How To Become A Research Mechanic: What It Is and Career Path

What is a research mechanic 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 research mechanic. For example, did you know that they make an average of $35.42 an hour? That's $73,679 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 2% and produce 900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreResearch MechanicUS Average

Salary

5.8

Avg. Salary $73,679

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.0

Growth rate 2%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.68%

Asian 11.98%

Black or African American 6.64%

Hispanic or Latino 16.38%

Unknown 4.86%

White 59.46%

Gender

female 16.67%

male 83.33%

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

6.0

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.3

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.5

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a research mechanic

Explore research mechanic education requirements

Most common research mechanic degrees

Bachelor's

56.8 %

Master's

18.2 %

Associate

11.4 %

Start to develop specific research mechanic skills

Skills	Percentages
Solidworks	31.39%
Computational Fluid Dynamics	25.82%
Data Collection	24.79%
MATLAB	18.00%

Complete relevant research mechanic training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New research mechanics 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 research mechanic based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real research mechanic resumes.

Research research mechanic duties and responsibilities

Evaluate patients' study eligibility via medical history, obtain informed consent, enroll patients, and achieve enrollment quotas.
Automate data post-processing and analysis activities through develop MATLAB program.
Create parts list and new materials list which are automated to a printable BOM.
Synthesize and characterize colloidal room-temperature ferromagnetic CoFe2O4 nanoparticles.

Prepare your research mechanic resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable research mechanic resume templates

Build a professional research mechanic 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 research mechanic resume.