved testing facility before starting.
The first pass answers two practical questions: can you legally do this work, and are you free to start. A foreman with a job beginning next week reads for the licence, the current tickets and the availability, and everything else on the page waits behind those.
Describe the work in the units the trade uses: square footage, linear feet, tonnage, service calls per day, machines run, crew size. Add safety record and callback rate if you have them, because on a job site those are worth as much as speed. If you have run a crew or trained apprentices, say so plainly — that is the difference between a hand and a lead.
Shops and erectors test before hiring, usually in the position they are short of, which is why vertical and overhead are worth stating. Employers separate shop welders from field welders deliberately: field steel means working at height, in weather, to a fit-up you make yourself. Inspection results matter, since ultrasonic testing on connections exposes weld quality directly and repairs cost the erector schedule.
Welder to welder-fitter to bay lead or field welding foreman, then quality control or certified welding inspector. Inspector routes require their own examination and documented experience.
Check every certification date is current and every licence number is right, since these are verified and an expired ticket ends an application. Keep the file simple: one column, no graphics, no tables. Our free ATS checker will confirm it parses, which matters because large contractors and staffing agencies screen automatically.
Licence class, current tickets with their dates, and the equipment you can operate — all of it above the work history — then jobs described in the units the trade uses, your safety record, and any crew or apprentice responsibility. One page, one column, no graphics.
Which tickets are required depends on the trade, the jurisdiction and the site, and the posting sets it out. Whatever you hold matters more than anything else on the page, so list every one with its issue and expiry date — these are verified, and an expired certification ends an application regardless of the work history behind it.
Hiring in the trades is fast and often informal — a call, a short conversation, sometimes a day on site to see how you work. Referral and reputation count for more than in most fields, so how you leave one job affects the next one.
Your licence class, your current tickets, and when you can start. A foreman with a job beginning next week reads for whether you are legally able to do the work and free to do it, and the rest of the page waits behind those two answers.
The usual route runs from apprentice to journey level to lead hand or foreman, and from there into supervision, estimating or running your own work. Crew leadership and apprentice training are the lines that show you are ready for that step.
One page. Employers in this field read quickly and often on a phone, and a second page rarely gets opened. Cut old short-term roles before you cut certifications or equipment experience.
Use the structure and the way each achievement is phrased, but write your own content. The names and employers here are fictional, and a resume describing work you did not do will not survive an interview.
Start from this layout, edit in a live preview with an ATS score as you type, and download as PDF, Word or image — free.
Use This Example — Free
