How To Become An Operations Technician: What It Is and Career Path

What is an operations technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

An operation technician is an established worker in charge of overseeing the equipment of the operations platform in a company. As an operation technician, you must cooperate with engineers to repair mechanical issues and execute maintenance. This is done to make sure there is easy accessibility of supplies and to lessen rig downtime.

You are expected to encourage manufacturing safety by ensuring compliance with instructions and regulations. This should be done according to the organization's safety and environmental standards. You also have to preserve records of appliance history and report incidents to the right employee. Plus, you are required to execute preventive check-up policy all through the production facility, including facility preservation. You also have to perform equipment preservation and supply technological assistance to regularly strategized operations.

To become an operation technician, you need to meet certain requirements. These include client service, organization, and management skills. You must also be able to apply the manual approach to solve technical issues. Additionally, you need a bachelor's degree or an associate degree, depending on the employer. With these requirements met, you will earn an average of $42,890 per year or $20.62 hourly.

ScoreOperations TechnicianUS Average

Salary

3.2

Avg. Salary $40,899

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.0

Growth rate 5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.15%

Asian 3.26%

Black or African American 9.90%

Hispanic or Latino 18.23%

Unknown 5.15%

White 62.32%

Gender

female 20.53%

male 79.47%

Age - 43

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 - 43

Stress level

7.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.8

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.8

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an operations technician

Explore operations technician education requirements

Most common operations technician degrees

Bachelor's

40.0 %

Associate

28.4 %

High School Diploma

19.3 %

Start to develop specific operations technician skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	8.17%
Hand Tools	7.81%
Preventative Maintenance	6.33%
Ladders	5.13%
Safety Procedures	4.70%

Complete relevant operations technician training and internships

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

Gain additional operations technician certifications

Operations technician certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific operations technician certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for operations technicians include OSHA Safety Certificate and Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA).

More About Certifications

Research operations technician duties and responsibilities

Manage safety program to ensure compliance with company, OSHA, NFPA-70E and industry regulations, policies and procedures.
Perform machining, including but not limit to components using mills, lathes and surface grinders to accomplish repairs.
Maintain numerous automate scripts to assist in managing Linux systems.
Participate in troubleshoot of control systems and complex equipment associate with gasoline / crude oil operations.

Prepare your operations technician resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable operations technician resume templates

Build a professional operations technician 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 operations technician resume.