Skidder Operator Overview
Working as a Skidder Operator
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a skidder operator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $16.99 an hour? That's $35,338 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 32,600 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Skidder Operator Do
There are certain skills that many skidder operators have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed mechanical skills, visual ability and communication skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a skidder operator, we found that a lot of resumes listed 34.9% of skidder operators included cutdown timber, while 26.0% of resumes included heavy equipment, and 8.9% of resumes included heavy machinery. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the skidder operator job title. But what industry to start with? Most skidder operators actually find jobs in the manufacturing and technology industries.
How To Become a Skidder Operator
If you're interested in becoming a skidder operator, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 3.6% of skidder operators have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 1.8% of skidder operators have master's degrees. Even though some skidder operators have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a skidder operator. When we researched the most common majors for a skidder operator, we found that they most commonly earn high school diploma degrees or diploma degrees. Other degrees that we often see on skidder operator resumes include associate degree degrees or bachelor's degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a skidder operator. In fact, many skidder operator jobs require experience in a role such as mechanic. Meanwhile, many skidder operators also have previous career experience in roles such as heavy equipment operator or equipment operator.
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Skidder Operator Jobs
Skidder Operator Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a skidder operator can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as equipment operator, progress to a title such as driver and then eventually end up with the title superintendent.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Entry Level Jobs For Becoming A Skidder Operator
Top Skills For a Skidder Operator
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 34.9% of skidder operators listed cutdown timber on their resume, but soft skills such as mechanical skills and visual ability are important as well.
- Heavy Equipment, 43.9%
- Transport Logs, 14.3%
- Job Sites, 7.6%
- General Maintenance, 6.8%
- Air Filters, 5.8%
- Other Skills, 21.6% See All Skidder Operator Skills