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

What is a pit operator 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 operator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $16.4 an hour? That's $34,111 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 7% and produce 56,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScorePit OperatorUS Average

Salary

2.7

Avg. Salary $34,111

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.3

Growth rate 7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.88%

Asian 2.75%

Black or African American 14.40%

Hispanic or Latino 20.16%

Unknown 4.54%

White 57.28%

Gender

female 12.23%

male 87.77%

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

8.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.8

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a pit operator

Explore pit operator education requirements

Most common pit operator degrees

High School Diploma

48.1 %

Bachelor's

17.1 %

Associate

16.6 %

Start to develop specific pit operator skills

Skills	Percentages
Pallets	16.85%
Safety Policies	13.34%
RF Scanner	11.93%
Load Trucks	9.70%
Safety Committee	7.64%

Complete relevant pit operator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New pit operators 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 pit operator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real pit operator resumes.

Research pit operator duties and responsibilities

Perform specialized production line and quality control duties in a professional production environment specializing in plastic extrusion.
Perform specialized production line and quality control duties in a professional production environment specializing in plastic extrusion.

Prepare your pit operator resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your pit operator 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 operator 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 operator resume templates

Build a professional pit operator 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 operator resume.