How To Become A Steersman: What It Is and Career Path

What is a steersman and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a steersman. For example, did you know that they make an average of $25.01 an hour? That's $52,020 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 1% and produce 500 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreSteersmanUS Average

Salary

4.1

Avg. Salary $52,020

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.1

Growth rate 1%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.72%

Asian 3.95%

Black or African American 12.71%

Hispanic or Latino 9.97%

Unknown 9.45%

White 62.20%

Gender

female 4.35%

male 95.65%

Age - 31

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 - 31

Stress level

8.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.7

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

1.9

Work life balance is very poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a steersman

Explore steersman education requirements

Most common steersman degrees

High School Diploma

50.0 %

Bachelor's

43.8 %

Master's

6.3 %

Start to develop specific steersman skills

Skills	Percentages
Maintenance Tasks	100.00%

Complete relevant steersman training and internships

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

Research steersman duties and responsibilities

Conduct daily JSA's, occasionally lead weekly fire and boat drills.
Plan and coordinate training sessions on firefighting and lifesaving equipment.
Serve with responsibility for protecting the environment by ensuring the safe transfer of petrochemicals to vessel, dock, or barge.

Prepare your steersman resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable steersman resume templates

Build a professional steersman 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 steersman resume.