How To Become A Nondestructive Tester: What It Is and Career Path

What is a nondestructive tester and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a nondestructive tester. For example, did you know that they make an average of $20.94 an hour? That's $43,557 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 2% and produce 6,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreNondestructive TesterUS Average

Salary

3.4

Avg. Salary $43,557

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.5

Growth rate 2%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.67%

Asian 8.17%

Black or African American 6.86%

Hispanic or Latino 11.74%

Unknown 4.64%

White 67.94%

Gender

female 9.09%

male 90.91%

Age - 46

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 - 46

Stress level

7.5

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

2.1

Work life balance is very poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a nondestructive tester

Explore nondestructive tester education requirements

Most common nondestructive tester degrees

Associate

61.9 %

Bachelor's

19.0 %

High School Diploma

14.3 %

Start to develop specific nondestructive tester skills

Skills	Percentages
Destructive Testing	29.03%
Magnetic Particle	15.84%
Test Equipment	14.95%
Structural Integrity	10.05%
Hazardous Waste	8.17%

Complete relevant nondestructive tester training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New nondestructive testers 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 nondestructive tester based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real nondestructive tester resumes.

Research nondestructive tester duties and responsibilities

Manage departmental inventory and troubleshoot testing, reporting and inventory issues.
Complete NDT tests, document, certify inspection results.
Communicate with repair and modification technicians in order to troubleshoot hardware and software issues with problematic blade units.
Participate in regular scrum and defect reporting discussions

Prepare your nondestructive tester resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your nondestructive tester 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 nondestructive tester resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable nondestructive tester resume templates

Build a professional nondestructive tester 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 nondestructive tester resume.

Apply for nondestructive tester jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a nondestructive tester 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 do nondestructive testers rate their job?

-/5

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Nondestructive tester reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2020

Cons

Some things you test can be really picky to pass. It's likely they will always fail the first time. Some test seem to always pass and seek insufficient. I always look at productivity but also efficiency. So if not necessary by customer and always passes I can't see why a part of the test he removed especially if another part of the test will fail if it does. Options I am always open to.