Hiring skilled people for sheet metal and fabrication units: where to find them and how to test them

An owner posts 'experienced welder, urgent' on a messaging group. Twenty calls come in. Six turn up. Each swears he can do MIG, TIG and arc in any position. Two start that afternoon. Within a fortnight one is grinding out his own wormholes daily, and the other cannot read a weld symbol on an isometric. The shop has paid twice: once to hire and once to discover.

Fabrication hiring improves when two habits change. Know where skilled tradesmen actually surface, and never engage anyone without watching him work. Both are cheap. Both get skipped when a fabrication order is waiting at the shear. This guide belongs to our fabrication industry hub and reflects how we approach recruitment process consulting.

• Trade institutes and apprenticeship schemes. Welder, fitter and sheet metal worker trainees, best hired early and graded up.
• Consumables and gas suppliers. Whoever delivers wire spools, tungsten and cylinders knows which sheds are slowing and which welders are restless.
• Machine dealers. Laser and press brake service engineers remember which operators were trained on which controllers.
• Former staff. A good welder who left for an erection contractor may want to return once camp life loses its shine.
• Referrals from the current crew. Useful, but test referred candidates exactly like everyone else.
• Peak-order registers. Helpers who did well in the last rush and showed interest in tacking or bending.
• Local job boards and messaging groups. They bring volume. The test does the filtering.

A practical test only works if you know what you are testing for. 'Welder' is not a specification. Note the processes, alloys and gauges you quote, the positions the work demands, the drawings he must read, and whether he travels to site. A stainless kitchen shop needs thin-gauge TIG with a clean, purged underside. A structural yard needs stick or flux-cored runs on thick plate, often vertical. For the laser shop's equivalent, see how a laser job shop defines operator and nester roles.

• Welder: a T-joint fillet and a butt joint in your positions, on your material. Hammer the fillet's upright leg flat and inspect the root for lack of fusion. Hacksaw the butt joint across and study the section.
• TIG welder on stainless: a thin-gauge butt with argon backing, judged on bead width, heat tint and a clean underside.
• Fitter: lay out a bracket with slotted holes from a drawing, scribe and centre-punch it, then tack a box frame and prove it square corner to corner.
• Press brake operator: read a bend drawing, choose punch and V-die, set the back gauge and fold a three-bend part in the right order.
• Laser operator or nester: nest a mixed batch on one sheet, explain lead-ins and microjoints, swap a nozzle and spot dross on a cut sample.
• Polisher: match the grain on a sample panel to a reference piece without crossing it.
• Helper: read a steel rule and tape, sort parts by drawing number, and lift a sheet safely with a partner.

1. 1

   Phone screen in ten minutes

   Which processes, which alloys, which previous shops, which positions. Ask him to describe a job he is proud of. Invite only those whose answers fit the role.

2. 2

   Test on your floor, with your material

   Book a slot, hand him gloves, helmet and goggles, and let him set up the inverter, wire feed or argon flow as he would at work. Watching the set-up tells you as much as the result.

3. 3

   Score with two witnesses

   The in-charge and a senior tradesman score separately on the sheet below, then compare. Keep the test piece, scratched with his initials and the day.

4. 4

   Talk about the job honestly

   Shifts, overtime pattern, site postings, how grading and pay work. Surprises after joining cause early exits.

5. 5

   Call his last foreman

   Ask about attendance, attitude to rework, and whether he would rehire him. One short call is enough.

6. 6

   Offer a grade with the rate

   State the grade he tested into, its rate band and what the next grade needs. Before fixing a figure, look at comparing welder rates with nearby shops.

7. 7

   Plan his first week before he arrives

   Buddy, machine sign-offs, safety walk and a check at day thirty. Stainless shops can borrow from how stainless fabricators induct new welders and polishers.

Candidate, role applied for and date: ________.
Test set: process, material, thickness, position or task: ________.
Set-up: checked kit, settings and safety before starting (1 to 4).
Reading the drawing: understood dimensions, symbols and sequence (1 to 4).
Workmanship: fusion, square, angle, grain or nest quality (1 to 4).
Self-checking: measured or inspected own work before handing over (1 to 4).
Safety habits: guards, PPE, cylinder and cable handling, lifting (1 to 4).
Time taken against what you expect of a trained hand: ________.
Witness one score and witness two score: ________.
Grade recommended: ________.
Test piece kept and labelled: yes or no.

• Taking 'all positions, all processes' on trust because the order is late.
• Testing on offcuts of a different gauge or alloy from the real work.
• Letting the candidate's friend in the crew judge the test.
• Agreeing a rate in the corridor before the test is scored.
• Staying silent about site postings until the first trip comes up.

Write the role down in skill terms, not task terms, so every later hire faces the same standard; job descriptions that define the skill shows how. Our scorecard for the spoken part of an interview can carry the conversation side. And if welders keep leaving soon after joining, grading may be the cause, as the post on poachable welders explains.