The job of an assistant operator varies based on one's place of employment or the type of machine operated by them. Usually, your duties may focus on working with operators and several other workers and organizing or handling documents. For this, you must be able to comprehend blueprints and regard and obey the executive operators and manager. Additionally, to work as an assistant operator, you must carry out support duties like organizing equipment. You will have to perform consistent maintenance checks as well. This is done to ensure the smooth running of the machine and sustain a harmless operating environment. You are to help operators and every other sector in the organization in their job.

To be suited for this job, you must have excellent writing, organization, and interpersonal skills. Also, you should exhibit outstanding team working skills as you may often operate as a team. In addition, a bachelor's or a high school diploma is essential for this job. As an assistant operator, you will earn an average of $39,579 per annum or $19.04 an hour.

What Does an Assistant Operator Do

There are certain skills that many assistant operators have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed interpersonal skills, organizational skills and writing skills.

Learn more about what an Assistant Operator does

How To Become an Assistant Operator

If you're interested in becoming an assistant operator, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 38.2% of assistant operators have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 4.2% of assistant operators have master's degrees. Even though some assistant operators have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become an Assistant Operator

Assistant Operator Career Paths

Average Salary for an Assistant Operator

Assistant Operators in America make an average salary of $37,607 per year or $18 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $50,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $28,000 per year.
Average Assistant Operator Salary
$37,607 Yearly
$18.08 hourly

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Roles and Types of Assistant Operator

The role of an assistant operator includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general assistant operator responsibilities:

  • The sanding assistant operator has several key responsibilities. This person needs to be flexible
  • Notify your supervisor immediately of any accident, near miss or on- the -job injury when it occurs no matter how insignificant it may seem take personal ownership to work safely each
  • Prepares the press for a run by verifying job specs

There are several types of assistant operator, including:

Machine Operator

Role:

Someone has to operate the machine - why not you? Machine operators are able to transfer a variety of objects through the use of machinery. So if driving a forklift around sounds like your idea of fun, then maybe this is the job for you.

Some machine operators need training in order to operate certain machinery such as cranes and excavators. The hours you work as a machine operator can vary, but often include overtime, night shifts, and weekend shifts.

As a machine operator, you have lots of industries you could go into, from warehousing and storage to food manufacturing and construction. The list goes on and on. Depending on the industry, your work can take you outside or you may get to work inside.
  • Average Salary: $32,874
  • Degree: High School Diploma

Operator

Role:

As an operator, it's your job to know how specific equipment or machines work. You should know how to install and repair certain machinery as well as knowing how to use tools to help with the manufacturing process.

Operators often spend their time checking in on equipment and making sure it's properly working. Every problem that is detected, you'll often call upon an operators to come and save the day. They're essentially the superhero in an office setting.

In most cases, operators work full-time, normal hours. But when a client needs help, you'll need to be available. which means that sometimes duty calls at night or on the weekends.
  • Average Salary: $37,928
  • Degree: High School Diploma

Press Operator

Role:

If you have a thing for good old-fashioned printed media and you like to get your hands dirty, you should consider taking on a job as a printing press operator.

You will adjust printing machines and learn what press plate, proof, cylinder, and blanket mean. And everything about ink density, too.

Although demand for this profession is decreasing, as the popularity of online media keeps spreading, there will always be hopelessly romantic lovers of books and newspapers who can not imagine their morning coffee without the scent of ink. They are going to secure your salary that averages around $36,220 per year. Not that bad, huh?
  • Average Salary: $34,568
  • Degree: High School Diploma

States With The Most Assistant Operator Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active assistant operator jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where assistant operators earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Assistant Operator Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California2,247$49,931
2Texas1,589$36,935
3Massachusetts1,524$45,839
4Ohio1,461$34,786
5Pennsylvania1,401$34,769
6New York1,348$47,915
7Florida1,286$36,010
8Illinois1,189$38,962
9Georgia1,168$34,756
10New Jersey1,108$43,635
11North Carolina1,038$36,233
12Indiana984$34,578
13Wisconsin930$40,109
14Minnesota895$44,366
15Tennessee743$33,402
16Michigan673$33,553
17Virginia630$38,072
18Missouri546$38,516
19Arizona467$39,012
20Washington458$49,926
21Iowa457$36,716
22Colorado448$40,319
23South Carolina431$38,854
24Kentucky402$30,368
25Maryland388$39,921
26Utah373$40,471
27Oregon313$44,340
28Connecticut295$54,698
29Alabama292$37,057
30Kansas276$37,821
31Nebraska267$33,592
32New Hampshire211$46,213
33Mississippi207$35,087
34Rhode Island187$49,822
35Oklahoma183$28,790
36Arkansas176$31,900
37Nevada173$37,589
38Louisiana165$34,402
39Alaska135$47,954
40Idaho134$32,645
41Maine123$40,598
42Hawaii122$41,629
43West Virginia84$33,892
44Montana83$31,826
45New Mexico75$38,657
46South Dakota74$37,195
47Delaware71$32,729
48North Dakota69$45,732
49Vermont58$46,984
50Wyoming28$41,402

Assistant Operator Education

Assistant Operator Majors

26.4 %

Assistant Operator Degrees

Bachelors

38.2 %

High School Diploma

28.1 %

Associate

19.5 %

Top Colleges for Assistant Operators

1. Western Carolina University

Cullowhee, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$3,926

Enrollment

9,835

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Education
Business
Criminal Justice
Psychology
Accounting

2. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Computer Science
Business
Education
Mechanical Engineering
Electrical Engineering

3. Ball State University

Muncie, IN • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,896

Enrollment

15,529

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Education
Liberal Arts
Kinesiology
Psychology
Accounting

4. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Education
Finance
Business
Political Science
Health Care Administration

5. Bowling Green State University

Bowling Green, OH • Private

In-State Tuition

$11,105

Enrollment

13,729

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Education
Liberal Arts
Business
Psychology
Criminal Justice

6. Cedar Crest College

Allentown, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$39,216

Enrollment

1,303

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Education
Criminal Justice
Psychology
Health Care Administration

7. Morgan State University

Baltimore, MD • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,900

Enrollment

6,404

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Liberal Arts
Business
Education
Psychology
Electrical Engineering

8. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Liberal Arts
Communication
Psychology
Education

9. Siena Heights University

Adrian, MI • Private

In-State Tuition

$27,124

Enrollment

2,035

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Criminal Justice
Liberal Arts
Accounting
Education

10. University of Akron

Akron, OH • Private

In-State Tuition

$11,463

Enrollment

13,676

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Education
Business
Electrical Engineering
Accounting
Psychology

Top Skills For an Assistant Operator

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 27.7% of assistant operators listed customer service on their resume, but soft skills such as interpersonal skills and organizational skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Assistant Operator Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Assistant Operator templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Assistant Operator resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Assistant Operator Demographics

Assistant Operator Gender Distribution

Male
Male
77%
Female
Female
23%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among assistant operators, 23.2% of them are women, while 76.8% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among assistant operators is White, which makes up 66.3% of all assistant operators.

  • The most common foreign language among assistant operators is Spanish at 53.7%.

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2. Operations Analytics

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This course is designed to impact the way you think about transforming data into better decisions. Recent extraordinary improvements in data-collecting technologies have changed the way firms make informed and effective business decisions. The course on operations analytics, taught by three of Wharton’s leading experts, focuses on how the data can be used to profitably match supply with demand in various business settings. In this course, you will learn how to model future demand uncertainties,...

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3. Junos Routing, Operations, and Maintenance

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In this course, we will explain basic routing concepts including routing policy, routing and forwarding tables, routing instances, and Junos OS routing configuration basics. This course will also explain the concepts and configuration basics of user authentication, the various types of interfaces found on network devices, archiving configurations, configuring and analyzing system logging and tracing, and configuring SNMP for collecting and organizing information about managed devices. Other...

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Best States For an Assistant Operator

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an assistant operator. The best states for people in this position are Connecticut, California, Washington, and Rhode Island. Assistant operators make the most in Connecticut with an average salary of $54,698. Whereas in California and Washington, they would average $49,931 and $49,926, respectively. While assistant operators would only make an average of $49,822 in Rhode Island, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Rhode Island

Total Assistant Operator Jobs: 187
Highest 10% Earn:
$73,000
Location Quotient:
1.56

2. Connecticut

Total Assistant Operator Jobs: 295
Highest 10% Earn:
$81,000
Location Quotient:
0.9

3. Massachusetts

Total Assistant Operator Jobs: 1,524
Highest 10% Earn:
$67,000
Location Quotient:
1.68
Full List Of Best States For Assistant Operators

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Top Assistant Operator Employers

Most Common Employers For Assistant Operator

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Halliburton$46,878$22.5473
2Exxon Mobil$46,069$22.1518
3International Paper$40,803$19.62110
4Georgia-Pacific$40,349$19.4076
5Badger Daylighting$40,218$19.34121
6KapStone Paper and Packaging$40,190$19.3215
7United States Marine Corps$40,002$19.23112
8Sonoco$38,916$18.7123
9Sperry Rail$38,544$18.5320
10Pregis$38,516$18.5216

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