High school diploma or equivalent

None

Industrial machinery mechanics and machinery maintenance workers maintain and repair factory equipment and other industrial machinery, such as conveying systems, production machinery, and packaging equipment. Millwrights install, dismantle, repair, reassemble, and move machinery in factories, power plants, and construction sites.

High school diploma or equivalent

None

Heavy vehicle and mobile equipment service technicians, also called mechanics, inspect, maintain, and repair vehicles and machinery used in construction, farming, rail transportation, and other industries.

High school diploma or equivalent

Less than 5 years

Earth Drillers operate a variety of drills such as rotary, churn, and pneumatic to tap subsurface water and salt deposits, to remove core samples during mineral exploration or soil testing, and to facilitate the use of explosives in mining or construction.

High school diploma or equivalent

None

Industrial machinery mechanics and machinery maintenance workers maintain and repair factory equipment and other industrial machinery, such as conveying systems, production machinery, and packaging equipment. Millwrights install, dismantle, repair, reassemble, and move machinery in factories, power plants, and construction sites.

High school diploma or equivalent

None

Brickmasons and Blockmasons (or, simply, masons) use bricks and concrete blocks to build fences, walkways, walls, and other structures.

High school diploma or equivalent

None

Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers use hand-held or remotely controlled equipment to join or cut metal parts. They also fill holes, indentations, or seams in metal products.

High school diploma or equivalent

None

Heavy vehicle and mobile equipment service technicians, also called mechanics, inspect, maintain, and repair vehicles and machinery used in construction, farming, rail transportation, and other industries.

High school diploma or equivalent

None

Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers operate or control petroleum refining or processing units. They may specialize in controlling manifold and pumping systems, gauging or testing oil in storage tanks, or regulating the flow of oil into pipelines.

No formal educational credential

None

Continuous Mining Machine Operators use self-propelled mining machines that rip coal, metal and nonmetal ores, rock, stone, or sand from the mine face and load it onto conveyors, shuttle cars, or trucks, in a continuous operation.

High school diploma or equivalent

None

Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters install and repair piping fixtures and systems.

High school diploma or equivalent

None

Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators control stationary engines, boilers, or other mechanical equipment to provide utilities for buildings or for industrial purposes.

High school diploma or equivalent

Less than 5 years

Electric Motor, Power Tool, and Related Repairers fix, maintain, or install electric motors, wiring, or switches.

High school diploma or equivalent

None

Plant and System Operators control, operate, repair, and maintain entire processes or system of machines. This category includes all plant and system operators not contained somewhere else.

High school diploma or equivalent

None

Semiconductor Processing Technicians perform any or all of the following functions in the manufacture of electronic semiconductors: load semiconductor material into furnace; saw formed ingots into segments; load individual segment into crystal growing chamber and monitor controls; locate crystal axis in ingot using x-ray equipment and saw ingots into wafers; and clean, polish, and load wafers into series of special purpose furnaces, chemical baths, and equipment used to form circuitry and change conductive properties.

High school diploma or equivalent

None

Control and valve installers and repairers install, repair, and maintain mechanical regulating and controlling devices, such as electric meters, gas regulators, thermostats, safety and flow valves, and other mechanical governors.

High school diploma or equivalent

None

Chemical Plant and System Operators control or operate entire chemical processes or system of machines.

High school diploma or equivalent

None

Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators manage a system of machines, often through the use of control boards, to transfer or treat water or wastewater.

High school diploma or equivalent

None

Boilermakers assemble, install, maintain, and repair boilers, closed vats, and other large vessels or containers that hold liquids and gases.

High school diploma or equivalent

None

Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders operate or tend equipment to control chemical changes or reactions in the processing of industrial or consumer products. The equipment that they use can include devulcanizers, steam-jacketed kettles, and reactor vessels.

High school diploma or equivalent

None

Gas Plant Operators distribute or process gas for utility companies and others by controlling compressors to maintain specified pressures on main pipelines.

No formal educational credential

None

Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders operate or tend food or tobacco roasting, baking, or drying equipment, including hearth ovens, kiln driers, roasters, char kilns, and vacuum drying equipment.

High school diploma or equivalent

None

Coil Winders, Tapers, and Finishers wind wire coils used in electrical components, such as resistors and transformers, and in electrical equipment and instruments like field cores, bobbins, electrical motors, generators, and control equipment.

High school diploma or equivalent

None

Power Plant Operators, Distributors, and Dispatchers control the systems that generate and distribute electric power.

High school diploma or equivalent

None

Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems assemblers fit, fasten, and install parts of airplanes, space vehicles, or missiles.

High school diploma or equivalent

None

Metal and Plastic Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders set up, operate, or tend forging machines to taper, shape, or form metal or plastic parts.