How To Become An Engine Room Operator: What It Is and Career Path

What is an engine room operator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

An engine room operator is the main person in charge of keeping all engines running. Additionally, they are also responsible for conducting routine maintenance, preparing engines for start-up procedures, ensuring that all engines meet the standard operating parameters, and keeping their worksite clean and orderly.

Moreover, engine room operators are the first to respond to emergencies in the engine room, which requires basic firefighting skills and a good understanding of emergency response plans. They may also be responsible for monitoring and operating fuel and lube separators on top of all of these job duties.

Like many other manual jobs, the minimum requirement for an engine room operator is a high school diploma or GED. Some employers may also require the completion of an accredited training program in engine room operations. Furthermore, an engine room operator must have a good understanding of workplace safety, emergency response, and machine maintenance.

An engine room operator makes around $40,000, depending on their employer and level of experience.

ScoreEngine Room OperatorUS Average

Salary

2.9

Avg. Salary $37,546

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.7

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.46%

Asian 7.72%

Black or African American 10.04%

Hispanic or Latino 18.26%

Unknown 4.56%

White 58.97%

Gender

female 44.32%

male 55.68%

Age - 52

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 - 52

Stress level

7.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.1

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.9

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an engine room operator

Explore engine room operator education requirements

Most common engine room operator degrees

High School Diploma

37.5 %

Bachelor's

27.6 %

Associate

19.3 %

Start to develop specific engine room operator skills

Skills	Percentages
Troubleshoot	14.57%
Math	11.44%
Safety Procedures	10.45%
Cleanliness	10.14%
Surgical Procedures	9.24%

Complete relevant engine room operator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New engine room 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 an engine room operator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real engine room operator resumes.

Research engine room operator duties and responsibilities

Manage the master calendar and schedule resources such as communication equipment, weapons, transportation and ammunition forecast and delivery.
Maintain and enroll guests in the AMC movie watcher program.
Maintain cleanliness and presentation of fitting room and designate daily zone.
Operate, run, and fix all machines in juice room.

Prepare your engine room operator resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your engine room 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 an engine room 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 engine room operator resume templates

Build a professional engine room 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 engine room operator resume.