| Important Core Job Duties (in order of importance) For the Top 5 most important - How can you build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. |
|
| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 98 (%) | Description: Operate safety equipment and use safe work habits. |
| Importance: 94 (%) | Description: Recognize, set up, and operate hand and power tools common to the welding trade, such as shielded metal arc and gas metal arc welding equipment. |
| Importance: 94 (%) | Description: Weld components in flat, vertical, or overhead positions. |
| Importance: 93 (%) | Description: Detect faulty operation of equipment or defective materials and notify supervisors. |
| Importance: 87 (%) | Description: Prepare all material surfaces to be welded, ensuring that there is no loose or thick scale, slag, rust, moisture, grease, or other foreign matter. |
| Importance: 87 (%) | Description: Position and secure workpieces, using hoists, cranes, wire, and banding machines or hand tools. |
| Importance: 86 (%) | Description: Mark or tag material with proper job number, piece marks, and other identifying marks as required. |
| Importance: 85 (%) | Description: Chip or grind off excess weld, slag, or spatter, using hand scrapers or power chippers, portable grinders, or arc-cutting equipment. |
| Importance: 84 (%) | Description: Examine workpieces for defects and measure workpieces with straightedges or templates to ensure conformance with specifications. |
| Importance: 83 (%) | Description: Monitor the fitting, burning, and welding processes to avoid overheating of parts or warping, shrinking, distortion, or expansion of material. |
| Importance: 79 (%) | Description: Align and clamp workpieces together, using rules, squares, or hand tools, or position items in fixtures, jigs, or vises. |
| Importance: 78 (%) | Description: Develop templates and models for welding projects, using mathematical calculations based on blueprint information. |
| Importance: 78 (%) | Description: Determine required equipment and welding methods, applying knowledge of metallurgy, geometry, and welding techniques. |
| Importance: 77 (%) | Description: Grind, cut, buff, or bend edges of workpieces to be joined to ensure snug fit, using power grinders and hand tools. |
| Importance: 75 (%) | Description: Clean or degrease parts, using wire brushes, portable grinders, or chemical baths. |
| Importance: 74 (%) | Description: Hammer out bulges or bends in metal workpieces. |
| Importance: 73 (%) | Description: Connect and turn regulator valves to activate and adjust gas flow and pressure so that desired flames are obtained. |
| Importance: 70 (%) | Description: Weld separately or in combination, using aluminum, stainless steel, cast iron, and other alloys. |
| Importance: 70 (%) | Description: Melt and apply solder along adjoining edges of workpieces to solder joints, using soldering irons, gas torches, or electric-ultrasonic equipment. |
| Importance: 69 (%) | Description: Select and install torches, torch tips, filler rods, and flux, according to welding chart specifications or types and thicknesses of metals. |
| Importance: 69 (%) | Description: Repair products by dismantling, straightening, reshaping, and reassembling parts, using cutting torches, straightening presses, and hand tools. |
Associate Degree Entry Level Careers and Jobs
Explore Careers and Jobs Predominantly Filled by Those with an Associate's Degree or Less, having 1 year or less of work experience - All On One Page
Sorted by median annual U.S. salary, including % with Associate's Degree (or less), and % with 1 year experience (or less).
These entry-level roles are open to associate's degree graduates and offer a practical starting point for building experience and advancing. For recent graduates or career changers seeking their first role with a two-year degree. Compare starting salaries and degree-holder percentages, then access preparation resources built for new graduates.
Here is a short Helper Video
.
This page will take you through 4 steps, relative to an Associate's Degree, to (1) Select an entry-level career, (2) Find active job listings, (3) Prepare for the career you chose, and (4) Provide web resources specific to the career you chose.
Step 1: Select a Career: You will be presented with a listing of Associate's Degree entry-level careers. The list may be quite long. There are two ways you might like to use this list:
1) Filter - As you enter a word, you will filter (limit) the list of careers below
2) Browse the list (Don't Filter) - You can simply browse the list of careers. There may be many that you might never have considered. This may help you to discover entry-level careers that might be of interest.
Once you have identified a career of interest, simply click on it.
Step 2: Find a Job: After you have selected a career/job title above, you will see a form asking for your location. You will see several radio selection choices to utilize the job search site of your choice.
Step 3: Prepare For a Career: In this section you will gain access to detailed information to help you prepare for the career you selected. Information includes core and supplemental duties, general and specific work activities, knowledge required, essential and transferable skills required, day-in-the-life summaries, knowledge required, software skills required, preparation required, educational requirements, training and work experience required, local salary information, certifications, professional associations, current job listings for the job selected along with multiple similar job titles, and related careers (related to what they do, what they know, and what they're called).
Step 4: Career-Specific Resources (detailed and constantly updated): Continue to scroll down the page and you will find tabs that will provide detailed (updated) links to occupational information specific to the career you selected. This information includes:
Videos: Provides a listing of video links related to this career. A great way to get a quick overview of the occupation.
Resumes: Sources for resume materials and techniques. This can help to get you started.
Job Description: Sources that provide job descriptions, which are vital to resume and interview preparation.
Interviews: Provides links that can help you to prepare for and successfully complete the job interview.
Step by Step: Provides links to resources that can help to organize the career search process.
LinkedIn: One of the best professional social media sites that provides links, opportunities, and networking specifically for careers and career development.
Step 1 of 4: Select a Career
Leading Books About Associate Degree Jobs ![]()
What entry level jobs can you get with just an Associate's Degree? Scroll through the picklist (below). These are entry level careers (1 year or less work experience) related to the Associate's Degree level, with at least 30% of job holders having an Associate's Degree. - 356 specific careers are listed. Select those careers that may be of interest - you will then get links to matching active job listings, and detailed resources to help you prepare.
You can use this form two ways:
1) Enter a Keyword - As you enter a keyword, you will filter (limit) the listing to those occupations that contain the keyword entered
2) Browse the list (Don't enter a keyword) - You can simply browse the list of occupations. There may be many that you might never have considered. This may help you to discover jobs that might be of interest.
OR - leave blank and scroll through the choices:
Select a Job Title - Sorted by Annual Salary -(scroll and Select) :
Legend: Career Title Link / (% having Associate's Degree or less) / (% having less than 1 year experience) / (Median Annual U.S. Salary)
Step 2 of 4: Find a Job
Job Listings for: Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers.
Step 3 of 4: Prepare For a Career
Prepare for the "Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers" Career
The details below will provide a pathway to your specific job goal and help you to identify an appropriate career ladder.
Description: Use hand-welding, flame-cutting, hand-soldering, or brazing equipment to weld or join metal components or to fill holes, indentations, or seams of fabricated metal products.
Please click on a section below to expand and see detailed occupational information related to "Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers":
U.S. Total Employment (2023):
418,200U.S. Total Employment (2033 est.):
452,400
Employment Change (2023-2033 est.):
34,100 (8.2%) Average Annual Job Openings (2023-2033 est.):
49,200
| Important Supplemental Job Duties (in order of importance)
For the Top 5 most important - How can you build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. |
|
| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 65 (%) | Description: Ignite torches or start power supplies and strike arcs by touching electrodes to metals being welded, completing electrical circuits. |
| Importance: 59 (%) | Description: Check grooves, angles, or gap allowances, using micrometers, calipers, and precision measuring instruments. |
| Importance: 56 (%) | Description: Preheat workpieces prior to welding or bending, using torches or heating furnaces. |
| Importance: 54 (%) | Description: Melt and apply solder to fill holes, indentations, or seams of fabricated metal products, using soldering equipment. |
| Importance: 53 (%) | Description: Guide and direct flames or electrodes on or across workpieces to straighten, bend, melt, or build up metal. |
| Importance: 48 (%) | Description: Set up and use ladders and scaffolding as necessary to complete work. |
| Importance: 47 (%) | Description: Operate metal shaping, straightening, and bending machines, such as brakes and shears. |
| Importance: 42 (%) | Description: Use fire suppression methods in industrial emergencies. |
| Important General Work Activities (in order of importance)
For the Top 5 most important - How can you build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. |
|
| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 75 (%) | Description: Getting Information: Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources. |
| Importance: 73 (%) | Description: Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials: Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects. |
| Importance: 71 (%) | Description: Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events: Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events. |
| Importance: 70 (%) | Description: Handling and Moving Objects: Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things. |
| Importance: 68 (%) | Description: Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings: Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems. |
| Importance: 66 (%) | Description: Performing General Physical Activities: Performing general physical activities includes doing activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials. |
| Importance: 61 (%) | Description: Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates: Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person. |
| Important Specific Work Activities
How can you begin to build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. Specific Work Activities appear below: |
|
| Adjust equipment controls to regulate gas flow. | |
| Align parts or workpieces to ensure proper assembly. | |
| Assemble temporary equipment or structures. | |
| Clean production equipment. | |
| Clean workpieces or finished products. | |
| Cut industrial materials in preparation for fabrication or processing. | |
| Design templates or patterns. | |
| Determine metal or plastic production methods. | |
| Disassemble equipment for maintenance or repair. | |
| Heat material or workpieces to prepare for or complete production. | |
| Ignite fuel to activate heating equipment. | |
| Maintain safety. | |
| Mark products, workpieces, or equipment with identifying information. | |
| Measure dimensions of completed products or workpieces to verify conformance to specifications. | |
| Melt metal, plastic, or other materials to prepare for production. | |
| Monitor equipment operation to ensure that products are not flawed. | |
| Mount materials or workpieces onto production equipment. | |
| Notify others of equipment repair or maintenance needs. | |
| Operate firefighting equipment. | |
| Operate grinding equipment. | |
| Operate metal or plastic forming equipment. | |
| Operate welding equipment. | |
| Repair parts or assemblies. | |
| Reshape metal workpieces to established specifications. | |
| Review blueprints or other instructions to determine operational methods or sequences. | |
| Select production equipment according to product specifications. | |
| Shape metal workpieces with hammers or other small hand tools. | |
| Solder parts or workpieces. | |
| Trim excess material from workpieces. | |
| Watch operating equipment to detect malfunctions. | |
| Knowledge Required (in order of importance)
For the Top 5 most important - How can you build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. |
|
| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 68 (%) | Description: Production and Processing: Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods. |
| Importance: 61 (%) | Description: Mechanical: Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance. |
| Transferable Skills (in order of importance)
These are skills that can transfer across occupations and industries. For the Top 5 most important, how can you strengthen these skills now so they support both this career and future career flexibility? |
|
| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 52 (%) | Description: Quality Control Analysis: Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance. |
| Day-in-the-Life Summaries These summaries show the main types of activities you are likely to perform on a regular basis in this occupation. How can you imagine your typical workday — using these examples to see if this type of work fits you? |
| Activity: Adjust equipment to ensure adequate performance. |
| Activity: Build structures. |
| Activity: Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas. |
| Activity: Clean workpieces, finished products, or other objects. |
| Activity: Cut materials. |
| Activity: Design materials or devices. |
| Activity: Determine operational methods or procedures. |
| Activity: Disassemble equipment. |
| Activity: Join parts using soldering, welding, or brazing techniques. |
| Activity: Maintain safety or security. |
| Activity: Mark materials or objects for identification. |
| Activity: Measure physical characteristics of materials, products, or equipment. |
| Activity: Monitor equipment operation. |
| Activity: Notify others of emergencies or problems. |
| Activity: Operate cutting or grinding equipment. |
| Activity: Operate industrial processing or production equipment. |
| Activity: Position materials or components for assembly. |
| Activity: Position workpieces or materials on equipment. |
| Activity: Prepare industrial materials for processing or use. |
| Activity: Protect people or property from threats such as fires or flooding. |
| Activity: Read documents or materials to inform work processes. |
| Activity: Repair workpieces or products. |
| Activity: Select materials or equipment for operations or projects. |
| Activity: Shape materials to create products. |
|
Software Skills These are examples of software tools commonly used in this occupation, organized from most to least important for your career preparation. How can you start learning or practicing the highest-priority tools so that you feel confident using them on the job? |
| Emerging Tech Skills |
| Data base user interface and query software: |
| Oracle Database |
| Electronic mail software: |
| Microsoft Outlook |
| Office suite software: |
| Microsoft Office software |
| Operating system software: |
| Microsoft Windows |
| Spreadsheet software: |
| Microsoft Excel |
| General Software Tools |
| Analytical or scientific software: |
| Fred's Tip Cartridge Picker Scientific Software Group Filter Drain FD Value Analysis |
| Calendar and scheduling software: |
| OmniFleet Equipment Maintenance Management |
| Computer aided design CAD software: |
| EZ Pipe |
| Data base user interface and query software: |
| Recordkeeping software |
| Electronic mail software: |
| IBM Notes |
| Preparation Required - How much preparation is needed to obtain this type of job? |
| Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed |
| Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training. |
| Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not. |
| Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training. |
| These occupations involve following instructions and often involve using your knowledge and skills to help others. Examples include dishwashers, landscaping and groundskeeping workers, counter and rental clerks, dental laboratory technicians, and security guards. |
| Education Required - by frequency of educational attainment This shows you details about the level of education most commonly held by workers in this occupation. How can you begin planning the educational pathway that will prepare you best for this type of work? |
|
| Frequency of Attainment (%) | Level of Education |
| Frequency of Attainment: 53.6 (%) | Level of Education: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) |
| Frequency of Attainment: 20.8 (%) | Level of Education: Less than a High School Diploma |
| Frequency of Attainment: 11.6 (%) | Level of Education: Post-Secondary Certificate |
| Frequency of Attainment: 11.3 (%) | Level of Education: Some College Courses |
| Frequency of Attainment: 1.8 (%) | Level of Education: Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree |
| Frequency of Attainment: 0.9 (%) | Level of Education: Bachelor's Degree |
| Training and Experience Required - by frequency of training and work experience attainment This section shows you how often different types of training and work experience are required for this occupation. How can you start gaining the kinds of experience and training that are most common for this type of work? |
|
| Frequency of Attainment (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience |
| Frequency of Attainment: 33.9 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years |
| Frequency of Attainment: 18.8 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years |
| Frequency of Attainment: 13.4 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: None |
| Frequency of Attainment: 10.4 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year |
| Frequency of Attainment: 6.1 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Up to and including 1 month |
| Frequency of Attainment: 6.0 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months |
| Frequency of Attainment: 3.9 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 4 years, up to and including 6 years |
| Frequency of Attainment: 3.9 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 6 years, up to and including 8 years |
| Frequency of Attainment: 3.6 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 3 months, up to and including 6 months |
| Certifications These are examples of certifications that may be important for this occupation. How can you begin exploring which certifications fit your goals and what steps you would need to take to earn them? |
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Certified Radiographic Interpreter | |
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Certified Welder | |
|
SENSE Program | |
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Structural Welding Special Inspector | |
| Professional Associations These associations connect people who work in this occupation or related fields. How can you start using these associations to learn more, build your network, or find mentoring opportunities? |
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American Welding Society (AWS) | |
Step 4 of 4: Career-Specific Resources (detailed and constantly updated)
This section contains detailed resources appropriate to "Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers". Explore these resources to start learning more. Links are constantly updated, so bookmark this page.
Here is a listing of videos related to this career. A great way to get a quick overview of the occupation.
Here are resources that allow you to see example resumes for this occupation. It may be helpful to see examples from others who have this type of experience.
Here are resources that provide job descriptions, which are vital for resume and interview preparation.
There are many great resources that can help guide you through the interview process. These links provide help in preparing and performing an effective interview, specific to this occupation.
Here are links to help guide you, step-by-step, to become a(n): Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers
Here are links to various posts and groups from LinkedIn ® that relate to this occupation. Great way to start building professional contacts in the field that might be most appropriate for you.
Developed by Dr. Ralph Jagodka, Ed.D., Professor Emeritus of Business Management at Mt. San Antonio College and author of the Harvard Business Impact article "What to Do When Students Ask You for Career Advice." - Full bio. © 2026 About This Page
