An Outside Machinist is tasked with ensuring the safety of ships and their components by activating, testing, and operating them in line with standard procedures and policies. He installs ships equipment like weapons systems, main machinery, remote operating gear, and the likes. His job involves grinding, reaming, bolting, tacking, and so on. He also performs layout, assembly, maintenance, fabrication, and modification of mechanical components and equipment. Also, he sets up and operates test apparatus, diagnostic devices, and related equipment. The outside machinist is responsible for recording test procedures and results. He runs routine analysis and calculations. He also recommends changes in equipment, product, or test methods.
The primary educational requirement is a high school diploma or GED. Applicants must have at least five years of experience: two years in trade school and at least three years of work experience in a related field. Outside machinists are paid an average salary of $50,403 per year.
Outside Machinist Overview
Outside Machinist Careers
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an outside machinist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.08 an hour? That's $37,615 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 1% and produce 5,400 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does an Outside Machinist Do
There are certain skills that many outside machinists 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 analytical skills, manual dexterity and math skills and computer application experience.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be an outside machinist, we found that a lot of resumes listed 22.2% of outside machinists included hand tools, while 9.8% of resumes included electrical systems, and 7.8% of resumes included shipyard. 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 outside machinist job title. But what industry to start with? Most outside machinists actually find jobs in the manufacturing and construction industries.
How To Become an Outside Machinist
If you're interested in becoming an outside machinist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 14.1% of outside machinists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 1.2% of outside machinists have master's degrees. Even though some outside machinists 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 an outside machinist. When we researched the most common majors for an outside machinist, we found that they most commonly earn high school diploma degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on outside machinist resumes include bachelor's degree degrees or diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become an outside machinist. In fact, many outside machinist jobs require experience in a role such as machinist mate. Meanwhile, many outside machinists also have previous career experience in roles such as machinist or maintenance technician.
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Outside Machinist Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of millwright you might progress to a role such as maintenance supervisor eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title maintenance director.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for an Outside Machinist
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Bath Iron Works Corp Outside Machinist (Grades) Outside Machinist (Grades) | Bath Iron Works Corp Bath Iron Works Corp | 01/25/2021 01/25/2021 | $34,33101/25/2021 $34,331 |
HKA Enterprises Outside Machinist Outside Machinist | HKA Enterprises HKA Enterprises | 01/24/2021 01/24/2021 | $50,08801/24/2021 $50,088 |
HKA Enterprises Outside Machinist Outside Machinist | HKA Enterprises HKA Enterprises | 12/04/2020 12/04/2020 | $50,08812/04/2020 $50,088 |
Bath Iron Works Corp Outside Machinist (Grades) ^ Outside Machinist (Grades) ^ | Bath Iron Works Corp Bath Iron Works Corp | 11/24/2020 11/24/2020 | $49,71211/24/2020 $49,712 |
Aerotek In Demand of AN Outside Machinist In Demand of AN Outside Machinist | Aerotek Aerotek | 11/19/2020 11/19/2020 | $48,00111/19/2020 $48,001 |
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Top Skills For an Outside Machinist
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 22.2% of outside machinists listed hand tools on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and manual dexterity are important as well.
- Hand Tools, 22.2%
- Electrical Systems, 9.8%
- Shipyard, 7.8%
- Defective Parts, 4.9%
- Layout, 4.3%
- Other Skills, 51.0% See All Outside Machinist Skills
Best States For an Outside Machinist
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an outside machinist. The best states for people in this position are New Jersey, Oregon, Maryland, and Washington. Outside machinists make the most in New Jersey with an average salary of $48,618. Whereas in Oregon and Maryland, they would average $48,469 and $47,593, respectively. While outside machinists would only make an average of $47,458 in Washington, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Oregon
$48,469
Avg. Salary
2. Minnesota
$44,988
Avg. Salary
3. Wyoming
$42,828
Avg. Salary
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