How To Become A Field Operations Technician: What It Is and Career Path

What is a field operations technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Alison Graettinger

Field operations technicians are hired to support production efforts on location. It is their responsibility to ensure high-quality products are carried out efficiently and precisely, meeting quality standards.

As a field operations technician, you will generally work for manufacturing or harvesting sites, making sure all phases of the operation are carried out with functional machinery. You will be there to assist workers, troubleshoot in case of malfunction, and maintain equipment. Keeping working conditions aligned with safety standards will also be your job.

Physical stamina is an important factor to take into consideration when applying for this role. You will be required to move around or stand for long periods, sometimes lifting heavy objects and working extra hours when deadlines are tight.

What general advice would you give to a field operations technician?

Dr. Alison Graettinger

Associate Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Missouri - Kansas City

Some common challenges for field based positions is the amount of travel involved or working in extreme weather conditions.

ScoreField Operations TechnicianUS Average

Salary

3.0

Avg. Salary $38,663

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.3

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.69%

Asian 7.46%

Black or African American 9.51%

Hispanic or Latino 16.78%

Unknown 4.88%

White 60.67%

Gender

female 7.75%

male 92.25%

Age - 46

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 - 46

Stress level

7.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.7

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.9

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a field operations technician

Explore field operations technician education requirements

Most common field operations technician degrees

Bachelor's

35.8 %

Associate

34.2 %

High School Diploma

18.1 %

Start to develop specific field operations technician skills

Skills	Percentages
OSHA	9.55%
CDL	8.15%
DOT	5.98%
Ladders	5.83%
HVAC	5.35%

Complete relevant field operations technician training and internships

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

Research field operations technician duties and responsibilities

Attain in-depth GMP experience supporting biological manufacturing and maintenance & engineering activities.
Clean all equipment according to GMP procedures.
Decommission old servers, and build new Linux VM's.
Create several customize PC base utilities to augment the Unix billing system.

Get field operations technician experience

Generally, it takes 1-2 years to become a field operations technician. The most common roles before becoming a field operations technician include field technician, technician team lead and field service technician.

Prepare your field operations technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your field operations 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 a field operations 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 field operations technician resume templates

Build a professional field operations 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 field operations technician resume.