What we look for
- Sustained hands-on depth in whichever strand is yours — welding, plate and vessel fabrication, sheet metal and ductwork, or architectural metalwork.
- This is what most separates a tradesman from a helper, in all four strands.
- Breadth across SMAW, GTAW, GMAW and FCAW, the materials welded, and any passed welder qualification test (WQT/WPQT), coded ticket or NC II/III/IV.
- Confident across the materials and forms of their strand — plate, box/RHS/SHS, angle, flat bar, tube, light-gauge sheet — in mild steel, and ideally stainless or aluminium too, and on the machines that go with them (plasma and gas cutting, pressbrake, rolls, guillotine, swaging machine, lockformer, magnetic drill, grinders).
- Evidence of caring how the finished item looks and holds tolerance: dressing welds flush on work that will be seen, linishing or polishing stainless, filling before powder coating, working to a stated tolerance, or having work tested and passed. Absence is a mild negative only — on hidden structural or pipe work the finish standard is genuinely different — but present it is a strong signal.
- Dependable, sustained metalwork employment rather than scattered short stints across unrelated trades.
Questions you'll be asked
These are the questions the application form asks. You do not need to answer yes to every one — they tell us where your experience actually sits.
- How many years have you worked in welding, metal fabrication or sheet metal work (as your main job, not occasional)
- Which of these have you done? List ALL that apply: pipe & position welding · plate, vessel & tank fabrication · structural steel · sheet metal & ductwork · metal cladding · architectural metalwork (gates, railings, balustrades, stairs)
- What have you actually made or worked on yourself? (e.g. pressure vessels, heat exchangers, tanks, structural frames, HVAC ducting, pipe spools, gates, balustrades, steel staircases)
- If you weld: which processes and on which materials? (e.g. SMAW/stick, GTAW/TIG, GMAW/MIG-MAG, FCAW — on carbon steel, stainless, aluminium). Leave blank if welding is not your trade.
- If you weld: which positions can you weld (e.g. 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G), and have you passed a welder qualification test (WQT/WPQT) or held a coded ticket
- Which materials, sections and thicknesses do you work in? (e.g. carbon steel 6mm plate, 40x40x3 RHS box section, 316 stainless tube, galvanised sheet 0.8mm, aluminium)
- Can you mark out, set out or develop patterns for your own work from a drawing, and make your own jigs and templates
- Which machines and equipment can you use? (e.g. plasma or gas cutting, pressbrake, rolls, rollformer, guillotine, swaging machine, lockformer, magnetic drill, grinders)
- Have you installed or fitted your own finished work on site? If yes, describe how (e.g. duct hanging and supports, chemical or expansion anchors into concrete, core drilling for balustrade posts, welding to existing steel)
Qualifications that help
None of these is essential, and a qualification from any country counts.
- Welding, fabrication, sheet metal or blacksmithing trade qualification from any country (apprenticeship, City & Guilds, SENAI Soldagem / Caldeiraria / Serralheria, ITI Welder / Fitter / Sheet Metal Worker, TESDA SMAW / GTAW / GMAW NC II, or national equivalent)
- Welder Qualification Test (WQT / WPQT) or coded ticket, to ISO 9606, ASME IX, AWS or client approval
- Safe Pass or equivalent site safety card
- Working at height / MEWP or scissor-lift ticket, from any country
- Abrasive wheels training
We assess English at around CEFR A2 for this role — enough to follow instructions and raise a problem with the person you work for. That is our own standard, not an Irish legal requirement; there is no English test in the permit rules for this job.
The work permit
This role is eligible for an Irish employment permit. The job normally has to pass a 28-day Labour Market Needs Test — the employer runs that, advertising the role with JobsIreland/EURES and on a second jobs platform for 28 unbroken days. Either you or the employer can be named as the applicant on the permit itself; on our placements it is the employer. Either way the cost is not yours to carry: under section 55 of the Employment Permits Act 2024 an employer cannot take the permit fee, recruitment costs, or travel money they have already paid you out of your wages, or ask you to pay any of it back. Doing that is a criminal offence.
Salary thresholds and any quota are set per occupation and move during the year, so we confirm the current position for your exact role with DETE before an employer advertises — rather than quote you a figure here that could be out of date by the time you read it.
How long it takes
From an employer offering the job to you starting work, in our experience the realistic timeline is 6 to 8 months if you need an entry visa — the Philippines, for example. From a country that does not need an entry visa, such as Brazil, allow about 4 to 5 months. That covers the 28-day Labour Market Needs Test, DETE permit processing, the visa and travel. DETE processes applications in date order and publishes its current dates; we do not quote a figure that could be out of date by the time you read it.
If you are already living in Ireland on a permit, the position is different — tell us on the form and we will explain where you stand.
Apply
The application takes about ten minutes. You will be asked about your experience, and you can upload a CV and record a short voice clip so we can put you forward properly.