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

What is a machine room 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 machine room operator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $16.1 an hour? That's $33,497 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -6% and produce -29,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreMachine Room OperatorUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $33,497

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.6

Growth rate -6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.53%

Asian 11.73%

Black or African American 10.70%

Hispanic or Latino 15.46%

Unknown 3.75%

White 56.83%

Gender

female 21.58%

male 78.42%

Age - 50

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 - 50

Stress level

5.6

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.2

Complexity level is basic

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.7

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a machine room operator

Explore machine room operator education requirements

Most common machine room operator degrees

High School Diploma

40.3 %

Bachelor's

27.3 %

Associate

19.5 %

Start to develop specific machine room operator skills

Skills	Percentages
Quality Checks	38.65%
CNC	29.25%
Jigs	13.11%
Machine Operation	7.65%
Control Room	3.85%

Complete relevant machine room operator training and internships

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

Research machine room operator duties and responsibilities

Create deliverable stems DVD's for clients.
Perform media encoding, digitizing media footage for use on the internet.
Select, align and secure holding fixtures, cutting tools, attachments, accessories and materials on CNC mahines.
Control & troubleshoot automate extrusion line adjusting speed & feed, monitoring temperature, & finish material specification per customers order.

Prepare your machine room operator resume

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

Build a professional machine room 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 machine room operator resume.