Back to Jobs

Job Description

Overview

The General Helper position involves assisting operators with machine operations and requires commitment to 8-12 hour shifts. Candidates will receive hands-on training and ongoing learning opportunities to become qualified Operators while ensuring a clean and safe work environment.

Responsibilities

  • Assist operators with machine operations.
  • Commit to 8-12 hour shifts.
  • Maintain machine cleanliness.
  • Complete quality checks.
  • Understand work orders and machine instructions.
  • Monitor and decrease waste.
  • Perform various housekeeping tasks.

Requirements

  • Knowledge of safe work practices.
  • Basic math skills including the ability to read a tape measure.
  • Attention to detail.
  • Ability to read, review, and understand work orders.
  • Ability to work as part of a team.
  • Mechanically inclined (nice to have).

Benefits

Additional Information

  • Hourly Full-Time - 3rd Shift 3 p.m. to 11 p.m.
  • Location: 100 E. Oakton St, Des Plaines, IL 60018.
Apply for This Position

How this job compares in Des Plaines, IL

Pay in context

At roughly $20/hr, this posting comes in about 35% below the $30/hr median for welding jobs across Illinois, where the middle half runs $26–$38/hr across 276 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 5% of the comparable postings we have wage data for. That gap is worth raising directly — in a market this size there is normally room to negotiate toward the median, particularly if you already hold the certifications the posting asks for.

The local market in Des Plaines, IL

Des Plaines, IL is a small market in our index: 1 other active welding opening alongside this one, from 1 employer. Across Illinois as a whole we're tracking 373 other active welding openings from 233 employers. With this few local postings, most welders here end up either commuting or looking at travel work. Browse welding jobs across Illinois.

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

The most active employers in Illinois at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are S&C Electric Company (18), Gerber Collision & Glass (14), and Staff on Site (13). Volume like that usually means either a genuine expansion or a staffing agency working several client sites — worth knowing which before you apply.

Within Illinois, the best-paying metros we track by median hourly rate are Downers Grove at $46/hr, Chicago at $36/hr, and Addison at $32/hr. If you can relocate or commute, that spread is worth factoring in.

Similar openings near Des Plaines, IL

Pay figures are medians computed from live postings in the Welding Pros index, not from survey data, and they move as employers post. General Helpers 3rd shift figures were last recalculated when this page was built.