Welder: What is the cost of hiring?

Why recruit a welder?

A welder specialises in joining pieces of metal together, but can also be responsible for sealing holes in metal work structures. When you are running a company in the car, aviation, construction or appliances industry, you should be looking to recruit a trained welder to help create any metalwork structures.

Welders can be integral to designing or customising bespoke products for your clients, which is an especially important consideration if you are operating in the construction or housing industry. Welders can also help create and join metalwork structures like gating, fencing, bridges and pipelines.

Qualities of a great welder:

• Help you save money on resources
• Ensure that all of the products you create meet health and safety standards
• A mathematical approach to construction

Deciding between a full-time vs freelance welder

Whether or not you need a full-time or freelance welder will depend on how much welding work you have available on an ongoing basis. If your company primarily manufactures steel or other kinds of metalwork in the construction industry, you should ideally look to recruit a full-time welder. It may be more cost effective to do so if your processes would keep them busy. If you need just a few welding duties to be completed as part of a one-off project, then contracting a welder on a freelance basis would be more cost effective.

What are the different types of welder?

Welders often specialise in fields like construction, manufacturing and boiler making. Each field requires a different skill set, therefore it is a good idea to specify this in your job description. You might look to recruit a welding inspector if you need someone to help you to monitor welders on-site during a project. A construction worker will have experience with structural welding, as opposed to a boilermaker, who is able to build metal containers for you on-site. 

• Welding inspector: observes welding on-site or conducts inspections of welding jobs that have already been completed.
• Construction welder: is able to weld large infrastructures for commercial projects in the construction of housing and commercial buildings.
• Boilermaker: creates metal containers capable of holding oil or gas, usually installing the boiler on-site.
• Sheet metal fabricator: follows engineer drawings to create individual items using tools such as hydro form, drills and guillotines.
• MIG welder: specialises in gas metal arc welding to assemble or repair metal components, and is also able to prepare metal for welding.

Where to find a welder

To find the right welder for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Partnering with colleges that specialise in construction: You can give talks or advertise your role to students at vocational colleges that offer courses in construction.
• Advertising welder apprenticeships to potential students: Some young people may be looking to train in the construction industry, and a welder apprenticeship with you would be a great way for them to gain on-the-job training.
• Advertising via a local jobs bulletin: By advertising your role on notice boards in job centres, you can find welders who work in the local area.
• Posting a job advertisement in a local recruitment agency: You can narrow down your search for quality welders by specifying your needs to a local recruitment agency.

Post your job online: Try posting your job for a welder on Indeed to find and attract quality welder candidates.

Skills to look for in a great welder

A great candidate for a welder role will have the following skills and attributes as well as work experience that reflects:

• great attention to detail
• strong mathematical capabilities
• knowledge of relevant welding tools and equipment
• good communication
• excellent customer service

Writing a welder job description

A thoughtful description is important for finding qualified welder candidates. A welder job description includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your job description for a welder, consider including some or all of the following keywords to strengthen the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms resulting in clicks on jobs for welders, according to Indeed data:

• joiner
• carpenter
• welder
• joinery
• bench joiner
• carpentry
• carpenter joiner
• welding

Interviewing welder candidates

Strong candidates for welder positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• welding qualifications and on-the-job experience
• troubleshooting and problem-solving on the job
• customer service experience
• communication and listening skills
• ability to work alongside engineers and other construction workers on projects

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of welder interview questions for examples (with sample answers).