How To Become A Heading Machine Operator: What It Is and Career Path

What is a heading machine operator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a heading machine operator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.59 an hour? That's $38,675 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 7% and produce 56,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreHeading Machine OperatorUS Average

Salary

3.0

Avg. Salary $38,675

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.4

Growth rate 7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.21%

Asian 7.50%

Black or African American 11.71%

Hispanic or Latino 15.31%

Unknown 3.41%

White 60.86%

Gender

female 21.64%

male 78.36%

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

4.4

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity level

5.6

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.8

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a heading machine operator

Explore heading machine operator education requirements

Most common heading machine operator degrees

High School Diploma

44.7 %

Associate

18.4 %

Bachelor's

17.1 %

Start to develop specific heading machine operator skills

Skills	Percentages
Hand Tools	30.55%
Production RUN	22.84%
CNC	20.18%
Calipers	14.42%
RAN	3.02%

Complete relevant heading machine operator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New heading machine 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 a heading machine operator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real heading machine operator resumes.

Research heading machine operator duties and responsibilities

Use automate systems and RF units to pull, put away and load customer product, in addition to managing inventory
Set up, run and programe CNC machining centers using set up sheets.
Control & troubleshoot automate extrusion line adjusting speed & feed, monitoring temperature, & finish material specification per customers order.
Control & troubleshoot automate extrusion line adjusting speed & feed, monitoring temperature, & finish material specification per customers order.

Prepare your heading machine operator resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your heading machine 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 a heading machine 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 heading machine operator resume templates

Build a professional heading machine 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 heading machine operator resume.