What Are the School Requirements for a Maintenance Technician?
If you enjoy working with your hands, have high mechanical aptitude and like doing different things, then employment as a maintenance technician might just be in your future. Categorized under the general heading of maintenance and repair workers, jobs in these positions are expected to grow 11 percent until 2018. Maintenance technicians work in a variety of locations, including factories, commercial buildings, hospitals and more.
Other People Are Reading
-
Education
-
Maintenance technicians most often learn on the job, with a high school education or a GED being minimum school requirements. Having basic math skills and the ability to write and communicate effectively are helpful. Specialized technicians, such as in aircraft maintenance or heating and air-conditioning technicians, require additional training and certification, sometimes lasting up to two years, according to Education-Portal.com. It's pretty crucial for the maintenance technician to have mechanical aptitude as so much of the job consists of general mechanical repairs and equipment upkeep. Most learn on the job from experienced and skilled peers.
Job Requirements
-
Employers generally hire fully qualified maintenance technicians who have at least a year or more experience. Large retail shopping centers, commercial and office buildings, hospitals and industrial facilities usually have many maintenance technicians on staff. Because of the nature of the work, the majority of people in this field work at opposite times to those who work in these facilities during the day. This allows the safe completion of repairs at a time when daily business operations are not affected.
-
Type of Work
-
Maintenance technicians perform a variety of important functions. They paint, fix leaky faucets and other plumbing issues, repair lights, replace tile, work on heating and air-conditioning systems, repair leaky roofs, fix doors and perform standard maintenance on important machinery, such as in factories where production occurs around the clock.
Computer Skills
-
Many of the newer facilities rely on computers and programs to run equipment, requiring the maintenance technician to have an understanding and ability to work with computers. In an industrial setting, maintenance workers become skilled in repairing electrical and electronic components, often monitored or managed by advanced computer systems. This requires the maintenance technician to navigate through complicated computer programs and menus. Some industrial facilities offer trainee positions leading the technician to qualified status.
Salary
-
Most maintenance technicians receive hourly pay, and overtime when working past 40 hours in a week. In May of 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics listed median hourly wages of $16.21, with the middle 50 percent earning $12.44 to $21.09 an hour.
-
References
- Photo Credit Michael Blann/Lifesize/Getty Images
