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

What is a plating machine 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 plating machine operator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $16.27 an hour? That's $33,834 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -5% and produce -45,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScorePlating Machine OperatorUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $33,834

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.2

Growth rate -5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.96%

Asian 7.08%

Black or African American 9.27%

Hispanic or Latino 15.90%

Unknown 4.31%

White 62.49%

Gender

female 10.87%

male 89.13%

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

6.2

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.7

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.2

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a plating machine operator

Explore plating machine operator education requirements

Most common plating machine operator degrees

High School Diploma

48.4 %

Associate

32.3 %

Bachelor's

6.5 %

Start to develop specific plating machine operator skills

Skills	Percentages
Calipers	72.61%
Article Inspection	17.37%
Coats	10.01%

Complete relevant plating machine operator training and internships

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

Research plating machine operator duties and responsibilities

Operate plating machines to fill production needs and backup PMO's.
Control & troubleshoot automate extrusion line adjusting speed & feed, monitoring temperature, & finish material specification per customers order.
Perform repair and preventive maintenance on machinery including cleaning, oiling and adjusting.

Prepare your plating machine operator resume

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

Build a professional plating machine 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 plating machine operator resume.