How To Become An Automotive Machinist: What It Is and Career Path

What is an automotive machinist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

The average automotive machinist salary is $42,623. The most common degree is a high school diploma degree with an automotive technology major. It usually takes 2-4 years of experience to become an automotive machinist. Automotive machinists with a Automotive Sales Professional certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 1% and produce 3,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreAutomotive MachinistUS Average

Salary

3.3

Avg. Salary $42,623

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.8

Growth rate 1%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.52%

Asian 6.46%

Black or African American 4.15%

Hispanic or Latino 14.80%

Unknown 3.74%

White 70.33%

Gender

female 2.39%

male 97.61%

Age - 49

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 49

Stress level

5.8

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.3

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.7

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an automotive machinist

Explore automotive machinist education requirements

Most common automotive machinist degrees

High School Diploma

33.7 %

Associate

26.7 %

Bachelor's

14.0 %

Start to develop specific automotive machinist skills

Skills	Percentages
Gauges	47.16%
Grinders	45.21%
ECT	2.05%
MIG	1.78%
Engine Blocks	1.73%

Complete relevant automotive machinist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New automotive machinists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an automotive machinist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real automotive machinist resumes.

Research automotive machinist duties and responsibilities

Perform oil & filter changes, transmission flushes, and other lube tech duties.
Operate lathe, milling machine, CNC plasma cutter, and MIG welder to create components.
Create design, assembly, and layout drawings using Mastercam X9, Autocad, and Solidworks technology.
Work from blueprints or engineering sketches to build prototype parts.

Prepare your automotive machinist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your automotive machinist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an automotive machinist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable automotive machinist resume templates

Build a professional automotive machinist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your automotive machinist resume.

Apply for automotive machinist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an automotive machinist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do automotive machinists rate their job?

5/5

Based on 1 ratings

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Automotive machinist reviews

5.0

A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2022

Pros

The different machines it takes to get a job done from boring machines,finish hone machine sunnen [cv616] Sunnen block and head surfacer,working on heads, guide work valve jobs surfacing assembly its working on something different from small blocks to big block chevy to fords.

Cons

The pay.