OverviewSalaryAboutEducationWhere are the jobsEmploymentGenderRace/Origin
Overview
Operate, install, adjust, and maintain integrated computer/communications systems, consoles, simulators, and other data acquisition, test, and measurement instruments and equipment, which are used to launch, track, position, and evaluate air and space vehicles. May record and interpret test data.
Explore Pathways
Titles for this career often contain these words
Fewer details
Responsibilities and activities
Aerospace engineering and operations technicians typically do the following:
- Meet with aerospace engineers to discuss details and implications of test procedures
- Build and maintain test facilities for aircraft systems
- Make and install parts and systems to be tested in test equipment
- Operate and calibrate computer systems so that they comply with test and manufacturing requirements
- Ensure that test procedures are performed smoothly and safely
- Record data from test parts and assemblies
- Install instruments in aircraft and spacecraft
- Monitor and ensure quality in producing systems that go into the aircraft
New aircraft designs undergo years of testing before they are put into service, because the failure of key parts during flight can be fatal. As part of the job, technicians often calibrate test equipment, such as wind tunnels, and determine the causes of equipment malfunctions. They also may program and run computer simulations that test the new designs.
Some aerospace engineering and operations technicians are beginning to specialize in three-dimensional printing, or additive manufacturing, as this technology becomes more common in the work they do.
Salary
Median salary: $68,570 annually
Half of those employed in this career earn between $53,790 and $84,580.
Context: Median Salary
How do salaries for this career compare to other jobs' salaries?
Fewer details
Salary growth for engineering technologists and technicians
Is this job likely to reward you for sticking with it through pay raises and promotions? The higher a job’s “experience quotient,” the more you are likely to get as you stay there.
Experience quotient percentile
Take a minute to look at how much you might expect your salary to increase with each five years' experience, as well as how the numbers working at each age change. Does this seem to be a job for the young or the old, or could it be a career offering steady salary growth for many years?
Salary distribution
Number employed
About Aerospace Engineering and Operations Technologists and Technicians
How do benefits for this career compare to other jobs? The availability of health care, especially employer provided health care, and pension plans can add significantly to the value of compensation you receive in a career. These charts compare how this career compares to other careers with regard to health care and pension plans.
Employee has health insurance
Employer is providing health insurance
Employer-provided pension plan is available
Worker concerns
Some jobs are more stressful than others, and some are just plain dangerous. The following list gives the percentages of aerospace engineering and operations technologists and technicians who report hazardous or difficult situations typically occurring at least once a week.
- Time Pressure (95%)
- Hazardous Conditions (74%)
- Consequence of Error (66%)
- High Conflict Frequency (43%)
- Responsible for Others' Health (41%)
- Hazardous Equipment (39%)
- Exposed to Contaminants (36%)
Fewer details
Personality and skills
Can you see yourself in the ranks of Aerospace Engineering and Operations Technologists and Technicians? Here are the skills and traits that could lead to success.
Communication skills
Aerospace engineering and operations technicians receive instructions from aerospace engineers. Therefore, they must be able to understand and follow those instructions, as well as communicate any problems to their supervisors.
Critical-thinking skills
Aerospace engineering and operations technicians must be able to help aerospace engineers troubleshoot particular design issues. They must be able to help evaluate system capabilities, identify problems, formulate the right question, and then find the right answer.
Detail oriented
Aerospace engineering and operations technicians make and keep precise measurements needed by aerospace engineers. In addition, they keep accurate records of these measurements.
Interpersonal skills
Aerospace engineering and operations technicians must be able to take instructions and offer advice. The ability to work well with supervising engineers, other technicians, and mechanics is essential because technicians interact with people from other divisions, businesses, and governments.
Math skills
Aerospace engineering and operations technicians use the principles of mathematics for measurement, analysis, design, and troubleshooting tasks in their work.
Mechanical skills
Aerospace engineering and operations technicians must be able to assist aerospace engineers by building what the engineers design. Mechanical skills are needed to help with the processes and directions required to move from design to production.
Injury and Illness
About 22 aerospace engineering and operations technologists and technicians become injured or ill for every 10,000 workers, making this job more dangerous than 54% of other careers. The most common specific concerns detailed following.
Sprains, strains, tears
Education pathways to this career
Education attained by aerospace engineering and operations technologists and technicians
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), aerospace engineering and operations technologists and technicians typically hold a associate's degree.
Sometimes the typical education identified by the BLS differs a bit from the reality of the how much education current workers actually have. The donut shows the education level held by people currently working as engineering technologists and technicians as reported in responses to the American Community Survey.
Details: Education and training recommended for aerospace engineering and operations technologists and technicians
High school students interested in becoming aerospace engineering and operations technicians should take classes in math, science, and, if available, drafting and computer skills. Courses that help students develop skills collaboratively with machines also are valuable, because these technicians build what aerospace engineers design. In addition, technicians should have a basic understanding of computers and software in order to model or simulate products.
Aerospace engineering and operations technicians typically need to earn an associate’s degree or a certificate from a community college or vocational–technical school. Community colleges offer programs similar to those in technical institutes but include more theory-based and liberal arts coursework and programs. Community colleges typically award an associate’s degree, but some offer a certificate. Vocational–technical schools include postsecondary institutions that emphasize training needed by local employers. Students who complete these programs typically receive a diploma or certificate, but some vocational–technical schools offer an associate’s degree as well.
Some vocational schools and community colleges offer cooperative programs with work experience built into the curriculum.
Details: Licensing and certification recommended for aerospace engineering and operations technologists and technicians
Although not required for the job, certification is offered by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Certification may be beneficial because it shows employers that a technician can carry out the theoretical designs of aerospace engineers.
Private companies and the FAA both seek to ensure the highest standards for the safety of aircraft. SpaceTEC, the National Science Foundation’s Center for Aerospace Technical Education, coordinates a nationwide program through community and technical colleges to help students prepare for certification.
Education level of Engineering Technologists and Technicians
Only 20% of engineering technologists and technicians have a bachelor's degree or higher.
Education attained by engineering technologists and technicians
None
High School
Some College
Associate's Degree
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Professional Degree
Doctorate
Fewer details
Programs recommended by the Department of Education
The Department of Education recommends the following college degree programs as preparation for this career. You can click a program row to learn more about the program and explore a list of schools that offer the program.
Program
Where are the jobs
State-by-state employment numbers
Some careers tend to be centered in specific parts of the country. For example, most jobs in fashion are in New York or California. Let's see if your dream job is easy to find in your dream location! We have a few choices for viewing the data that can help you get a full employment picture.
Select a state to see local area details
Number of Engineering Technologists and Technicians per 1,000 workers (ACS)
Fewer details
Job density versus job count
Which states hire the most aerospace engineering and operations technologists and technicians? We wonder if that's a fair question since states come in all sizes, so instead let's start with the question of which states have the highest density of people working as aerospace engineering and operations technologists and technicians. You can choose to view the number of jobs per state if you prefer.
Salaries by state
Let's get a feel for where aerospace engineering and operations technologists and technicians earn the highest salaries. There are several choices for which data we consider and how we view that data, and each can lead to different conclusions, so please read on...
Median salary versus state ratio
We use two methods to compare salaries across states:
- In-state comparisons: the ratio of median (middle) salaries for engineering technologists and technicians compared to the median salary for all people working in each state, or
- Median salary: the unaltered median salaries for engineering technologists and technicians.
The darkest shading corresponds to states in which engineering technologists and technicians earn the highest salary when compared to other jobs in the state. We think this figure might be a better indicator than the actual salary for your buying power as a state resident.
Select a state to see local area details
Location-adjusted median salary for Engineering Technologists and Technicians (ACS for all specialties)
Employment
8% of Engineering technologists and technicians are working part time.
We’ve found that some jobs have a huge number of part-time workers, and typically that is because they are unable to find full-time work or the job itself can’t provide full-time hours. With 8% part-time workers, this occupation has a lower percentage of part-time workers than 64% of careers.
Employer types
This donut shares the break-down of workers by employer type, giving us a picture of what employers most typically hire for this career.
Employers of undefined (ACS)
Private for-profit
Private not-for-profit
Local government
State government
Federal government
Self-employed incorporated
Self-employed not incorporated
Working without pay
Fewer details
Distribution: Salaries of engineering technologists and technicians by type of employer
Here are the salary distributions based on employer type.
Gender
Engineering technologists and technicians and gender
With 19% women, this occupation has a lower percentage of women than 67% of careers.
Gender of Engineering technologists and technicians
Men (81%)
Women (19%)
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary in this career? The closer the bars are, the less discrepancy there is.
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
Fewer details
Context: Women in the workforce
How does this career compare to other careers with regard to the percentage of women in the career.
Context: Salary inequity
The median (middle) salary for all full-time male workers
in the US exceeds the full-time median salary for women
by 19%, and the difference
for engineering technologists and technicians tops that, with the median salary for
men 26% higher than the median
salary for women.
Race/Origin
Race and origin of Engineering technologists and technicians
This donut shows the distribution of race and origin among those employed as Engineering technologists and technicians.
Race/origin of engineering technologists and technicians
White (75% )
Black (9% )
Asian (8% )
Other (3% )
Multiracial (3% )
Hispanic (1% )
American Indian (1% )
Pacific Islander (0% )
Distribution: salaries by race/origin
Some careers might have a pay disparity based on race or origin, the closer the below bars are the less of a discrepancy is present.
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
