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

What is a maintenance operator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Maintenance operators are the ones who repair and maintain mechanical equipment and buildings. Their day-to-day tasks include plumbing, painting, flooring repair and upkeep, electrical repairs, heating, and air conditioning system maintenance.

As a maintenance operator, you inspect various equipment and perform any minor repairs or preventative maintenance when needed. To achieve success in this role, you should have previous maintenance experience, be highly skilled with various hand tools, and read blueprints and repair manuals.

You require a high school diploma degree or related degree from a technical college for this role. However, having the ability to take apart machines, equipment, or devices to remove and replace defective parts can be a plus point in your initial applications for the role.

Throughout the U.S., the average salary for a maintenance operator is roughly $33,649 per year, which boils down to $16.18 per hour. However, this figure can vary significantly depending upon your organization, state, or qualification.

ScoreMaintenance OperatorUS Average

Salary

2.8

Avg. Salary $35,420

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.6

Growth rate 5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.18%

Asian 4.62%

Black or African American 11.43%

Hispanic or Latino 18.53%

Unknown 4.27%

White 59.97%

Gender

female 7.39%

male 92.61%

Age - 49

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 - 49

Stress level

7.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.3

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.1

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a maintenance operator

Explore maintenance operator education requirements

Most common maintenance operator degrees

High School Diploma

35.9 %

Bachelor's

25.7 %

Associate

21.7 %

Start to develop specific maintenance operator skills

Skills	Percentages
Hand Tools	7.92%
CDL	7.90%
Preventative Maintenance	6.76%
Mowing	5.02%
Safety Procedures	4.40%

Complete relevant maintenance operator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New maintenance 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 maintenance operator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real maintenance operator resumes.

Research maintenance operator duties and responsibilities

Perform daily checks of pumps, gas blowers, conveyor systems, and gas quality.
Ensure a neat and orderly work area following OSHA standards to promote a safe work environment.
Maintain hydraulic systems, pneumatic systems, electrical systems, gas equipment, HVAC and AC/DC systems.
Maintain proper storage area for all equipment and chemicals used for park maintenance according to appropriate OSHA standards.

Prepare your maintenance operator resume

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

Build a professional maintenance 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 maintenance operator resume.