How To Become A Refinery Technician: What It Is and Career Path

What is a refinery technician 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 refinery technician. For example, did you know that they make an average of $24.85 an hour? That's $51,694 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -15% and produce -6,500 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreRefinery TechnicianUS Average

Salary

4.0

Avg. Salary $51,694

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.4

Growth rate -15%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 2.37%

Asian 1.52%

Black or African American 6.06%

Hispanic or Latino 8.05%

Unknown 5.47%

White 76.53%

Gender

female 7.32%

male 92.68%

Age - 46

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 - 46

Stress level

7.4

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.4

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.0

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a refinery technician

Explore refinery technician education requirements

Most common refinery technician degrees

Associate

37.5 %

Bachelor's

37.5 %

High School Diploma

15.0 %

Start to develop specific refinery technician skills

Skills	Percentages
Minor Maintenance	46.18%
Safety Regulations	19.43%
LOTO	8.33%
Cooling Towers	6.42%
Plant Equipment	5.53%

Complete relevant refinery technician training and internships

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

Research refinery technician duties and responsibilities

Manage, develop, and execute department clearances (LO/TO).
Maintain numerous automate scripts to assist in managing Linux systems.
Experience with Maximo and other computer systems.
Monitor and adjust units from the DCS and SCADA.

Prepare your refinery technician resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable refinery technician resume templates

Build a professional refinery technician 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 refinery technician resume.