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

What is a recovery 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 recovery operator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $32.28 an hour? That's $67,146 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -8% and produce -286,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreRecovery OperatorUS Average

Salary

5.2

Avg. Salary $67,146

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.0

Growth rate -8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.57%

Asian 12.32%

Black or African American 8.59%

Hispanic or Latino 9.87%

Unknown 4.90%

White 63.75%

Gender

female 11.97%

male 88.03%

Age - 43

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 - 43

Stress level

5.0

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.2

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.2

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a recovery operator

Explore recovery operator education requirements

Most common recovery operator degrees

High School Diploma

31.3 %

Bachelor's

29.3 %

Associate

25.3 %

Start to develop specific recovery operator skills

Skills	Percentages
Blowers	31.60%
Control Panels	17.25%
Flow Meters	15.70%
CDL	11.12%
Federal Regulations	6.65%

Complete relevant recovery operator training and internships

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

Research recovery operator duties and responsibilities

Manage the master calendar and schedule resources such as communication equipment, weapons, transportation and ammunition forecast and delivery.
Monitor combat missions through satellite and computer global positioning systems in order to prepare accurate reports for unit commanders.
Identify business through analyzing results, sales plan and effectively utilize payroll hours

Prepare your recovery operator resume

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

Build a professional recovery 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 recovery operator resume.