The crew chiefs are in charge of the entire helicopter crew. They are in command of everything that happens with the helicopter, and they frequently work for several hours before and after the mission. They are also responsible for instructing the pilots about the preparation of cargo and where they should lie.
The crew chief also drops smoke bombs for landing areas, operates the machine gun, and assists in the repair and maintenance of helicopters. They inspect the helicopter for safety, organize any equipment needed for the day's mission, and update the logbook.
If you aspire to become a crew chief, you should pick the right degree first. You should have a high school diploma or a bachelor's degree to gain entry into this field. Associate's degrees and certificates are two other qualifications that can lead you into this position.
This job pays about $98,000 a year on average. However, by gaining more experience, you could earn even more.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a crew chief. For example, did you know that they make an average of $29.77 an hour? That's $61,918 a year!
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a crew chief, we found that a lot of resumes listed 13.5% of crew chiefs included safety procedures, while 13.2% of resumes included customer service, and 5.8% of resumes included aircraft parts. 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 crew chief job title. But what industry to start with? Most crew chiefs actually find jobs in the hospitality and technology industries.
If you're interested in becoming a crew chief, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 28.2% of crew chiefs have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 3.1% of crew chiefs have master's degrees. Even though some crew chiefs 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 crew chief. When we researched the most common majors for a crew chief, we found that they most commonly earn high school diploma degrees or bachelor's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on crew chief resumes include associate degree degrees or diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a crew chief. In fact, many crew chief jobs require experience in a role such as crew member. Meanwhile, many crew chiefs also have previous career experience in roles such as cashier or sales associate.