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

What is a machine operater 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 machine operater. For example, did you know that they make an average of $16.1 an hour? That's $33,480 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -6% and produce -114,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreMachine OperaterUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $33,480

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.4

Growth rate -6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.21%

Asian 7.37%

Black or African American 11.85%

Hispanic or Latino 15.14%

Unknown 3.41%

White 61.02%

Gender

female 26.83%

male 73.17%

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 machine operater

Explore machine operater education requirements

Most common machine operater degrees

High School Diploma

57.1 %

Diploma

23.2 %

Associate

8.7 %

Start to develop specific machine operater skills

Skills	Percentages
Safety Rules	17.70%
Quality Standards	16.40%
CNC Machines	11.78%
SPC	8.42%
PPE	6.92%

Complete relevant machine operater training and internships

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

Research machine operater duties and responsibilities

Record statistics on ISO documentation, and coordinate with machine technicians and electrical technicians to keep machines operating at maximum efficiency.
Overlook daily operations of single/twin screw extruders and packaging of finish product.

Prepare your machine operater resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable machine operater resume templates

Build a professional machine operater 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 machine operater resume.