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

What is a plate inspector 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 plate inspector. For example, did you know that they make an average of $23.01 an hour? That's $47,852 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -3% and produce -17,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScorePlate InspectorUS Average

Salary

3.7

Avg. Salary $47,852

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.2

Growth rate -3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.78%

Asian 7.27%

Black or African American 8.97%

Hispanic or Latino 23.07%

Unknown 4.45%

White 55.47%

Gender

female 30.36%

male 69.64%

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 plate inspector

Explore plate inspector education requirements

Most common plate inspector degrees

Bachelor's

34.6 %

High School Diploma

26.9 %

Associate

19.2 %

Start to develop specific plate inspector skills

Skills	Percentages
Data Entry	39.54%
CMM	29.68%
Surface Plate	25.60%
Inspection Process	3.22%
Engineering Drawings	1.95%

Complete relevant plate inspector training and internships

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

Research plate inspector duties and responsibilities

Conduct dimensional and visual inspections procedures on CMM machines to ensure geometrical characteristics of the product are in specification.
Review certifications and applicable inspection data prior to release.

Prepare your plate inspector resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your plate 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 plate 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 plate inspector resume templates

Build a professional plate 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 plate inspector resume.