Although a maintenance foreman usually oversees all maintenance-related work done by mechanics, they are expected to have deep knowledge about every technical and mechanical thing that goes on in a building or facility.
Routine maintenance, emergency repairs, and compliance to state and federal regulations are some of the tasks that a maintenance foreman directs and supervises. Therefore, they must be skilled in electrical systems, plumbing, heating and ventilation, and waste disposal systems.
A maintenance foreman doesn't need a college degree to qualify for the job; they only need a high school diploma and years of experience in building trades, building maintenance, and supervisory work. Their essential skills include knowledge in blueprints and wiring diagrams, troubleshooting system failures, and proper use of job-related tools and equipment.
Some of the perks of being a maintenance foreman are the salary and the promotion opportunities. On average, they earn about $17.79 per hour. They can also go up the career ladder and become a facilities maintenance supervisor or a building administrative supervisor.
How to Become a Maintenance Foreman
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a maintenance foreman. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.79 an hour? That's $39,081 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 85,400 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Maintenance Foreman Do
There are certain skills that many maintenance foremen 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 customer-service skills, dexterity and troubleshooting skills.
How To Become a Maintenance Foreman
If you're interested in becoming a maintenance foreman, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 28.1% of maintenance foremen have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 2.2% of maintenance foremen have master's degrees. Even though some maintenance foremen 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 maintenance foreman. When we researched the most common majors for a maintenance foreman, we found that they most commonly earn high school diploma degrees or bachelor's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on maintenance foreman resumes include associate degree degrees or diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a maintenance foreman. In fact, many maintenance foreman jobs require experience in a role such as maintenance technician. Meanwhile, many maintenance foremen also have previous career experience in roles such as foreman or electrician.
Maintenance Foreman Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a maintenance foreman can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as maintenance supervisor, progress to a title such as supervisor and then eventually end up with the title plant manager.
Average Salary for a Maintenance Foreman
What Am I Worth?
Top Skills For a Maintenance Foreman
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 10.7% of maintenance foremen listed facility on their resume, but soft skills such as customer-service skills and dexterity are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Maintenance Foreman Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Maintenance Foreman templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Maintenance Foreman resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Maintenance Foreman Demographics
Maintenance Foreman Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among maintenance foremen, 3.8% of them are women, while 96.2% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among maintenance foremen is White, which makes up 67.4% of all maintenance foremen.
- The most common foreign language among maintenance foremen is Spanish at 65.2%.
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Best States For a Maintenance Foreman
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a maintenance foreman. The best states for people in this position are Hawaii, Colorado, Massachusetts, and Alaska. Maintenance foremen make the most in Hawaii with an average salary of $44,333. Whereas in Colorado and Massachusetts, they would average $43,903 and $43,777, respectively. While maintenance foremen would only make an average of $43,476 in Alaska, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Colorado
$43,903
Avg. Salary
2. Kentucky
$38,886
Avg. Salary
3. Nevada
$39,648
Avg. Salary
How Do Maintenance Foreman Rate Their Jobs?
Top Maintenance Foreman Employers
Most Common Employers For Maintenance Foreman
| Rank  | Company  | Average Salary  | Hourly Rate  | Job Openings  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mesa Airlines | $54,470 | $26.19 | 5 |
| 2 | United States Steel | $53,916 | $25.92 | 15 |
| 3 | CONSOL Energy | $53,384 | $25.67 | 27 |
| 4 | Massey Energy Co | $51,183 | $24.61 | 13 |
| 5 | Alpha Metallurgical Resources | $50,636 | $24.34 | 17 |
| 6 | Zachry Group | $48,329 | $23.24 | 6 |
| 7 | Turner Industries | $47,951 | $23.05 | 10 |
| 8 | Lear | $47,129 | $22.66 | 16 |
| 9 | Fluor Corporation | $45,981 | $22.11 | 8 |
| 10 | Halliburton | $44,330 | $21.31 | 8 |
Maintenance Foreman Videos
