Composite technicians are involved in building and maintaining composite parts of an aircraft. Working with composites is quite specific to aircraft, and most jobs in this field are in aerospace organizations. Composite technicians are also called compound engineers, composite lay-up engineers, composite design engineers, and composite structures engineers.
Composite technicians work with new aircraft parts, using oven processes and vacuum techniques, and maintain and repair composite aircraft components made of fiberglass and other carbon materials. They are responsible for understanding technical plans and blueprints, and they use precision tools.
To qualify for this position, applicants must at least have a high school diploma or GED certificate, with other educational requirements varying with the industry.
The national average salary for a composite technician is $41,440 in the United States. So, they can expect an average base pay of $26 per hour as a composite technician.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a composite technician. For example, did you know that they make an average of $15.48 an hour? That's $32,206 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -8% and produce -83,800 job opportunities across the U.S.
There are certain skills that many composite technicians 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 computer skills, mechanical skills and physical strength.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a composite technician, we found that a lot of resumes listed 18.3% of composite technicians included hand tools, while 9.6% of resumes included composite materials, and 6.3% of resumes included engineering drawings. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the composite technician job title. But what industry to start with? Most composite technicians actually find jobs in the technology and manufacturing industries.
If you're interested in becoming a composite technician, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 20.1% of composite technicians have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 1.8% of composite technicians have master's degrees. Even though some composite technicians have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a composite technician. When we researched the most common majors for a composite technician, we found that they most commonly earn high school diploma degrees or bachelor's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on composite technician resumes include associate degree degrees or diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a composite technician. In fact, many composite technician jobs require experience in a role such as technician. Meanwhile, many composite technicians also have previous career experience in roles such as machine operator or mechanic.