If you are curious to learn how to operate, test, and repair a laser, you may look into working as a scientific technician specializing in laser technology.
As a laser/electro-optics technician (LEOT), you'll operate and maintain systems that utilize lasers, as well as using the lasers themselves. You'll also be responsible for testing new technology and working on experimental projects designed to enhance and improve the technology. Many laser technicians specialize in laser production, field service, or another area of concentration.
If you work in laser production, you'll use design engineers' designs to align and clean optical elements according to specifications. You'll also inspect all system components that affect the laser beam before testing.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a laser technician. For example, did you know that they make an average of $17.74 an hour? That's $36,892 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 11% and produce 7,800 job opportunities across the U.S.
There are certain skills that many laser technicians have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed initiative, time-management skills and business skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a laser technician, we found that a lot of resumes listed 25.4% of laser technicians included laser, while 20.6% of resumes included customer service, and 11.1% of resumes included laser hair removal. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the laser technician job title. But what industry to start with? Most laser technicians actually find jobs in the manufacturing and technology industries.
If you're interested in becoming a laser technician, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 26.7% of laser technicians have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 5.3% of laser technicians have master's degrees. Even though some laser technicians have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a laser technician. When we researched the most common majors for a laser technician, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on laser technician resumes include high school diploma degrees or license degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a laser technician. In fact, many laser technician jobs require experience in a role such as esthetician. Meanwhile, many laser technicians also have previous career experience in roles such as sales associate or customer service representative.
