How To Become A Pit Hand: What It Is and Career Path

What is a pit hand 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 pit hand. For example, did you know that they make an average of $20.38 an hour? That's $42,397 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 1% and produce 6,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScorePit HandUS Average

Salary

3.3

Avg. Salary $42,397

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.6

Growth rate 1%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.86%

Asian 7.15%

Black or African American 11.77%

Hispanic or Latino 21.63%

Unknown 4.23%

White 54.37%

Gender

female 2.13%

male 97.87%

Age - 44

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 - 44

Stress level

8.6

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.1

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

1.8

Work life balance is very poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a pit hand

Explore pit hand education requirements

Most common pit hand degrees

High School Diploma

55.6 %

Bachelor's

15.9 %

Associate

11.1 %

Start to develop specific pit hand skills

Skills	Percentages
Rig	41.76%
Floor Equipment	30.40%
Mud Pumps	5.48%
Mud Weight	4.14%
Tongs	3.40%

Research pit hand duties and responsibilities

Manage and perform rig operations, repair large mud pump motors, hoppers, shakers, generators, valves and agitators.
Record all fabrication or machine operating parameters accurately and legibly.
Adhere to all company safety policies and procedures as per Nabors policy book and standards.

Prepare your pit hand resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable pit hand resume templates

Build a professional pit hand 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 pit hand resume.