How to become a Boilermaker: education, training and skills.
What workers in the job actually report about their education, experience and training, the skills to build first, and the stepping-stone roles that lead in.
- 32% Post-Secondary Certificate
- 16% Some College Courses
Not shown: answers with low-precision O*NET estimates, so these shares do not add to 100%.
BLS lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education for boilermakers in the United States (Employment Projections, 2025–35). O*NET's survey estimates of required education for boilermakers are too imprecise to name a most common level. O*NET places the job in Job Zone 1-2 of 5 (very little to some preparation). The most common answer for related work experience was “over 4 years, up to and including 6 years” (40%), and for on-the-job training “over 2 years, up to and including 4 years” (38%).
What BLS lists for boilermakers
According to BLS 2025–35 projections data, boilermakers in the United States typically need no work experience in a related occupation to enter the occupation.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
Once hired, boilermakers in the United States typically need an apprenticeship to become fully competent, according to BLS 2025–35 projections data.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
Six steps to becoming a Boilermaker
Data Steps 1 to 5 summarise BLS and O*NET data for the role; step 6 is advice.
- EducationCheck the education employers ask for
O*NET's survey estimates for this job are too imprecise to name a most common level. At least 48% report no college degree needed.
- TrainingExpect on-the-job training
Most common: over 2 years, up to and including 4 years.
- ExperienceRelated experience
Most common: over 4 years, up to and including 6 years (40% of workers).
- SkillsBuild the core skills
Operations Monitoring, Operation and Control, Critical Thinking are rated most important.
- ToolsLearn the tools
Autodesk AutoCAD, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software.
- CredentialsCheck licensing where you live
Many occupations need a state license or certification. Requirements vary by state, so confirm with your state's licensing board.
What workers report
Data Share of workers giving each answer, O*NET.
O*NET Job Zone 1-2 (Very Little to Some Preparation Needed): Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Data Pay once you are in the job: the BLS median is $76,410; the lowest-paid quarter earn $64,760 or less. See the full Boilermaker salary data.
How this page is built
Education, experience, training and Job Zone come from O*NET 31.0 survey data for the occupation. The typical entry-level education, work experience and on-the-job training lines come from BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35. O*NET answers with low-precision estimates are not shown, and an answer is called the most common only when no hidden answer could be larger. Stepping-stone roles use our skill-match score: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.
- Licensing rules in your state.
- Requirements at a specific employer.
- How long the path will take you personally.
BLS typical entry-level education: a high school diploma or equivalent
Not shown: answers with low-precision O*NET estimates, so these shares do not add to 100%.
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.