How to hire a production technician

How to hire a production technician, step by step

Here's a step-by-step production technician hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a production technician job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new production technician
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a production technician do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your production technician job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a production technician for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a production technician to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a production technician that fits the bill.

   This list presents production technician salaries for various positions.

   Type of Production Technician	Description	Hourly rate
   Production Technician		$13-23
   Quality Assurance Technician	Quality assurance is an essential part of a company that offers products and services. It is critical that the company's output remains consistent and up to par with community standards... Show more	$12-28
   Assembly Technician	Assembly technicians are responsible for constructing small parts and components to create a new product according to the specifications of a client or a supervisor. An assembly technician performs diagnostic tests on the assembled product to ensure efficiency and conduct adjustments as needed... Show more	$13-20

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Hand Tools
   • Preventative Maintenance
   • Quality Checks
   • Production Equipment
   • Basic Math
   • Safety Procedures
   • Quality Standards
   • Math
   • Ladders
   • Lean Manufacturing
   • GMP
   • Harvest
   • Work Ethic
   • Patients

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Relay to the oncoming shift everything accomplish and the projected workload through use of PowerPoint and excel.
   • Implement and develop safety standards and operations exceeding those require by OSHA.
   • Can demonstrate good manual dexterity.
   • Analyze QC test samples using multisizer machine.
   • Implement and oversee plant's safety program including LOTO program.
   • Test and repair rf system compponents of cellular test set.

   More production technician duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your production technician job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A production technician salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a production technician in West Virginia may be lower than in Maryland, and an entry-level production technician usually earns less than a senior-level production technician. Additionally, a production technician with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average production technician salary

   $37,550yearly

   $18.05 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level production technician salary

   $28,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 22, 2026

   Average production technician salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Maryland	$44,856	$22
   2	New York	$43,181	$21
   3	Pennsylvania	$40,966	$20
   4	Illinois	$40,579	$20
   5	Michigan	$40,570	$20
   6	Wisconsin	$40,521	$19
   7	Oregon	$40,322	$19
   8	California	$40,081	$19
   9	Ohio	$39,752	$19
   10	Washington	$39,728	$19
   11	Colorado	$39,503	$19
   12	Virginia	$39,446	$19
   13	Minnesota	$39,367	$19
   14	Indiana	$38,861	$19
   15	Missouri	$37,659	$18
   16	Delaware	$37,467	$18
   17	Utah	$37,218	$18
   18	Alabama	$36,809	$18
   19	Arizona	$36,756	$18
   20	Kansas	$36,627	$18

   Average production technician salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Cornerstone Research	$86,015	$41.35
   2	The American Musical and Dramatic Academy	$65,950	$31.71
   3	Los Alamos National Laboratory	$63,641	$30.60	7
   4	Argonne National Laboratory	$63,418	$30.49	4
   5	Boehringer Ingelheim	$62,356	$29.98	8
   6	AstraZeneca	$60,732	$29.20	8
   7	Medimmune	$59,940	$28.82
   8	California Resources	$59,329	$28.52
   9	Sandia National Labs	$57,502	$27.65	1
   10	Meta	$56,651	$27.24	137
   11	Ball	$54,151	$26.03	27
   12	FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies	$52,970	$25.47	24
   13	OMNOVA Solutions	$52,796	$25.38	1
   14	New York University	$52,028	$25.01	1
   15	Bayer	$51,283	$24.66	79
   16	Elanco	$50,246	$24.16	6
   17	Reckitt Benckiser	$49,927	$24.00	4
   18	Harvard University	$49,671	$23.88
   19	Meridian Technology Group	$49,156	$23.63
   20	Hoffmann-LA Roche Inc	$49,145	$23.63

4. Writing a production technician job description

   A production technician job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a production technician job description:

   Production technician job description example

   Food Production Technician FULL-TIME
   $16/hr, plus $1000 new hire bonus, see details below Duties include:
   - Inspecting food ingredients and food preparation equipment through physical, mechanical, and visual inspection to maintain quality standards and sanitation regulations.
   - Performing day-to-day activities including cooking, scaling, pumping, packaging, and sanitation.
   - Maintaining accurate production records, HACCP, and QA documentation to ensure that all meet the federal, state, county, and company requirements.
   - Control quality and production costs through strict adherence to recipes and production procedures - monitoring waste and loss, and improved work efficiencies.
   - Coordinating and performing equipment and plant sanitation, as needed.
   - Inspecting and evaluating equipment requirements to ensure efficiency and safety.
   - Maintaining a safe and clean working environment by ensuring that all food safety, food holding, temperature, Giant Eagle, and OSHA standards are met. *Employees are eligible to receive team member perks and discounts: 10% off purchases of all own brand products.* PIT-03 WS-03
   Schedule
   Shift start: 4:00AM
   Shift length: 10 hours
   4 days/week. Days off: Saturday and two days during the week.
   Benefits
   Health, dental, vision insurance - available after 60 days Paid time off 401(k) plan
   Qualifications
   Must pass background check Can lift 50 lbs Must be at least 18+ years old Please note, this role requires access to reliable personal transportation. Our facility does not have a public bus stop nearby. Travel Times: From Pittsburg, PA: Approx. 30-minutes by car From Monroeville, PA: Approx. 50-minutes by car (route includes a toll road) From McKeesport, PA: Approximately 55-minutes by car
   
   $1000 new hire incentive
   $500.00 paid out at 90 days, $500.00 paid out at 6 months About Giant Eagle
   Giant Eagle is an American supermarket chain with stores in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, and Maryland. The company was founded in 1918 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and incorporated on August 31, 1931.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right production technician for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with production technicians they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit production technicians who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your production technician job on Zippia to find and recruit production technician candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit production technicians, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new production technician

   Once you've selected the best production technician candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a production technician?