How To Become A Plant Inspector: What It Is and Career Path

What is a plant inspector and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Robert Shepherd

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a plant inspector. For example, did you know that they make an average of $19.21 an hour? That's $39,967 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -3% and produce -17,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a plant inspector?

Robert Shepherd

NAESA International

People entering the workforce for the first time and recent grads cannot become elevator inspectors do to prerequisites required, which cannot be attained in any sort of schooling supplied in the world, there is none in existence. Th only way you get to be a certified elevator inspector is by successfully attaining a diploma from the school of hard knocks, so OJT is the only way!

ScorePlant InspectorUS Average

Salary

3.1

Avg. Salary $39,967

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.2

Growth rate -3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.80%

Asian 8.97%

Black or African American 11.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.64%

Unknown 4.60%

White 55.00%

Gender

female 19.80%

male 80.20%

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

8.2

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

5.3

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.4

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a plant inspector

Explore plant inspector education requirements

Most common plant inspector degrees

Bachelor's

40.6 %

Associate

22.9 %

High School Diploma

13.5 %

Start to develop specific plant inspector skills

Skills	Percentages
Asphalt	66.36%
Inspection Reports	7.36%
OSP	3.99%
API	3.98%
NDE	3.40%

Complete relevant plant inspector training and internships

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

Research plant inspector duties and responsibilities

Interpret results of external, internal and NDE inspection data.
Supervise and coordinate tasks of airframe and power plant troubleshooting.
Log unsafe problems or any other problems with the car into BMW's control network.
Perform regularly schedule packaging line audits to assure that product is being manufacture according to packaging specifications and GMP requirements.

Prepare your plant inspector resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable plant inspector resume templates

Build a professional plant inspector 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 plant inspector resume.