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

What is a core drill operator 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 core drill operator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.56 an hour? That's $38,608 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 69,500 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreCore Drill OperatorUS Average

Salary

3.0

Avg. Salary $38,608

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 2.25%

Asian 1.21%

Black or African American 9.13%

Hispanic or Latino 19.42%

Unknown 4.21%

White 63.78%

Gender

female 5.45%

male 94.55%

Age - 39

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 - 39

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

1.5

Work life balance is very poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a core drill operator

Explore core drill operator education requirements

Most common core drill operator degrees

High School Diploma

55.0 %

Bachelor's

25.0 %

Diploma

20.0 %

Start to develop specific core drill operator skills

Skills	Percentages
Drill Holes	100.00%

Complete relevant core drill operator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 4-10 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New core drill 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 core drill operator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real core drill operator resumes.

Research core drill operator duties and responsibilities

Maintain fluid weights by careful mixing of chemicals using PPE and careful mathematical calculations in collaboration with engineers.
Learn how to troubleshoot software or hardware problems with Hitachi machines so the machines are always running.

Prepare your core drill operator resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your core drill 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 core drill 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 core drill operator resume templates

Build a professional core drill 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 core drill operator resume.