“Welder” covers jobs that share a process and almost nothing else. A MIG welder resume aimed at a production line and a TIG resume aimed at a pharmaceutical plant are arguing completely different cases, and a generic welding resume loses both.
Three complete samples below – TIG, MIG and fabricator – plus what changes for boilermaker work. If you weld structural or 6G pipe, the welder resume sample covers those properly and this page will only repeat it.
Say which kind of welder you are, in line one
This is the whole game. A production shop reading a resume full of isometrics and borescope logs assumes you will be bored in a month. A pharmaceutical contractor reading about parts-per-shift assumes you have never purged a tube.
So put it in the header line, under your name:
- TIG / GTAW – and the material. Sanitary stainless, aluminium and exotic alloys are three different markets
- MIG / GMAW – and whether it is production or fabrication. They pay differently and want different people
- Fabricator – if you lay out and fit as well as weld, that is a bigger job than welding and it should be the title
- Structural or pipe – covered in the main welder resume sample
- Boilermaker – a trade, not a process. See below
The same discipline applies to the code you name, because an AWS code number is a statement about material and product, not a general grade of welder. D1.1 is structural steel; D1.2 is aluminium, D1.3 is sheet steel, D1.5 is bridge work, D17.1 is aerospace. A fabricator who runs thin-gauge stainless all day and writes “AWS D1.1 certified” on the header has told a shop foreman something that does not match the rest of the page, and the mismatch reads as either a copied template or a misunderstanding of your own tickets. Write the code that governs the work you actually do. If you have qualified under more than one, that is a genuine range and it belongs on the line.
TIG welder resume sample: sanitary stainless
Seven years, food and pharmaceutical process piping. TIG work is bought on precision and documentation, so the numbers here are rejection rate and weld count rather than output.
NOELLE BRANDT Madison, WI 53713 | (608) 555-0117 | n.brandt.tig@email.com TIG welder | 7 years | Sanitary stainless and aluminium ASME Section IX qualified | Own hood, grinders and purge kit SUMMARY GTAW welder with 7 years on sanitary stainless process piping for food and pharmaceutical plants. Manual and orbital, 1/2 in. to 4 in. tube, to ASME BPE finish criteria, with a borescope rejection rate under 3% across roughly 2,400 documented welds. EXPERIENCE TIG Welder - Badger Process Systems, Madison, WI Apr 2021 - Present - Manual and orbital GTAW on 304L and 316L sanitary tube, 1/2 in. to 4 in., in food and pharmaceutical facilities - Welded to ASME BPE surface finish and internal criteria; every weld borescoped, numbered and logged - Borescope rejection rate under 3% across roughly 2,400 welds - Set up back purge and monitored oxygen; no sugaring rejections in the last two years - Read isometrics, built spools in the shop, then fitted in field - Handed over weld logs and passivation records to QA Welder - Northern Fabrication, Janesville, WI Jun 2018 - Mar 2021 - GTAW and GMAW on aluminium and stainless sheet and light structural - Aluminium tank and enclosure fabrication, 1/8 in. to 3/8 in. SKILLS GTAW manual and orbital | 304L, 316L, aluminium 5052 and 6061 Sanitary tube 1/2 in. - 4 in. | ASME BPE finish criteria Back purge setup and oxygen monitoring | Borescope inspection Isometric reading and spool fabrication | Passivation Weld logging and traceability | Precision fit-up and tacking CERTIFICATIONS ASME Section IX - GTAW, 6G, 304/316 stainless - current AWS D1.6 - GTAW, stainless structural - current OSHA 10-Hour General Industry - 2025 Confined Space Entry - 2025 First Aid / CPR - current
“No sugaring rejections in the last two years” is the line that matters to anyone who has run sanitary work. It says the purge was set up properly every time, which is exactly the discipline that is hard to hire for.
MIG welder resume sample: production
Five years, manufacturing. Completely different evidence – parts per shift, first-pass yield, and whether you can tend a robotic cell, which is increasingly what “MIG welder” means in a modern plant.
JAMAL WHITFIELD Toledo, OH 43607 | (419) 555-0186 | j.whitfield.mig@email.com MIG welder | 5 years | Production manufacturing | Robotic cell OSHA 10 | Available for 2nd and 3rd shift SUMMARY GMAW welder with 5 years in production manufacturing. Runs manual MIG on 12 gauge to 1/2 in. carbon steel to takt time, tends two robotic welding cells, and holds first-pass yield above 97% against a line target of 94%. EXPERIENCE Production Welder - Maumee Valley Manufacturing, Toledo, OH Feb 2022 - Present - Manual GMAW on 12 gauge to 1/2 in. carbon steel, short circuit and spray transfer - Averaged 140-165 parts per shift against a standard of 130 - First-pass yield above 97% against a line target of 94% - Loaded and tended two robotic welding cells: cleared faults, changed contact tips and liners, adjusted fixturing - Read weld symbols and fixture prints; checked with fillet gauges and go/no-go gauges - Trained four new welders on the cell and the manual station - No recordable injuries in 4 years Welder / Assembler - Ohio Trailer Works, Perrysburg, OH Aug 2020 - Jan 2022 - GMAW on trailer frames and crossmembers, welded to jig - Fit-up, grinding and assembly SKILLS GMAW short circuit and spray transfer | 12 ga - 1/2 in. carbon steel Robotic cell loading and fault clearing | Contact tip and liner change Weld symbol and fixture print reading | Fillet and go/no-go gauges Working to takt time | Fixture and jig setup | Grinding and finishing Training new welders CERTIFICATIONS AWS D1.1 - GMAW, 2F and 3F, carbon steel - current OSHA 10-Hour General Industry - 2025 Forklift - classes 4 and 5, 2025 First Aid / CPR - current
The robotic cell lines are not padding. A production manager reading two otherwise identical resumes will take the one that can clear a fault and change a contact tip without calling maintenance, because that is downtime.
Fabricator resume sample
Ten years. A fabricator is not a welder who also fits – it is someone who builds a thing from a drawing, and welding is one of the operations. The resume has to show the layout and tolerance side or it reads as a welder overreaching on the title.
HECTOR SALINAS San Antonio, TX 78219 | (210) 555-0173 | h.salinas.fab@email.com Fabricator / welder | 10 years | Layout, fit-up and weld AWS D1.1 | Own tools | Builds from shop drawings SUMMARY Fabricator with 10 years building structural and miscellaneous metals from drawings - layout and fit-up through to finished weld on stairs, handrail, platforms and equipment skids. Rework rate under 2%, and no drawings returned for dimensional error in 3 years. EXPERIENCE Lead Fabricator - Alamo Metal Works, San Antonio, TX May 2019 - Present - Full fabrication from shop drawings: layout, cut, fit, weld and finish - stairs, handrail, platforms, skids and davits - Held 1/16 in. tolerance on equipment skids and frames - Ran the layout table for a 6-person shop and checked others' fit-up before welding, which is where the rework rate came from - SMAW, GMAW and FCAW on carbon steel, 1/8 in. to 1 in. - Operated ironworker, band saw, bender, plasma table and overhead crane - Rework rate under 2%; no drawings returned for dimensional error in 3 years - Trained two apprentices through layout and fit-up Fabricator - Bexar Steel Supply, San Antonio, TX Jul 2016 - Apr 2019 - Cut, drill, fit and weld to shop drawings - Miscellaneous metals: ladders, grating, embeds and lintels SKILLS Layout from shop drawings | Fit-up and tacking | SMAW, GMAW, FCAW Carbon steel 1/8 in. - 1 in. | Tolerance work to 1/16 in. Ironworker, band saw, bender, plasma table | Overhead crane and rigging Weld symbols and structural drawings | Squareness and flatness checks Grinding and finishing | Apprentice training CERTIFICATIONS AWS D1.1 - SMAW and FCAW, 3G and 4G, carbon steel - current OSHA 30-Hour Construction - 2025 Overhead Crane and Rigging - 2025 Forklift - 2025 First Aid / CPR - current
FREE DOWNLOAD
The 3 samples above, as one editable Word file
Word .docx · 37 KB · ATS-safe formatting, no tables. Delete the note at the top before you send it.
“No drawings returned for dimensional error in 3 years” does more work than any list of processes. Fabrication shops lose money on rework, and that sentence is about rework.
Boilermaker, and why it is different again
Boilermaker is a trade rather than a process. The work is pressure vessels, tanks, stacks and power plant outages – heavy plate, layout, rigging and a great deal of confined space. If you are writing one, the emphasis moves:
- Outages and turnarounds – how many, typical duration, and whether you travel. This is the headline
- Plate thickness and material – and pressure code work if you have it, ASME Section IX rather than D1.1
- Rigging – boilermakers rig constantly. Capacity, crane signalling, and your ticket
- Confined space – drums, vessels and hoppers. The certification and your comfort with it are hiring criteria
- Union status – much of this work is Local dispatch. Name the Local
Structure it like the turnaround sample in the millwright resume guide rather than like a shop welder resume – the buyer is the same kind of buyer.
The number that matters in each
If you write one number, make it this one:
- TIG – rejection rate, with the inspection method. Borescope, RT, dye pen. Precision work is bought on defect rate
- MIG production – parts per shift against the standard, and first-pass yield. Output is the currency
- Fabricator – rework rate, or tolerance held. Dimensional accuracy is what a shop is actually buying
- Boilermaker – outages completed, and tonnage or plate thickness
If you cannot find numbers in your own work, how to quantify physical work covers where they hide. Most shops track more than welders realise.
Shop, production and field are different resumes
- Shop: lead with fit-up, prints and finish quality. Consistency matters more than speed
- Production: lead with output, yield and attendance. Takt time and shift flexibility are the argument
- Field: lead with travel, per diem willingness, positions qualified and safety record. Getting there and being cleared to work is half of it
Same skeleton, three orderings. Ten minutes per application, and it stops you reading as a bad fit for all three.
Mistakes across all four
- “MIG, TIG, stick.” Three words that say nothing. Process, position, material, thickness – always
- Listing processes you cannot test in. Found out on the plate the same week
- No material detail on TIG work. Aluminium, 304, 316 and Inconel are different skills and different pay
- Fabricator resumes that are welder resumes. If layout and tolerance are missing, so is the reason to hire you as a fabricator
- Production resumes with no numbers. The plant measures everything about you. Use it
- Leaving certifications undated. Covered properly in the welding certifications list
Frequently asked questions
I can run all three processes. Do I say so?
Yes, in skills – but lead with the one the job wants. A resume that leads with everything reads as a resume with no focus, and shops hire for the process in front of them.
Is robotic cell experience worth putting on a MIG resume?
Yes, and specifically. “Loaded and tended two cells, cleared faults, changed tips” is a different claim from “familiar with robotic welding”, and only one of them is worth money.
Fabricator or welder – which title should I use?
Whichever the posting uses. If you genuinely lay out and fit from drawings, call yourself a fabricator when applying to fabrication shops; it is a higher-paid job and understating it costs you.
How do I show TIG quality without a rejection rate?
Inspection method and volume. “Every weld borescoped and logged” tells an inspector you worked somewhere that checked, which is itself a credential.
Do I need a different resume for every shop?
No – one document, with the summary line and the top three bullets reordered to match. The certifications block never changes.
Related guides
Structural and 6G pipe: welder resume sample. A blank one to fill in: welder resume template. Writing your tickets: welding certifications list. What testing costs: welding certification cost. Moving off the tools: welding inspector resume. Formatting: ATS resume template.
If you would rather not write it yourself
None of these four needs a paid writer. Your rejection rate, your parts per shift and your tolerances are the argument, and a general writer will compress all of it into “proficient in MIG and TIG welding”.
Do it yourself. A resume builder handles the single-column formatting that application software wants, which is the fiddly part. Take the sample above, replace the content with your own numbers, and you are done in under an hour.
Pay someone to write it. Worth it mainly if you are moving into a lead, shop supervisor or QA role where the resume has to argue about throughput, rework cost and other people rather than your own bench. If you go that route, Resumeble is a US-based writing service – where the writer sits matters on trades work, because someone unfamiliar with the trade flattens your specifics into generic phrasing. If you do, the code HARDHAT10 takes 10% off. Expect to be asked for your numbers either way, so do that homework first regardless of which route you take.
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