Sheet Metal Apprentice
Sheet Metal Layout Mechanic
Sheet Metal Mechanic
Nature of the Work
According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, job prospects should be especially good for sheet metal workers with apprenticeship training and a welding certification.
Alternate Titles and Related Careers
Journeyman Sheet metal Worker
PV Fabrication and Testing Technician
Solar fabrication technicians create large solar panel arrays for commercial entities such as public utilities. The solar panels on sun farms are the work of solar fabrication technicians. These technicians do not work on residential structures and do not do any of the wiring involved in setting up the solar panel arrays. Metal steel, copper sheet metal, tubing, and pipefittings are typical materials used in the job.
The work may involve setting up and operating fabricating machines to cut, bend, and straighten sheet metal. They also shape metal over anvils, blocks, or forms using a hammer. Some sheet metal workers operate soldering and welding equipment to join sheet metal parts, inspecting, assembling, and smoothing seams and joints of burred surfaces. Sheet metal workers must be able to read and follow blueprints, drawings, templates, and written and oral instructions and convert blueprints into shop drawings. They must be able to use calculators, scribes, dividers, squares, rulers, calipers, scales, and micrometers, as well as power equipment such as drills, soldering irons, and riveters.
According to O*NET, the following are the tasks that a sheet metal worker may perform:
Determine project requirements including scope, assembly sequences, and required methods and materials
Lay out, measure, and mark dimensions and reference lines on material
Maneuver completed units into position for installation
Install assemblies in supportive frameworks
Select gauges and types of sheet metal or nonmetallic material according to the product specifications
This job is not classified by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but it is similar to the job of a sheet metal worker, which in general is a “Green Enhanced-Skills” occupation in green construction, manufacturing, and renewable energy generation sectors of the economy. The occupation fits into the first two categories because a sheet metal worker may be involved in the installing of green technology into new and existing construction or in the industrial manufacture of green technology.