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

What is a steel worker and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a steel worker. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.24 an hour? That's $37,949 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 3,600 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreSteel WorkerUS Average

Salary

3.0

Avg. Salary $37,949

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 1.66%

Black or African American 8.93%

Hispanic or Latino 14.54%

Unknown 4.93%

White 67.91%

Gender

female 6.41%

male 93.59%

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 worker

Explore steel worker education requirements

Most common steel worker degrees

High School Diploma

54.3 %

Associate

13.8 %

Diploma

13.7 %

Start to develop specific steel worker skills

Skills	Percentages
Safety Equipment	18.97%
Overhead Cranes	14.33%
Torches	4.82%
Steel Beams	4.79%
Hoisting	4.07%

Complete relevant steel worker training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New steel workers 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 worker based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real steel worker resumes.

Research steel worker duties and responsibilities

Attain diverse professional experience from working in various craft disciplines in maintenance, turnaround and new construction projects.
Handle power tools including TIG and gas welding systems.
Cut rods to require lengths, using metal shears, hacksaws, bar cutters, or acetylene torches.
Assemble steel for hangar bay doors on military bases MIG welding according to blueprints and schematics

Prepare your steel worker resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your steel worker 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 worker 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 Worker Resume templates

Build a professional Steel Worker 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 Worker resume.

Apply for steel worker jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a steel worker 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 workers rate their job?

-/5

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Steel Worker reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2019

Pros

Pay was awesome ,easy work, a lot to learn

Cons

Frequent layoffs, gotta jump through a lot of hoops to be hired