Engineering Maintenance Technician
What is the work like?
Engineering maintenance technicians are responsible for making sure machinery and equipment runs smoothly in all areas of manufacturing, production and transportation. This could range from fixing machinery and equipment on a food canning production line to testing aircraft parts and components in a hangar.
As a maintenance technician, your work would fall into one of two areas – preventative (planned) maintenance and emergency maintenance.
Your preventative maintenance duties would involve:- organising routine servicing schedules
- allocating work to a team of fitters
- checking and calibrating instruments to make sure they are accurate
- fitting new parts as required, or as part of a regular replacement rota
- carrying out quality inspections on jobs.
- responding immediately to equipment breakdowns
- fixing faults on site or arranging for replacement machinery or equipment to be installed
- keeping production managers informed of progress
- organising teams or individuals to make sure that 24-hour cover is available.
You would follow manufacturer's technical manuals to help locate faults, and use a range of testing instruments and tools, including welding equipment, to deal with problems.
What qualifications and experience will employers look for?
You may be able to start on an Apprenticeship scheme with an engineering, manufacturing or transport operating company. The range of Apprenticeships available in your area will depend on the local jobs market and the types of skills employers need from their workers. For more information on Apprenticeships, visit www.apprenticeships.org.uk.
To be eligible for an apprenticeship scheme, you may need four or five GCSEs (A-C) in subjects such as maths, science, English, and design and technology. Some employers may look for one or two A levels in maths and science or equivalent qualifications.
You could take alternative college qualifications, which would give you some of the skills needed in this job, including:
- BTEC Certificate and Diploma in Operations and Maintenance Engineering (contains options in mechanical, electrical, electronic and manufacturing engineering)
- City & Guilds Certificate in Engineering (2800).
Your local college should be able to give you more information about these courses. There are more details on relevant courses in the jobs listed in the related profiles section below.
You could also take higher-level qualifications, such as a foundation degree, BTEC HNC/HND or degree in engineering, to get into this career. The Institution of Engineering and Technology website has details of UK colleges offering higher-level courses.
See SEMTA and Women into Science, Engineering and Construction for information about engineering as a career. The Engineering Training Council (Northern Ireland) also has careers and course information for local colleges in that area.
What further training and development can I do?
You can take a wide range of work-based NVQ qualifications but the exact ones you take would depend on the type of work you do. Some NVQ examples include:
- Engineering Maintenance and Installation Level 2
- Process Engineering Maintenance levels 2 and 3
- Engineering Maintenance Level 3
- Maintaining Plant and Systems (Instrument and Control, Mechanical and Electrical) Level 3.
You can find more specific qualifications for particular fields in the profiles for Mechanical, Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technician.
As an experienced maintenance technician, you could register with the Engineering Council to gain EngTech status for professional development purposes.
Where can I go for more information?
2nd FloorWeston House
246 High Holborn
London
WC1B 7EX
Tel: 020 3206 0408
20-24 York Street
Belfast
BT15 1AQ
Tel: 028 9032 9878
Watford
Hertfordshire
WD18 0JT
Tel: 0800 282167
London
WC2R 0BL
Tel: 020 7240 1871
If you would like to discuss your career options with a learning adviser at Careers Advice, call 0800 100 900 or use our online enquiry form
Related profiles...
Electrical Engineering Technician
Electronics Engineering Technician
Manufacturing Systems Engineer
What salary and other benefits can I expect?
- Salaries start between £18,500 and £21,500 for qualified technicians.
- Experienced technicians can earn between £22,000 and £30,000 a year.
- Senior technicians can earn between £30,000 and £35,000.
Figures are intended as a guideline only.
What are the hours and working conditions?
You would normally work 37 to 40 hours week, often including shifts and emergency call-out duties.
You could be indoors in a factory or production plant, or outdoors servicing equipment on a building site. You would wear protective safety clothing for most jobs.
What skills and knowledge will I need?
- good practical and technical skills
- ability in maths, science and IT
- communication skills
- an understanding of engineering drawings and principles
- the ability to work quickly and under pressure
- the ability to manage a varied workload
- good problem-solving skills
- teamworking skills
- an awareness of health and safety legislation.
What opportunities are there?
Your main opportunities would be with engineering, production and manufacturing companies. At the moment, professional industry bodies are reporting a demand for qualified technicians all over the country.
You may also have the chance to work abroad for multinational companies, particularly in EU countries, the USA, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
If you take further training up to degree level, you could qualify as an engineer in your particular field, for example mechanical or electrical engineering.
Along with engineering opportunities, you may be able to move into related areas, such as technical sales, maintenance team management and contract management.
You may find the following links useful for job vacancies and general reading: (links open in new window)
SCENTA
JustEngineers.net
The Engineer Online
Engineering Jobs Network
Jobcentre Plus
We do not accept responsibility for the content of external sites.
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