How To Become A Chief Petty Officer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a chief petty officer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a chief petty officer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $22.5 an hour? That's $46,790 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 3% and produce 38,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreChief Petty OfficerUS Average

Salary

3.7

Avg. Salary $46,790

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.3

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.24%

Asian 2.10%

Black or African American 8.22%

Hispanic or Latino 15.70%

Unknown 4.50%

White 68.24%

Gender

female 9.51%

male 90.49%

Age - 50

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 - 50

Stress level

9.3

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.4

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

2.6

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a chief petty officer

Explore chief petty officer education requirements

Most common chief petty officer degrees

Bachelor's

48.0 %

Associate

31.8 %

High School Diploma

9.4 %

Start to develop specific chief petty officer skills

Skills	Percentages
Logistical Support	7.38%
Sailors	6.87%
Combat Systems	5.73%
Training Programs	5.41%
Preventive Maintenance	5.34%

Complete relevant chief petty officer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New chief petty officers 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 chief petty officer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real chief petty officer resumes.

Research chief petty officer duties and responsibilities

Lead division payroll meetings and maintain documentation available in share directory and portal to facilitate communication and standardization of payroll procedures.
Supervise the preventative and corrective maintenance of all electronic warfare systems.
Plank owner USS Ronald Reagan CVN-76.
Receive recognition as supervisor during tour on USS Daniel Webster.

Get chief petty officer experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a chief petty officer. The most common roles before becoming a chief petty officer include leading petty officer, petty officer team lead and work center supervisor.

Prepare your chief petty officer resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable chief petty officer resume templates

Build a professional chief petty officer 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 chief petty officer resume.