How To Become A General Maintenance Worker: What It Is and Career Path

What is a general maintenance worker and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

As a General Maintenance Worker, you will have a huge and important job in buildings and establishments. You will maintain the smooth and efficient state of these structures. You may be tasked to repair systems and equipment which are malfunctioning, replace fixtures like light bulbs, and handle mechanical fixes, among others.

Since you play an important role in this line of work, you have to possess important skills and traits, too. For example, you need to have good customer service skills. You need to be more involved and listen to your customer's needs in order to supply them with the solutions needed. Next, dexterity is also important. You will mostly be using your hands as a General Maintenance Worker, so you need to be skilled in this aspect. Lastly, troubleshooting skills are also important. You need to know how to use a systematic approach when dealing with problems and challenges.

A General Maintenance Worker earns an annual average salary of $36,420, with a job growth rate of 6%. You can also take on other roles similar to your current work, like being an Electrician, a Foreman, a Superintendent, and a Project Superintendent.

ScoreGeneral Maintenance WorkerUS Average

Salary

2.9

Avg. Salary $36,917

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.6

Growth rate 5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.14%

Asian 4.33%

Black or African American 9.73%

Hispanic or Latino 21.90%

Unknown 4.20%

White 58.68%

Gender

female 8.65%

male 91.35%

Age - 49

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 - 49

Stress level

7.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.3

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.1

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a general maintenance worker

Explore general maintenance worker education requirements

Most common general maintenance worker degrees

High School Diploma

44.7 %

Associate

19.6 %

Bachelor's

19.0 %

Start to develop specific general maintenance worker skills

Skills	Percentages
General Maintenance	17.76%
Plumbing	12.00%
Switches	5.56%
HVAC	4.64%
Hand Tools	4.53%

Complete relevant general maintenance worker training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New general maintenance workers 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 general maintenance worker based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real general maintenance worker resumes.

Research general maintenance worker duties and responsibilities

Maintain overall appearance of cemetery by mowing and trimming grass and keeping area free of debris.
Train under OSHA guidelines for safe chemical handling procedures.
Install and troubleshoot security cameras and vehicle cameras to ensure training is being properly record.
Pull weeds, cut grass, shovele, and pick up garbage to maintain grounds.

Prepare your general maintenance worker resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable general maintenance worker resume templates

Build a professional general maintenance worker 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 general maintenance worker resume.