From the Bureau of Labor Statistics...
Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing
A high school diploma or equivalent is required, and some vocational training in electronics or mechanics also is favored. Classes teaching computer skills and blueprint reading are common. Some firms reimburse employees for educational expenses at colleges and universities, emphasizing 4-year degrees and postgraduate studies.
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Chemical Manufacturing, Except Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing
Despite recent reductions in the workforce, the chemical industry offers career opportunities for persons with varying levels of experience and education. Training and advancement differ for the three major categories of occupations.
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Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing
Workers with different levels of education find employment opportunities in the computer and electronic product manufacturing industry.
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Food Manufacturing
Some food manufacturing workers need specialized training and education. Inspectors and quality control workers, for example, are trained in food safety and usually need a certificate to be employed in a food manufacturing plant. Often, USDA-appointed plant inspectors possess a bachelor's degree in agricultural or food science. Formal educational requirements for managers in food manufacturing plants range from 2-year degrees to master's degrees. Graduates of 2-year associate degree or other postsecondary programs often are sought for science technician and related positions.
Machinery Manufacturing
Skilled production workers, such as tool and die makers and machinists, are usually hired on the basis of previous experience or after completion of a training program at a local college.
Motor Vehicle and Parts Manufacturing
Motor vehicle manufacturers provide formal training opportunities to all workers, regardless of educational background.
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Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing
Training requirements for jobs in the pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing industry range from a few hours of on-the-job training to years of formal education plus job experience.
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Printing
Workers enter the printing industry with various educational backgrounds. Formal graphic communications programs, offered by community and junior colleges and some 4-year colleges, provide good preparation for entering the industry. Two-year programs provide technical skills, while bachelor's degree programs in graphic arts prepare persons who want to obtain advanced skills or who want to enter management.
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Steel Manufacturing
Many jobs in steel manufacturing require only a high school diploma. However, machinery continues to become more complex, and growing numbers of operating and maintenance positions are highly skilled, so employers increasingly prefer to hire graduates from formal postsecondary technical and trade schools. Two-year degrees in mechanical or electrical technology or 2- to 4-year apprenticeships are recommended for persons seeking to advance into the best production jobs.
Sample Occupations
Brewer
What you'll be doing all day: While the end product may be a party waiting to happen, being a brewer is a lot harder than just popping open a cold one. Be ready to precisely add in all kinds of ingredients-from hops and barley to malt and even honey or fruit. Then be ready to monitor your brew for hours on end. The temperature has to be just right, or the beer's no good.
Mixing, bottling and yes, even cleaning the tanks are part of your daily routine, too. And because you're manufacturing a food product, you have to know all kinds of food processing regulations and standards.
What someone with a little experience makes (roughly): $30,300
What type of education you'll need: Associate's Degree, Bachelor's Degree
To learn more about this and other jobs in advanced manufacturing, visit our partner site, DreamIt-DoIt.
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Robotics Technician
What you'll be doing all day: You're thinking Star Wars-type human androids that walk and talk and shoot laser rifles. Well... don't. Think Mars rover. Think remote-controlled bulldozer to cap oil well fires. Think giant robotic arm that spray paints sports cars. That's what we're talking about and what you get to make.
You'll mostly be using computers to design each robot. But you'll also spend weeks and months assembling the robot, and then even more time testing it to make sure that it works like you want it to-whether that be from across the room or across the galaxy.
What someone with a little experience makes (roughly): $43,000
What type of education you'll need: Associate's Degree
To learn more about this and other jobs in advanced manufacturing, visit our partner site, DreamIt-DoIt.
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Nuclear Equipment Operation Technician
What you'll be doing all day: This sounds like a job from Star Trek, but it's not. You'll actually be able to tell people you control particle beams, measure readings from inside reactor cores, move around radioactive fuel rods, and help run the atomic accelerators. You won't have a dull moment here, that's for sure.
Since you'll be working around radiation, safety is key, so keeping yourself and co-workers safe is an all-the-time duty. And of course you'll learn to monitor the area's gamma readings, keep other personnel at the appropriate distance, and follow all safety procedures.
What someone with a little experience makes (roughly): $60,000
What type of education you'll need: Associate's Degree
To learn more about this and other jobs in advanced manufacturing, visit our partner site, DreamIt-DoIt.
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(Source: Manufacturing Institute)
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