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

What is an explosive technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an explosive technician. For example, did you know that they make an average of $20.66 an hour? That's $42,968 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 1% and produce 10,600 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreExplosive TechnicianUS Average

Salary

3.4

Avg. Salary $42,968

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.7

Growth rate 1%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

0.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native -0.16%

Asian 1.88%

Black or African American 12.94%

Hispanic or Latino 24.93%

Unknown 4.39%

White 56.02%

Gender

female 4.53%

male 95.47%

Age - 25

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 - 25

Stress level

8.7

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.4

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

2.1

Work life balance is very poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an explosive technician

Explore explosive technician education requirements

Most common explosive technician degrees

High School Diploma

35.2 %

Bachelor's

31.9 %

Associate

17.6 %

Start to develop specific explosive technician skills

Skills	Percentages
CDL	27.03%
Hazardous Materials	23.97%
Safety Procedures	21.51%
ATF	6.48%
DOT	6.38%

Complete relevant explosive technician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 2-4 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New explosive 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 explosive technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real explosive technician resumes.

Research explosive technician duties and responsibilities

Run the aluminum machines to supply the production with the right amount of aluminum to be send to its next step.
Fabricate explosive demolition charges, and dispose of hazardous explosives.
Compose written reports of data collect from patient evaluation and present to department chief for thorough analysis of patient diagnosis.
Haul ammonium nitrate and explosives detonators to rock quarry.

Prepare your explosive technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your explosive 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 explosive 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 explosive technician resume templates

Build a professional explosive 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 explosive technician resume.