How To Become A Production Line Worker: What It Is and Career Path

What is a production line worker and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Erin Dougherty

The main role of a production line worker is to produce goods and prepare them for distribution. Production line workers work in factories of engineering, food and drink, and pharmaceuticals industries, among others. They operate and maintain machinery and production line equipment. They ensure production standards are met. Also, they maintain a clean workstation and production floor. Furthermore, they follow production guidelines and specifications and ensure adherence to health and safety standards. Besides that, they monitor the assembly line and remove faulty products. Additionally, they work on the production line and ensure they meet production targets.

The minimum academic requirement for this job is a high school diploma or its equivalent. Applicants must have previous experience in the production industry. You must possess communication, teamwork, dexterity, maths, reliability, and time management skills. Production line workers earn an average salary of $30,498 per year. This ranges from $21,000 to $44,000.

What general advice would you give to a production line worker?

Erin Dougherty

Associate Professor of Costume Design Costume Director, Catawba College

Don't underestimate what you can do. Make sure to advocate for yourself, push for the max salary listed once you've been offered the job, and be firm that you meet the qualifications. Talk about the skills you can do, how you can collaborate, and adjacent skill sets that could come into play, including "soft" skills. Don't lie of course, because that will come back to bite you, and facts are really easy to check these days. You need to express self-confidence if you're going to survive in this industry, and overall, be a good person to work with.

ScoreProduction Line WorkerUS Average

Salary

2.3

Avg. Salary $28,844

Avg. Salary $59,228

Diversity

6.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.01%

Asian 4.49%

Black or African American 12.09%

Hispanic or Latino 16.41%

Unknown 3.97%

White 62.02%

Gender

female 42.15%

male 57.85%

Age - 35

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 - 35

Stress level

4.9

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.6

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.2

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a production line worker

Explore production line worker education requirements

Most common production line worker degrees

High School Diploma

54.3 %

Associate

14.0 %

Diploma

13.5 %

Start to develop specific production line worker skills

Skills	Percentages
Assembly Line	21.94%
Pallet Jack	12.19%
Safety Guidelines	11.58%
Machine Operators	7.10%
Quality Checks	6.29%

Complete relevant production line worker training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New production line workers 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 production line worker based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real production line worker resumes.

Research production line worker duties and responsibilities

Manage and instruct workers in the art of food preparation as culinary team leader.
Inspect food and area to be up to code with FDA.
Build all size windows for different companies.
Wear appropriate PPE for the job being perform.

Prepare your production line worker resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your production line worker resume.

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