What Does a Mechanical Technician Do?

In this section, we compare the average Mechanical Technician annual salary with that of an Industrial Mechanic. Typically, Industrial Mechanics earn a $2,915 higher salary than Mechanical Technicians earn annually.

Even though Mechanical Technicians and Industrial Mechanics have vast differences in their careers, a few of the skills required to do both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require Preventive Maintenance, Electrical Systems, and Hand Tools in the day-to-day roles.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. A Mechanical Technician responsibility is more likely to require skills like "Electro-Mechanical," "Engineering Drawings," "Osha," and "Customer Service." Whereas a Industrial Mechanic requires skills like "Maintenance Department," "Production Machines," "Safety Standards," and "Equipment Maintenance." Just by understanding these different skills you can see how different these careers are.

Industrial Mechanics tend to make the most money in the Manufacturing industry by averaging a salary of $53,932. In contrast, Mechanical Technicians make the biggest average salary of $57,887 in the Education industry.

The education levels that Industrial Mechanics earn is a bit different than that of Mechanical Technicians. In particular, Industrial Mechanics are 0.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a Mechanical Technician. Additionally, they're 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Now we're going to look at the Instrument Technician Apprentice profession. On average, Instrument Technician Apprentices earn a $8,059 lower salary than Mechanical Technicians a year.

Not everything about these jobs is different. Take their skills, for example. Mechanical Technicians and Instrument Technician Apprentices both include similar skills like "Preventive Maintenance," "Electrical Systems," and "Hand Tools" on their resumes.

But both careers also use different skills, according to real Mechanical Technician resumes. While Mechanical Technician responsibilities can utilize skills like "Electro-Mechanical," "Heavy Equipment," "Mechanical Equipment," and "Engineering Drawings," some Instrument Technician Apprentices use skills like "Communication," "Diagnosis," "Customer Vehicles," and "Job Training."

When it comes to the differences in education between the two professions, Instrument Technician Apprentices tend to reach similar levels of education than Mechanical Technicians. In fact, they're 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Let's now take a look at the Mechanical Spreader Operator profession. On average, these workers make lower salaries than Mechanical Technicians with a $8,596 difference per year.

While looking through the resumes of several Mechanical Technicians and Mechanical Spreader Operators we discovered that both professions have similar skills. These similarities include skills such as "Preventive Maintenance," "Electrical Systems," and "Hand Tools," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

As mentioned, these two careers differ between other skills that are required for performing the work exceedingly well. For example, gathering from Mechanical Technicians resumes, they are more likely to have skills like "Electro-Mechanical," "Engineering Drawings," "Osha," and "Customer Service." But a Mechanical Spreader Operator might have skills like "Facility," "Emergency," "Safety Procedures," and "Repair Equipment."

Mechanical Spreader Operators make a very good living in the Energy industry with an average annual salary of $44,141. Whereas Mechanical Technicians are paid the highest salary in the Education industry with the average being $57,887.

Mechanical Spreader Operators typically study at similar levels compared with Mechanical Technicians. For example, they're 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

The fourth career we look at typically earns lower pay than Mechanical Technicians. On average, Mechanical Assemblers earn a difference of $17,196 lower per year.

While both Mechanical Technicians and Mechanical Assemblers complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like Electrical Systems, Hand Tools, and Electro-Mechanical, the two careers also vary in other skills.

While some skills are shared by these professions, there are some differences to note. "Preventive Maintenance," "Mechanical Equipment," "PLC," and "Osha" are skills that have shown up on Mechanical Technicians resumes. Additionally, Mechanical Assembler uses skills like Sub Assemblies, Dexterity, Torque Wrenches, and Quality Standards on their resumes.

Now, let's take a closer look at the financials in each career. The Transportation industry tends to pay more for Mechanical Assemblers with an average of $34,103. While the highest Mechanical Technician annual salary comes from the Education industry.

Mechanical Assemblers reach similar levels of education when compared to Mechanical Technicians. The difference is that they're 0.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree less, and 0.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.