Sheet Metal Workers: Salary, Job Description, How To Become One, and Quiz

Job description

Sheet Metal Workers fabricate, assemble, install, and repair sheet metal products and equipment, such as ducts, control boxes, drainpipes, and furnace casings. Work may involve any of the following: setting up and operating fabricating machines to cut, bend, and straighten sheet metal; shaping metal over anvils, blocks, or forms using hammer; operating soldering and welding equipment to join sheet metal parts; or inspecting, assembling, and smoothing seams and joints of burred surfaces. Includes sheet metal duct installers who install prefabricated sheet metal ducts used for heating, air conditioning, or other purposes.

• Convert blueprints into shop drawings to be followed in the construction or assembly of sheet metal products.
• Determine project requirements, such as scope, assembly sequences, or required methods or materials, using blueprints, drawings, or written or verbal instructions.
• Lay out, measure, and mark dimensions and reference lines on material, such as roofing panels, using calculators, scribes, dividers, squares, or rulers.
• Fasten seams or joints together with welds, bolts, cement, rivets, solder, caulks, metal drive clips, or bonds to assemble components into products or to repair sheet metal items.

Salary

Sheet Metal Workers with little to no experience tend to make between $27780 and $35390 while the more experienced ones can earn over $64970 per year.

One of the easiest ways to increase your salary as a Sheet Metal Worker is to move to a higher paying state like HI. Right now, the highest paying states for Sheet Metal Workers are HI, NY, IL, MN and WA.

However, a higher pay at HI doesn’t guarantee that you will make more because the living expenses at HI might be twice as high than where you are currently at now.

Three other factors that can increase your salary as a Sheet Metal Worker is the degree you hold, the industry you work in, and lastly the company you work for.

Requirements

We asked other Sheet Metal Workers what degree they had when they got the job and most of them said they had a High School Diploma followed by less than a High School Diploma.

Other than that, we also asked them what did they major in and here are the most popular majors that came up.

Pros and Cons

Here are some of the pros and cons of being a Sheet Metal Worker.

What is the job like

65% of Sheet Metal Workers said they were satisfied with their job and 52% said they feel like their job is making other people’s lives better.

Is this right for me

You can read more about these career personality types here.

People who are suitable for this job tends to like work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They like working with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery..

They also like following set procedures and routines. They like working with data and details more than with ideas.

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