Talk to your school counselor about programs and classes like woodworking that are offered at your school so you can start learning skills that will get you started in this field.

Find a class to jump-start your construction skills.

Welding is a valuable skill in many industries. Gain hands-on training in welding by taking a class at your school or in your community.

Take a welding class.

Search online for how-to videos to see how hard this work is to master--and whether it's something you think you'd like. Does seeing this kind of work in action make you more interested in trying it?

Watch tutorials on how to do this kind of work.

Pipelayers

Lay pipe for storm or sanitation sewers, drains, and water mains. Perform any combination of the following tasks: grade trenches or culverts, position pipe, or seal joints.

Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Realistic

Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

Enterprising

Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Conventional

Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

Investigative

Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

Social

Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.

Artistic

First Interest High-Point

Second Interest High-Point

Third Interest High-Point

Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed

Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters

Construction and Extraction Occupations

Construction Trades Workers

Install or use instruments such as lasers, grade rods, or transit levels.

Connect pipe pieces and seal joints, using welding equipment, cement, or glue.

Cover pipes with earth or other materials.

Install or repair sanitary or stormwater sewer structures or pipe systems.

Align and position pipes to prepare them for welding or sealing.

Check slopes for conformance to requirements, using levels or lasers.

Lay out pipe routes, following written instructions or blueprints and coordinating layouts with supervisors.

Operate mechanized equipment, such as pickup trucks, rollers, tandem dump trucks, front-end loaders, or backhoes.

Grade or level trench bases, using tamping machines or hand tools.

Dig trenches to desired or required depths, by hand or using trenching tools.

Tap and drill holes into pipes to introduce auxiliary lines or devices.

Locate existing pipes needing repair or replacement, using magnetic or radio indicators.

Train or supervise others in laying pipe.

Air compressors

Air hammers

Aligning clamps

Backhoes

Belting slings

Bevel grinding machines

Block and tackle equipment

Boring machines

Bulldozers

Cable plows

Caulking guns

Combination squares

Compactors

Concrete saws

Cutting torches

Desktop computers

Ditch pumps

Dredges

Drill presses

Excavators

Explosimeters

Facing machines

Fill pumps

Forklifts

Framing squares

Generators

Graders

Hammers

Hand tampers

Horizontal boring machines

Hydraulic cranes

Ladders

Laser printers

Leak detection equipment

Manlifts

Manual benders

Manual screw jacks

Metal inert gas MIG welders

Motor-driven brushes

Motor-driven grinders

Narrow mouth shovels

Notebook computers

Null locators

Offset socket wrench sets

Ohmmeters

Optical levels

Personal computers

Pigs

Pipe bending mandrels

Pipe beveling machines

Pipe cutting machines

Pipe lasers

Pipe threaders

Pipeline jacks

Portable grinders

Portable welding machines

Power drills

Power saws

Powered tampers

Pressure testers

Pry bars

Reciprocating pipe saws

Roll groovers

Round point shovels

Sand pumps

Sandblasters

Scaffolding

Shielded arc welding tools

Single-cut mill saw files

Sledgehammers

Snakes

Stationary grinders

Tapping machines

Test pumps

Track loaders

Tractor pipe carrier attachments

Tractors with backhoe attachments

Tractors with loader attachments

Transit levels

Trenchers

Tungsten inert gas TIG welding equipment

Voltmeters

Water removal pumps

Welding hoods

Wheel loaders

Winches

Wire tracers

Spreadsheet software

Word processing software

Pipelayers

Overview

Career

What Pipelayers Do

Other Job Titles Pipelayers May Have

Tasks & Responsibilities May Include

Pipelayers

Overview

Career

What Pipelayers Do

Other Job Titles Pipelayers May Have

Tasks & Responsibilities May Include

Education

Level of Education Attained by Pipelayers

Related Careers

Related Leaders