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What is a production support engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read
Quoted expert
Professor David Sanford

In a manufacturing or production firm, it is important to have production support engineers in the team. They provide assistance to the technical concerns of the production team and handle requests to troubleshoot and fix problems in machines or programs. They do their best to resolve the problems. In addition, they also ensure proper documentation of the errors as well as the steps done to fix these errors. Aside from resolving problems, production support engineers also work on streamlining the processes in the production area to ensure efficiency or processes.

In order to become a production support engineer, one should have at least a bachelor's degree in engineering-related fields such as industrial engineering, mechanical engineering, computer engineering, or even civil engineering. They should have experience in the field of their prospective company. In addition, they should also undergo the needed certifications and licenses, when necessary. A production support engineer usually earns $75,126 a year.

What general advice would you give to a production support engineer?

Professor David Sanford

Associate Professor an Department Chair (MIS, CS, CYB MGT, IS CYB), Northwood University

Workers like that they are challenged to solve problems and lead technological innovations.
They appreciate the diversity of projects
They enjoy the need for continuous improvement and education
Many see the global impact of their work.
They also desire and appreciate the need for versatile skills
A competitive salary is also an item that employees like

Workers dislike that the work can be stressful
Dealing with tight deadlines and/ or cybersecurity concerns.
This is a positive and a negative: The need to constantly stay up to date with technology can be a bit overwhelming for some.
There may be times of isolation, and
The unexpected system failures can be frustrating as they often require extra hours or the need to be on-call.
The multiple responsibilities and managing repetitive tasks are also issues workers point out in this field.

In short, the workplace offers exciting opportunities but comes with its fair share of pressures and challenges. Different people have different experiences based on their roles and personal preferences.
ScoreProduction Support EngineerUS Average
Salary
6.1

Avg. Salary $78,599

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level
5.7

Growth rate 5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity
3.6
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.31%

Asian 13.84%

Black or African American 7.95%

Hispanic or Latino 11.67%

Unknown 5.00%

White 61.23%

Gender

female 14.94%

male 85.06%

Age - 42
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 - 42
Stress level
5.7

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level
6.7

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance
7.1

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Production support engineer career paths

Key steps to become a production support engineer

  1. Explore production support engineer education requirements

    Most common production support engineer degrees

    Bachelor's

    74.4 %

    Master's

    13.2 %

    Associate

    10.1 %
  2. Start to develop specific production support engineer skills

    SkillsPercentages
    Java11.38%
    Infrastructure6.15%
    Linux5.73%
    Production Environment5.45%
    Production Issues4.81%
  3. Complete relevant production support engineer training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New production support engineers 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 support engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real production support engineer resumes.
  4. Research production support engineer duties and responsibilities

    • Manage several UAT regions, including code updates and monitoring and troubleshooting multiple daily batch cycles.
    • Manage, solve and coordinate daily operational support issues for 600 banks and 2400 workstations worldwide.
    • Manage daily schedule and expedite changes to mainframe production system, supporting several systems and development clients.
    • Modify online driver schedule display using PHP and HTML.
  5. Get production support engineer experience

    Generally, it takes 1-2 years to become a production support engineer. The most common roles before becoming a production support engineer include systems administrator, developer team lead and software engineer.
  6. Prepare your production support engineer resume

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

    Choose from 10+ customizable production support engineer resume templates

    Build a professional production support engineer 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 production support engineer resume.
    Production Support Engineer Resume
    Production Support Engineer Resume
    Production Support Engineer Resume
    Production Support Engineer Resume
    Production Support Engineer Resume
    Production Support Engineer Resume
    Production Support Engineer Resume
    Production Support Engineer Resume
    Production Support Engineer Resume
  7. Apply for production support engineer jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for a production support engineer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

How did you land your first production support engineer job

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Average production support engineer salary

The average production support engineer salary in the United States is $78,599 per year or $38 per hour. Production support engineer salaries range between $57,000 and $107,000 per year.

Average production support engineer salary
$78,599 Yearly
$37.79 hourly

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Production support engineer reviews

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A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2020
Pros

I work hard do my job good worker when i work i want the best out of my job starring with each other stand on the work

Cons

Nothing not doing my job


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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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