About the Craft Career Path

Craft Jobs

Many skilled labor applicants have found it valuable to start work right away in the sheet metal industry as a pre-apprentice. This enables you to get a good feel for the industry prior to making the five-year commitment as an apprentice. 

To pursue a rewarding skilled labor career in the sheet metal trade, you will need to first pass an aptitude test measuring developed abilities in math, reading comprehension, and practical applications that help predict future occupational success. After passing the aptitude test, you can then seek employment as a sheet metal apprentice. 

This highly desirable journey as a skilled labor apprentice can last up to five years, during which time your wages increase every six months.

Upon graduation, you will enter the sheet metal craft as a journeyperson with extensive training, comprehensive knowledge, and will have earned as much as $275,000 over the course of five years as an apprentice. And, as a journeyperson, your wages and benefits package will quickly take you toward a six-figure income. 

If you enjoy building things, working with your hands and have a strong on-the-job work ethic, a career as a skilled sheet metal worker may be right for you.