If you have ever been involved in the construction business or have had construction work done, you know that there are many people involved in the project. It involves the contractor or the construction company and various engineers who need to sign off on your plan, inspectors who need to check the construction, and even the area representative gets involved at times. One of the inspectors that need to check the project is the Utility Inspector.
Utility inspectors assess sewer pipes, electric turbines, and other equipment related to utilities. They examine each component and ensure that they are working properly. They also check whether the specifications in the approved plan were followed in the actually constructed facility. They also ensure that the safety and the local regulations were considered and ultimately followed during the construction of the utility equipment.
Utility inspectors also recommend ways to fix problems and faulty equipment. If you are meticulous and detail-oriented, this would be a good role for you. You need to be strict but approachable at the same time.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a utility inspector. For example, did you know that they make an average of $20.73 an hour? That's $43,121 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 7% and produce 7,700 job opportunities across the U.S.
There are certain skills that many utility inspectors 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 craft experience, mechanical knowledge and communication skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a utility inspector, we found that a lot of resumes listed 17.0% of utility inspectors included pipeline construction, while 10.9% of resumes included backfill, and 7.5% of resumes included safety meetings. 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 utility inspector job title. But what industry to start with? Most utility inspectors actually find jobs in the energy and utilities industries.
If you're interested in becoming a utility inspector, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 15.6% of utility inspectors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 2.9% of utility inspectors have master's degrees. Even though some utility inspectors 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 utility inspector. When we researched the most common majors for a utility inspector, we found that they most commonly earn high school diploma degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on utility inspector resumes include bachelor's degree degrees or diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a utility inspector. In fact, many utility inspector jobs require experience in a role such as inspector. Meanwhile, many utility inspectors also have previous career experience in roles such as foreman or weld inspector.