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Job Description

Overview

PALA Interstate, LLC is seeking a Structural Welder who will lay out, fit, and weld together metal components for various products such as pipelines and structural steel. The role requires reading and interpreting job specifications and blueprints, and performing welding tasks with minimal supervision.

Responsibilities

  • Reads and studies layout, blueprints, diagrams, work orders, and welding procedures to determine work to be done.
  • Plans work in logical sequence and determines tools/equipment needed.
  • Lays out, positions, aligns, and fits components together.
  • Bolts, clamps, and tack welds parts to secure in position for welding.
  • Obtains specified electrode and inserts into portable holder or threads electrode wire through portable welding gun.
  • Connects cables from welding unit to obtain specified amperage, voltage, slope, and pulse.
  • Starts power supply to produce electric current.
  • Strikes arc to generate heat to melt and deposit metal from electrode to work piece.
  • Manually guides electrode or gun along weld line to form specified depth of fusion and bead.
  • Welds in flat, horizontal, vertical, and overhead positions and examines weld for specifications.
  • Manually applies filler rod to supply weld metal.
  • Cleans or degreases weld joint or work piece using wire brush, grinder, or chemical bath.
  • Chips off excess weld, slag, and spatter.
  • Preheats work piece using torch or heating furnace.
  • Repairs products by dismantling, straightening, reshaping, and reassembling parts.

Requirements

  • Minimum four years’ experience in welding with SMAW, GTAW, and/or Flux Core process.
  • Or two years plus two years of ABC or equivalent training.
  • Must pass required welding test as required by the specific job site.
  • High School or GED preferred but not required.
  • Trade School program preferred but not required.
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How this job compares in Baton Rouge, LA

Pay in context

This employer didn't publish a rate. For reference, welding jobs across Louisiana currently run a median of $27/hr in our index, with the middle half of them falling between $23–$35/hr across 38 postings with published pay. That median is a reasonable floor to anchor on when a recruiter asks what you're looking for.

The local market in Baton Rouge, LA

Baton Rouge, LA currently has 6 other active welding openings besides this one, spread across 6 employers. None of them were added in the last week, so this is a slower-moving market. Across Louisiana as a whole we're tracking 100 other active welding openings from 72 employers. That's enough local activity to be worth comparing two or three offers before committing. Browse every welding job in Baton Rouge, or widen the search to Louisiana.

PALA Interstate currently has 2 other openings live in Louisiana, which is usually a sign of either steady growth or steady turnover — worth asking which in the interview.

The most active employers in Louisiana at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are Worley (9), Savard Group (6), and The Shaw Group (3). Volume like that usually means either a genuine expansion or a staffing agency working several client sites — worth knowing which before you apply.

What you'll be running

This posting calls for TIG, Stick, and Flux-Core work. TIG (GTAW) uses a non-consumable tungsten electrode with filler added by hand, giving the operator the most control of any process. It is slow, demanding, and the standard for stainless, aluminum, and anything where the bead has to look as good as it holds. Stick (SMAW) burns a flux-coated consumable rod and needs no shielding gas, so it works in wind, rain, and on dirty or rusted steel. That tolerance for bad conditions keeps it the default for field, structural, and repair work.

See all structural welder openings if you want to compare this against similar roles.

Similar openings near Baton Rouge, LA

Pay figures are medians computed from live postings in the Welding Pros index, not from survey data, and they move as employers post. Structural Welder figures were last recalculated when this page was built.