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

What is a senior field technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Alison Graettinger

Some technical problems can't be solved over the phone or via email. If a customer needs in-person help installing a complicated piece of technical equipment, a company will often send a senior field technician to the rescue.

The senior field technician doesn't sit in the office all day. They actually get to go out in the field and visit customers. They conduct repairs on-site and assist customers with installation, maintenance, and troubleshooting of any necessary equipment. Sometimes, they even teach customers how to solve problems themselves so they can be prepared for any issues in the future.

The senior field technician needs plenty of customer service experience as well as technical know-how. These kinds of skills aren't usually taught in classrooms, which is probably why most senior field technicians don't have a bachelor's degree. Instead, they gain practical experience by working as field technicians before earning a more senior role.

What general advice would you give to a senior field technician?

Dr. Alison Graettinger

Associate Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Missouri - Kansas City

Some common challenges for field based positions is the amount of travel involved or working in extreme weather conditions.

ScoreSenior Field TechnicianUS Average

Salary

4.0

Avg. Salary $51,329

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.4

Growth rate 9%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.99%

Asian 10.53%

Black or African American 9.36%

Hispanic or Latino 16.58%

Unknown 5.74%

White 56.80%

Gender

female 7.53%

male 92.47%

Age - 35

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 - 35

Stress level

6.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.2

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.8

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a senior field technician

Explore senior field technician education requirements

Most common senior field technician degrees

Associate

37.5 %

Bachelor's

35.7 %

High School Diploma

13.9 %

Start to develop specific senior field technician skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Satisfaction	11.48%
Customer Service	9.97%
Asphalt	9.74%
Video Conferencing	4.93%
Construction Materials	4.89%

Complete relevant senior field technician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior field 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 senior field technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior field technician resumes.

Research senior field technician duties and responsibilities

Manage a new PC assembly team, build, upgrade, and install new PCs for users.
Accomplish expert with Nortel TDM/CDMA/EVDO wireless telephony networking systems.
Install workstations, consoles, printers, racks, sequencers, processors, fiber optics & KVM switches.
Configure and support VPN connections.

Get senior field technician experience

Generally, it takes 1-2 years to become a senior field technician. The most common roles before becoming a senior field technician include field technician, field service technician team lead and technician.

Prepare your senior field technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior field 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 senior field 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 senior field technician resume templates

Build a professional senior field 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 senior field technician resume.

Apply for senior field technician jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a senior field technician job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do senior field technicians rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Senior field technician reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2024

Pros

The work is exciting and it is extremely rewarding to know that you are having such a big impact on the environment. You truly believe you are saving the world.

Cons

The work wears you down physically and mentally. After working on so many spills that are clearly the fault carelessness and disregard for fault of a careless person or organization. Leaves little hope for the future of our planet.

A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2019