Series 3802

Metal Forging

Metal forgers who heat and shape metal into parts using hammers and presses.

Plain-language description based on the OPM series definition.

3800 Metal Work Family · Federal Wage System (trades)

See open 3802 jobs on USAJOBS Compare with another series Back to Series Directory

At a glance

Job postings, last 12 months: 4
Open now: 3
Trend (last 3 months vs. 3 before): Not enough data
Demand score: 12/100
Remote opportunity score: Not enough data
Veteran opportunity score: 100/100

What these scores mean

Grades and pay

Typical grades

WG-1 to WG-15

Most common promotion potential: WG-11

WG pay plan, used by 50% of this series' postings.

Typical posted salary range

$46,791 to $108,461 per year

Median of the yearly salary ranges in posted announcements.

Who can apply

Share of job postings in the last 12 months, by who the announcement was open to.

Open to the public: 75%
Federal employees and other special groups only: 25%
Listed a veterans hiring path: 25%
Telework eligible (open now): 0%
Fully remote (open now): 0%

Who is hiring and where

Top hiring departments

Department of the Air Force (3)
Department of the Navy (1)

Top states

Washington (1)

Hiring patterns

Based on job announcements since Mar 2017. How patterns are calculated

Postings by fiscal year

The federal fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30. Fiscal years 2025 and 2026 include the government-wide hiring freeze that began in January 2025.

Job announcements for series 3802 by fiscal year
Fiscal year	Postings
FY 2018	5
FY 2019	3
FY 2020	1
FY 2021	6
FY 2022	4
FY 2023	7
FY 2024	11
FY 2025	6
FY 2026	4

Postings by month, last 12 months

Job announcements for series 3802 opened each month
Month	Postings
Dec 2025	0
Jan 2026	1
Feb 2026	0
Mar 2026	3
Apr 2026	0
May 2026	0
Jun 2026	0
Jul 2026	0
Aug 2026	0
Sep 2026	0
Oct 2026	0
Nov 2026 (month to date)	0

3806 Sheet Metal Mechanic 257 postings in 12 months
3820 Shipfitting 35 postings in 12 months
3801 Miscellaneous Metal Work 30 postings in 12 months
3809 Mobile Equipment Metal Mechanic 17 postings in 12 months
3808 Boilermaking 6 postings in 12 months

About this data

Job numbers come from the USAJOBS API: 244,223 job announcements opened from December 1, 2025 to November 15, 2026, plus 12,260 announcements open on November 15, 2026. Canceled announcements are not counted. Series descriptions summarize the OPM Handbook of Occupational Groups and Families.

These figures describe posted job announcements, not hiring outcomes. Always read the official announcement and its qualification requirements before applying. How the scores are calculated.