A maintenance worker, aka the handy-man, takes on the noble and constant struggle against decay. Working indoors or outdoors; on one site, such as a school, hospital, or office building, or at several locations; such as different buildings of a college campus, a maintenance worker's vigilant gaze will notice any sign of impairment and fix what is damaged.
Whether the problem is a broken window, faulty wiring, a burned-out lightbulb, peeling paint, or leaks, maintenance workers will be there to take care of it. They clean windows, mow the lawn, collect trash, and will be expected to perform preventive maintenance as well. They repair machines and mechanical equipment, too, so you might find yourself working at a manufacturing site or factory taking on this position.
According to statistical data, this is a position primarily filled by men, although this is not meant as a discouragement to all the aspiring handy-ladies out there. As housing prices increase and people tend to opt for remodeling rather than buying new, the demand for maintenance workers is growing as well.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a maintenance worker. For example, did you know that they make an average of $16.88 an hour? That's $35,103 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 85,400 job opportunities across the U.S.
There are certain skills that many maintenance workers 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.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a maintenance worker, we found that a lot of resumes listed 14.5% of maintenance workers included facility, while 8.0% of resumes included general maintenance, and 6.1% of resumes included hand tools. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the maintenance worker job title. But what industry to start with? Most maintenance workers actually find jobs in the hospitality and government industries.
If you're interested in becoming a maintenance worker, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 18.8% of maintenance workers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 1.1% of maintenance workers have master's degrees. Even though some maintenance workers 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 worker. When we researched the most common majors for a maintenance worker, we found that they most commonly earn high school diploma degrees or bachelor's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on maintenance worker resumes include associate degree degrees or diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a maintenance worker. In fact, many maintenance worker jobs require experience in a role such as cashier. Meanwhile, many maintenance workers also have previous career experience in roles such as sales associate or warehouse worker.