How to hire an electrical maintenance technician

How to hire an electrical maintenance technician, step by step

Here's a step-by-step electrical maintenance technician hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write an electrical maintenance technician job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new electrical maintenance technician
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does an electrical maintenance technician do?

Post an electrical maintenance technician job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   The electrical maintenance technician hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them an electrical maintenance technician to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire an electrical maintenance technician that fits the bill.

   This list shows salaries for various types of electrical maintenance technicians.

   Type of Electrical Maintenance Technician	Description	Hourly rate
   Electrical Maintenance Technician	General maintenance and repair workers fix and maintain machines, mechanical equipment, and buildings. They paint, repair flooring, and work on plumbing, electrical, and air-conditioning and heating systems.	$22-36
   Facilities Technician	Facilities Technicians are employees who manage the upkeep of the company's facilities. They are in charge of maintaining the different equipment, fixtures, and furniture in the office... Show more	$12-28
   Maintenance Engineer	A maintenance engineer is responsible for the maintenance of industrial machinery and inspects equipment defects for immediate troubleshooting or replacement as needed. Maintenance engineers install and upgrade system components to improve system optimization and perform diagnostic systems to locate any adjustments... Show more	$13-35

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Electrical Equipment
   • Ac Dc
   • Industrial Maintenance
   • Preventive Maintenance
   • Electrical Systems
   • Control Systems
   • Hand Tools
   • Switches
   • Production Equipment
   • Ladders
   • Ac
   • Dc
   • Electrical Troubleshooting
   • Control Circuits

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Configure and repair DC motor controls.
   • Install and programme HMI and MMI systems.
   • Perform routine preventative maintenance and work orders using CMMS.
   • Work aloft on ladders, elevate platforms, and lifts to troubleshoot circuits.
   • Install, development and maintain Wonderware, Citect and Allen Bradley HMI systems.
   • Train company electricians on basic troubleshooting and repair of DC drives and other control equipments.

   More electrical maintenance technician duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your electrical maintenance technician job description helps attract top candidates to the position. An electrical maintenance technician salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for an electrical maintenance technician in Oklahoma may be lower than in Alaska, and an entry-level electrical maintenance technician usually earns less than a senior-level electrical maintenance technician. Additionally, an electrical maintenance technician with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average electrical maintenance technician salary

   $59,898yearly

   $28.80 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level electrical maintenance technician salary

   $47,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 29, 2026

   Average electrical maintenance technician salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$75,480	$36
   2	Illinois	$66,496	$32
   3	Utah	$66,467	$32
   4	Pennsylvania	$66,350	$32
   5	Nevada	$66,309	$32
   6	Arizona	$66,104	$32
   7	Washington	$64,984	$31
   8	Colorado	$64,811	$31
   9	Connecticut	$64,785	$31
   10	Kentucky	$64,091	$31
   11	Michigan	$61,255	$29
   12	Wisconsin	$60,674	$29
   13	Ohio	$60,559	$29
   14	New Hampshire	$59,465	$29
   15	Indiana	$59,067	$28
   16	North Carolina	$56,662	$27
   17	Missouri	$56,310	$27
   18	Georgia	$55,980	$27
   19	Tennessee	$55,338	$27
   20	Alabama	$54,170	$26

   Average electrical maintenance technician salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Anheuser-Busch	$71,771	$34.51	61
   2	Gap Inc.	$70,945	$34.11
   3	Staffing.com	$69,979	$33.64	5
   4	Crown Equipment	$67,864	$32.63	156
   5	Kimberly-Clark	$67,330	$32.37	17
   6	PepsiCo	$66,875	$32.15	46
   7	Fortune Brands Home & Security	$66,805	$32.12	4
   8	Mars	$66,732	$32.08	22
   9	Bridgestone	$66,677	$32.06	839
   10	Perry's Ice Cream	$66,412	$31.93	2
   11	Baxter International	$66,367	$31.91	22
   12	First Solar	$66,312	$31.88	21
   13	The Hershey Company	$66,248	$31.85	24
   14	Pella	$66,247	$31.85	15
   15	Praxair	$66,147	$31.80
   16	Fluor Corporation	$65,859	$31.66	62
   17	BWX Technologies	$65,813	$31.64	15
   18	Wabtec Corporation	$65,682	$31.58	25
   19	MeadWestvaco	$65,571	$31.52
   20	ATI Physical Therapy	$65,511	$31.50	11

4. Writing an electrical maintenance technician job description

   An electrical maintenance technician job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of an electrical maintenance technician job description:

   Electrical maintenance technician job description example

   Starting pay is $28/hr and up depending on knowledge and skill plus quarterly performance bonuses! Shifts for our Electrical Maintenance Technicians may vary and they include holidays, weekends, and overtime as needed.
   What You Will Do In Your Role
   Troubleshoot, maintain, and repair machinery and mechanical equipment including motors, controls, PLC’s, drive systems, hydraulic/pneumatic components, and power transmission systems
   Utilize diagrams, schematics, sketches, operation manuals, and manufacturer’s specifications to maintain and properly fix machinery issues
   Lubricate equipment as needed and identify and communicate opportunities to improve the lube program through improved techniques, technology, and knowledge sharing
   Perform physical work tasks to include lifting, climbing, stooping, standing, pushing, and/or pulling, sometimes in elevated spaces, for at least twelve (12) hours a day
   Adhere to all safety rules and regulations
   The Experience You Will Bring Requirements:
   Three (3) years or more of industrial electrical and mechanical maintenance experience in an industrial or manufacturing environment OR an Associate’s Degree OR Industrial Maintenance Certification in a field with at least one (1) year of industrial electrical and mechanical maintenance experience in an industrial or manufacturing environment
   Experience working with 3-phase 480-volt AC motors and DC drives
   Experience troubleshooting issues with bearings, chains, sprockets, gearboxes, and conveyors
   Experience reading blueprints, technical drawings, and/or electrical schematics
   Experience troubleshooting and repairing hydraulics and pneumatics What Will Put You Ahead
   Experience working in the corrugated packaging or the containerboard industry
   Experience troubleshooting boiler operations
   Experience with waste-water treatment
   Experience with proper lubrication techniques and oil analysis procedures
   Experience with Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS, MP2)
   Experience with industrial air compressors
   Experience with PLC’s and ladder logic (Siemens, Allen-Bradley) Company DescriptionAt Koch companies, we are entrepreneurs. This means we openly challenge the status quo, find new ways to create value and get rewarded for our individual contributions. Any compensation range provided for a role is an estimate determined by available market data. The actual amount may be higher or lower than the range provided considering each candidate’s knowledge, skills, abilities, and geographic location. If you have questions, please speak to your recruiter about the flexibility and detail of our compensation philosophy.
   
   Equal Opportunity Employer. Except where prohibited by state law, all offers of employment are conditioned upon successfully passing a drug test. This employer uses E-Verify. Please visit the following website for additional

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find electrical maintenance technicians for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any electrical maintenance technicians they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level electrical maintenance technicians with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your electrical maintenance technician job on Zippia to find and recruit electrical maintenance technician candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit electrical maintenance technicians, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new electrical maintenance technician

   Once you've found the electrical maintenance technician candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire an electrical maintenance technician?