How To Become A Steel Fitter: What It Is and Career Path

What is a steel fitter and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a steel fitter. For example, did you know that they make an average of $20.93 an hour? That's $43,539 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 3,600 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreSteel FitterUS Average

Salary

3.4

Avg. Salary $43,539

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

8.3

Growth Rate 4%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 2.03%

Asian 1.63%

Black or African American 8.60%

Hispanic or Latino 14.63%

Unknown 4.93%

White 68.18%

Gender

female 4.38%

male 95.63%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress Level

8.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.3

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

4.0

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a steel fitter

Explore steel fitter education requirements

Most common steel fitter degrees

High School Diploma

50.9 %

Associate

24.6 %

Diploma

10.5 %

Start to develop specific steel fitter skills

Skills	Percentages
Blueprint Specifications	21.40%
Hand Tools	17.67%
MIG	11.64%
Tape Measure	8.42%
Tack-Weld	6.94%

Complete relevant steel fitter training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New steel fitters learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a steel fitter based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real steel fitter resumes.

Research steel fitter duties and responsibilities

Cut steel using acetylene torches.
Cut, bend, or weld steel pieces using metal shears, torches, or welding equipment.
Gather data and information on the weld-ability of aluminum alloys, and test welding equipment using various methods of aluminum welding technology
Force structural-steel members into final positions, using turnbuckles, crowbars, jacks and hand tools.

Prepare your steel fitter resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your steel fitter resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a steel fitter resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Steel Fitter Resume templates

Build a professional Steel Fitter resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Steel Fitter resume.

Apply for steel fitter jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a steel fitter job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do steel fitters rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

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1 Star

Steel Fitter reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2019

Pros

Good at all structural steel been doing this for 35 plus years good layout man good cutter better than average welder

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2019