How To Become A Shearing Machine Operator: What It Is and Career Path

What is a shearing machine operator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a shearing machine operator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $14.81 an hour? That's $30,810 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -5% and produce -45,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreShearing Machine OperatorUS Average

Salary

2.4

Avg. Salary $30,810

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.5

Growth rate -5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.78%

Asian 1.68%

Black or African American 7.93%

Hispanic or Latino 13.41%

Unknown 4.36%

White 71.84%

Gender

female 1.23%

male 98.77%

Age - 48

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 - 48

Stress level

6.5

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.0

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.5

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a shearing machine operator

Explore shearing machine operator education requirements

Most common shearing machine operator degrees

High School Diploma

46.4 %

Bachelor's

21.4 %

Associate

14.3 %

Start to develop specific shearing machine operator skills

Skills	Percentages
Shear Machine	24.05%
Brake Press	18.40%
Calipers	16.31%
CNC	15.42%
Trim Knives	9.65%

Complete relevant shearing machine operator training and internships

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

Research shearing machine operator duties and responsibilities

Change equipment over to new product.
Use hand or power tools and use precision measuring tools and equipment.
Load or unload material or work piece into machinery; maintain or repair industrial or relate.
Set up operations and measurement of material and machinery

Prepare your shearing machine operator resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable shearing machine operator resume templates

Build a professional shearing machine operator 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 shearing machine operator resume.