Helpful welder CV examples to get employers' attention

To land the welding job you aim for, you need to convince your hiring manager that you’re the right person for the position. To do this, you will need an eye-catching CV that contains all the correct elements, along with a professional cover letter. Let’s look at how you can write the best welder CV that will help you get the job of your dreams.

Create your CV

When it comes to this specific job position, hard skills are much more important than soft skills, so highlight them.

The perfect CV will include:

• A CV summary or CV objective
• A skills section that highlights welding equipment or welding technology you have experience working with
• Professional experience
• Professional groups you belong to, such as the American Welding Society
• Certifications

Every professional welder CV should contain five elements. If you need additional help writing your CV or just want to save time, then use a CV builder. This way, creating a professional CV won’t give you a headache, and you will increase your odds of landing a job interview. With that said, here is what a good CV should include:

Header

This is the part of your CV where you leave your personal info, such as your name, address, phone number, LinkedIn profile, and other relevant data.

CV summary or objective

This section of your CV should be a few lines long, giving hiring managers a short overview of your work experience, metalworking skills, and career goals. Whether you should choose to write a CV summary or a CV objective depends on your welding experience. If you are switching careers and have little or no welding experience, then go with the CV objective. In this part, you can focus on your career goals and relevant skills. On the other hand, a CV summary recaps your skills and experience and underlines a particular achievement that speaks for itself and proves that you are the right candidate for the job.

Skills

While soft skills count, hard skills are key for a welding career. Therefore, make sure you highlight technical abilities in your skills section. Here are some of the welding skills a potential employer might look for in a candidate:

• MIG Welding
• Oxy-acetylene welding
• Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW)
• Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW)
• Plasma Arc Cutting
• Semiautomatic Welding
• Spot Welding
• Flux Cored Arc Welding (FCAW)
• Air Carbon Arc Cutting
• Stick Welding
• Prototype Manufacturing
• Blueprint reading
• Types of welding equipment, such as hand tools

When it comes to soft skills, some good qualities to include are communication skills, project management skills, teamwork, problem-solving skills, decision-making, and creative thinking.

However, the hiring manager won’t be looking for all of these hard and soft skills we’ve just listed. Read the job description carefully to understand which ones you should mention in your CV. There you will find essential keywords your CV should contain. Of course, only mention those skills that you possess.

The structure of your CV will depend on the CV format you choose. The most common format is the chronological CV. It focuses on your work experience, with your previous jobs listed in reverse-chronological order. In other words, list your most recent job first and then work backwards in time. Use the functional CV if you’re better off highlighting your skills rather than your work history. The hybrid CV features both work experiences and skills.

Work history

When you lit your work history and years of experience, start with your most recent job, then list the one before it, and so on. Include dates, the company name, and list your key duties. Furthermore, begin each entry with an action word, such as “Welded” or “Maintained” (as opposed to “was responsible for”). Finally, mention relevant welding achievements to help your potential employer understand what kind of value you’ve brought to previous positions.

Education

If you have worked for years as a welder, then you don’t have to go into too much detail here. However, be sure to include your certificates and highest academic credential. If you have little or no experience in the field, emphasise coursework or specialised areas of study that relate to welding.

Create your CV

Do:

• Pay attention to the job posting. The skills and requirements listed in the job posting are those your hiring manager will be looking for. Therefore, be sure to use them in your CV if they apply to you.
• Proofread. Always check your CV for spelling mistakes and typos. Leaving those can make you seem unprofessional.
• Mention your achievements. List specific welding projects you’ve worked on, any welding certifications you’ve earned, and quantify your accomplishments when you can (e.g., “Managed structural welding for five-story office building housing 500 employees”).

Don’t:

• List jobs that are not relevant. Maybe you do not have a lot of work experience but stating that you worked at a fast-food chain when you were 18 won’t help your case. Stick to jobs and skills relevant to the job position you are applying for.
• Undersell your hard skills. Soft skills matter, but when applying for a new job as a welder, be sure to emphasise your hard skills.
• Underestimate the value of personal projects. Do you use welding to work on old cars or create artwork from metal components in your spare time? Such hobbies can make you stand out. Include them in an “Activities” or “Projects” section if you have them.