There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a recyclable materials collector. For example, did you know that they make an average of $13.69 an hour? That's $28,479 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 156,200 job opportunities across the U.S.
There are certain skills that many recyclable materials collectors have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed customer-service skills, listening skills and physical strength.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a recyclable materials collector, we found that a lot of resumes listed 24.9% of recyclable materials collectors included recyclable materials, while 15.5% of resumes included dump contents, and 12.4% of resumes included weather conditions. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
If you're interested in becoming a recyclable materials collector, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 15.4% of recyclable materials collectors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 2.6% of recyclable materials collectors have master's degrees. Even though some recyclable materials collectors have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a recyclable materials collector. When we researched the most common majors for a recyclable materials collector, we found that they most commonly earn high school diploma degrees or bachelor's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on recyclable materials collector resumes include associate degree degrees or diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a recyclable materials collector. In fact, many recyclable materials collector jobs require experience in a role such as material handler. Meanwhile, many recyclable materials collectors also have previous career experience in roles such as forklift operator or cleaner.
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The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 24.9% of recyclable materials collectors listed recyclable materials on their resume, but soft skills such as customer-service skills and listening skills are important as well.
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a recyclable materials collector. The best states for people in this position are Alaska, North Dakota, California, and Washington. Recyclable materials collectors make the most in Alaska with an average salary of $50,228. Whereas in North Dakota and California, they would average $42,122 and $40,911, respectively. While recyclable materials collectors would only make an average of $36,854 in Washington, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Utah
$35,514
Avg. Salary
2. Alaska
$50,229
Avg. Salary
3. California
$40,911
Avg. Salary