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What is a maintenance engineer and how to become one
A maintenance engineer is an individual responsible for ensuring that machinery and equipment are operating correctly and efficiently in various industries such as manufacturing, construction, and transportation. They perform routine maintenance, troubleshoot issues, and repair any malfunctions to prevent downtime and production loss.Maintenance engineers also work closely with other departments to coordinate repairs and upgrades. They must have a strong understanding of mechanical systems, as well as excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
What general advice would you give to a maintenance engineer?
Philipp Zerbe
Associate Professor, University of California - Davis
Avg. Salary $47,133
Avg. Salary $59,228
Growth rate 5%
Growth rate 0.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.16%
Asian 4.45%
Black or African American 10.40%
Hispanic or Latino 19.94%
Unknown 4.23%
White 59.83%
Genderfemale 5.36%
male 94.64%
Age - 49American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%
Asian 7.00%
Black or African American 14.00%
Hispanic or Latino 19.00%
White 57.00%
Genderfemale 47.00%
male 53.00%
Age - 49Stress level is high
7.1 - high
Complexity level is intermediate
7 - challenging
Work life balance is fair
6.4 - fair
What are the pros and cons of being a maintenance engineer?
Pros
Job security
Good salary
Opportunity for advancement
Variety of tasks and projects
Continuous learning and skill development
Cons
Long hours and overtime may be required
High stress due to urgent repairs and maintenance deadlines
Exposure to hazardous materials and conditions
Work can be repetitive and monotonous at times
Need to work in uncomfortable positions or environments at times
Maintenance engineer career paths
Key steps to become a maintenance engineer
Explore maintenance engineer education requirements
Start to develop specific maintenance engineer skills
Skills Percentages Plumbing 12.64% HVAC 10.43% Guest Rooms 5.23% Ladders 4.89% Maintenance Tasks 4.47% Complete relevant maintenance engineer training and internships
Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New maintenance engineers 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 maintenance engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real maintenance engineer resumes.Gain additional maintenance engineer certifications
More About CertificationsMaintenance engineer certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific maintenance engineer certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.
The most common certifications for maintenance engineers include EPA Amusement Operators Safety Certification (EPA) and OSHA Safety Certificate .
Research maintenance engineer duties and responsibilities
- Manage all contract work including snow removal, mowing, asphalt work, and signage.
- Assist in and/or troubleshoot the building automation system and make recommendations for maintenance and repair to building control systems.
- Maintain cleanliness and orderliness of facility and grounds per federal OSHA requirements.
- Perform commercial maintenance/troubleshooting for plumbing, electrical and mechanical systems on commercial buildings and apartment complexes.
Prepare your maintenance engineer resume
When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your maintenance engineer 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 maintenance engineer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.
Choose from 10+ customizable maintenance engineer resume templates
Build a professional maintenance engineer 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 maintenance engineer resume.
Apply for maintenance engineer jobs
Now it's time to start searching for a maintenance engineer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:
- Browse job boards for relevant postings
- Consult your professional network
- Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
- Watch out for job scams
How did you land your first maintenance engineer job
Mario Silverio
Maintenance Engineer, Commercial Refrigerator Factory (FARCO)
It begins by starting to study as a mechanical engineer learning the fundamentals of physics, fluid, energy, mechanical machines, design and specifications for all types of usages, electrical functionalities and so on.
Being able to know how all mechanical pieces unified themselves are able to perform a movement like one, is what gives you freedom to know all the problems that may be active during a malfunction in the machine. Knowing how the system really needs to operate is what gives you all the unknown variables that you might be able to adapt for it to get back to function like it is supposed to.
Maintenance engineer is not just a person who knows a lot about mechanical functionalities and is able to adapt the proper improvement in the right time, but also someone who is all roles in one. For a person to become a maintenance engineer he needs to be an expert on financial, marketing, warehouse management, human resources expert, and even a technician in all areas.
This role is the one in charge of supplying all the necessary money, resources, future plans of the industry and improvement of it, guide to do step-by-step of all works, proper management of all instruments and parts, being leader of a whole team and empowering them, etc.
In my internship I was able to work as a production intern in a manufacturer of commercial refrigerators. I was able to know how the maintenance it's not just to know about the maintenance itself but how it is entirely affecting all the production. The maintenance needs to be an activity that everyone should know about. Everyone should think how things can improve, how can this activity can be done in more efficient/effective manner, I'm i doing it the proper way?, all this questions need to be self questioned by everyone, but the main source of that content of knowledge is the Maintenance engineer who is in charge to supply it to everyone.
Average maintenance engineer salary
The average maintenance engineer salary in the United States is $47,133 per year or $23 per hour. Maintenance engineer salaries range between $29,000 and $74,000 per year.
What am I worth?
How do maintenance engineers rate their job?
Maintenance engineer reviews
Being able to use my skills in hvacr, electical and plumbing
Working for and with unqualified people.
Flexibility
I have more to offer than n various task. My resume spells out my duties.
Challenging, technical, always something new, part of a team.
The hours, the low pay, high expectations to perform and exceed, expectation to always be on call, low budget for repairs.
Updated January 8, 2025
