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

What is a shovel 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 shovel operator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.33 an hour? That's $38,135 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 32,600 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreShovel OperatorUS Average

Salary

3.0

Avg. Salary $38,135

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.6

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.27%

Asian 2.55%

Black or African American 9.24%

Hispanic or Latino 16.02%

Unknown 3.67%

White 67.25%

Gender

female 3.96%

male 96.04%

Age - 42

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 - 42

Stress level

6.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.5

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.6

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a shovel operator

Explore shovel operator education requirements

Most common shovel operator degrees

High School Diploma

52.0 %

Associate

16.0 %

Diploma

16.0 %

Start to develop specific shovel operator skills

Skills	Percentages
Shovels	48.65%
Loaders	27.48%
Load Trucks	9.89%
Water Truck	7.22%
Hitachi	6.76%

Complete relevant shovel operator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New shovel 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 shovel operator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real shovel operator resumes.

Research shovel operator duties and responsibilities

Programme CNC machine for component placement and trigonometry assessment of circuitry board.
Attend CPR classes and obtain certification

Prepare your shovel operator resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your shovel 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 shovel 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 shovel operator resume templates

Build a professional shovel 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 shovel operator resume.