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

What is a set up technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

A set-up technician is an individual who assembles and maintains equipment and machines used in a variety of industries, from manufacturing to engineering. They perform maintenance tasks, troubleshooting, provide staff training, and ensure that equipment is up and running efficiently. A set-up technician also works with engineering teams to implement and adjust the equipment if needed and is responsible for ensuring that all equipment and machinery meet operating safety standards.

An advanced degree is not necessarily a requirement to obtain a position as a set-up technician. However, many of these individuals have training or a certificate in their field of operation. These individuals should possess strong engineering, analytical, and troubleshooting skills and should be comfortable working out in the field at multiple locations.

A set-up technician can make up to $37,000 a year, and the career is expected to grow 10% by 2028.

ScoreSet Up TechnicianUS Average

Salary

2.9

Avg. Salary $36,486

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.7

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.41%

Asian 8.87%

Black or African American 10.82%

Hispanic or Latino 15.26%

Unknown 5.10%

White 59.54%

Gender

female 9.92%

male 90.08%

Age - 41

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 - 41

Stress level

6.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.4

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.4

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a set up technician

Explore set up technician education requirements

Most common set up technician degrees

High School Diploma

38.8 %

Associate

27.0 %

Bachelor's

18.1 %

Start to develop specific set up technician skills

Skills	Percentages
Hand Tools	7.51%
CNC	5.74%
Safety Procedures	5.11%
Quality Standards	4.99%
Preventative Maintenance	4.79%

Complete relevant set up technician training and internships

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

Gain additional set up technician certifications

Set up technician certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific set up technician certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for set up technicians include Forklift Safety and Inspector and National Certification in Plastics (NCP).

More About Certifications

Research set up technician duties and responsibilities

Manage daily scheduling of production workload to be setup and run on machinery.
Follow OSHA, ISO, and FDA requirement and standards
Core team member in SPC and QSI introductions.
Set up machine and facilities for UV screen coating.

Prepare your set up technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your set up 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 set up 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 set up technician resume templates

Build a professional set up 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 set up technician resume.

Apply for set up technician jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a set up 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 set up technicians rate their job?

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Set up technician reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2019

Pros

I like the daily challenges most as a molding technician. Between setting molds in machines, setting up automation and processing. This is truely a terrific career path without a need for college papers. I started off as a plastics material handler, then a setup/Process technician and am now a second shift supervisor.