How To Become A Backup Operator: What It Is and Career Path

What is a backup operator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a backup operator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.52 an hour? That's $38,519 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 7% and produce 56,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreBackup OperatorUS Average

Salary

3.0

Avg. Salary $38,519

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.0

Growth rate 7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.57%

Asian 12.32%

Black or African American 8.59%

Hispanic or Latino 9.87%

Unknown 4.90%

White 63.75%

Gender

female 26.86%

male 73.14%

Age - 43

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 - 43

Stress level

5.0

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.2

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.2

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a backup operator

Explore backup operator education requirements

Most common backup operator degrees

High School Diploma

41.5 %

Bachelor's

26.8 %

Associate

21.3 %

Start to develop specific backup operator skills

Skills	Percentages
Quality Checks	23.60%
GMP	14.76%
Pallets	14.71%
Hand Tools	13.98%
Troubleshoot	12.92%

Complete relevant backup operator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New backup operators 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 a backup operator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real backup operator resumes.

Research backup operator duties and responsibilities

Manage the master calendar and schedule resources such as communication equipment, weapons, transportation and ammunition forecast and delivery.
Perform preventive maintenance and emergency repairs on LP air blowers, air compressors, vacuum pumps and water chillers.
Configure Cisco MDS switches via GUI and CLI for SAN.
Follow all guidelines for sanitation per USDA auditing.

Prepare your backup operator resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your backup operator 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 a backup operator resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable backup operator resume templates

Build a professional backup operator 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 backup operator resume.