Plant Operator Overview

There are certain skills that many plant operators 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, math skills and detail oriented.

When it comes to the most important skills required to be a plant operator, we found that a lot of resumes listed 13.0% of plant operators included plant equipment, while 12.7% of resumes included facility, and 5.7% of resumes included preventive maintenance. 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 plant operator job title. But what industry to start with? Most plant operators actually find jobs in the manufacturing and energy industries.

If you're interested in becoming a plant operator, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 19.7% of plant operators have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 2.4% of plant operators have master's degrees. Even though some plant operators 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 a plant operator. When we researched the most common majors for a plant operator, we found that they most commonly earn high school diploma degrees or bachelor's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on plant operator resumes include associate degree degrees or diploma degrees.

You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a plant operator. In fact, many plant operator jobs require experience in a role such as operator. Meanwhile, many plant operators also have previous career experience in roles such as maintenance technician or supervisor.