How To Become An Environmental Field Technician: What It Is and Career Path

What is an environmental field technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Environmental field technicians perform tests to determine the environmental impact of a potential source of pollutants. They test for pollutants in water, soil, and air. Likewise, they monitor municipal wastewater treatment. They are employed by agencies, companies, and firms to collect data useful for monitoring pollution. Their duties include investigating pollution sources and performing laboratory tests. They use equipment like water pumps, air sampling monitors, microscopes, and sound level meters to perform their duties. Additionally, they prepare reports of recorded data and develop new testing procedures.

For this job, employers may ask for a high school diploma or a bachelor's degree in natural sciences. Applicants will be required to have at least two years of related field experience. You may be required to have a state-issued license. The core skills for this role include communication, teamwork, and computer skills. Salary ranges from $30,000 to $54,000 with an average annual salary of $39,886.

ScoreEnvironmental Field TechnicianUS Average

Salary

3.0

Avg. Salary $38,450

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.4

Growth rate 9%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.98%

Asian 10.49%

Black or African American 9.36%

Hispanic or Latino 16.58%

Unknown 5.68%

White 56.91%

Gender

female 14.47%

male 85.53%

Age - 35

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 - 35

Stress level

6.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.2

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.8

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an environmental field technician

Explore environmental field technician education requirements

Most common environmental field technician degrees

Bachelor's

65.0 %

Associate

15.7 %

High School Diploma

9.1 %

Start to develop specific environmental field technician skills

Skills	Percentages
OSHA	11.31%
Data Collection	8.86%
HAZWOPER	8.61%
Safety Procedures	7.16%
Hand Tools	5.57%

Complete relevant environmental field technician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New environmental field technicians 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 environmental field technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real environmental field technician resumes.

Research environmental field technician duties and responsibilities

Provide contractor oversight, including monitoring of technical performance of sub-contractors managing remedial cleanup projects involving hazardous waste.
Complete field forms, draw sketch maps, profiles and plan view field drawings.
Identify and correct safety shortfalls in confine space entry, explosive atmosphere, and fall protection to ensure OSHA compliance.
Create sketch maps of artifact distribution, and site features.

Prepare your environmental field technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your environmental field technician 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 environmental field technician resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable environmental field technician resume templates

Build a professional environmental field technician 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 environmental field technician resume.

Apply for environmental field technician jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an environmental field technician job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do environmental field technicians rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

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1 star

Environmental field technician reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2024

Cons

The work wears you down physically and mentally. After working on so many spills that are clearly the fault carelessness and disregard for fault of a careless person or organization. Leaves little hope for the future of our planet.