Engineering maintenance technician

You could do a foundation degree or higher national diploma in engineering before applying for a job as a trainee technician.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

• 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English, maths and science
• 1 or 2 A levels, or equivalent, for a foundation degree or higher national diploma

More Information

• equivalent entry requirements
• student finance for fees and living costs
• university courses and entry requirements

You can take a college course, which would teach you some of the skills needed in the job. Relevant courses include:

• Level 2 Certificate in Mechanical Engineering
• Level 2 Certificate in Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technology
• Level 3 Diploma in Equipment Maintenance Engineering
• Level 3 Diploma in Engineering

Entry requirements

You may need:

• 2 or more GCSEs at grades 9 to 3 (A* to D), or equivalent, for a level 2 course
• 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, for a level 3 course

More Information

• equivalent entry requirements
• funding advice
• search for courses

You could do an engineering technician advanced apprenticeship, which could be used to work in different industries.

You could also do an intermediate or advanced engineering apprenticeship for your particular industry, for example aviation, compressed air and vacuum manufacturing or rail.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

• 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
• some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship

More Information

• equivalent entry requirements
• guide to apprenticeships

You could start as an engineering craftworker and become a technician through on-the-job training.

Further information

You can get more advice about engineering careers through Tomorrow's Engineers and The Institution of Engineering and Technology.

You'll need:

• the ability to use, repair and maintain machines and tools
• the ability to work well with your hands
• to be thorough and pay attention to detail
• problem-solving skills
• the ability to work well with others
• physical skills like movement, coordination and dexterity
• patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
• the ability to work on your own
• to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently

On a typical day you could:

• organise routine servicing schedules
• allocate work to a team of fitters
• check and calibrate instruments to make sure they're accurate
• fit new parts as required, or as part of a regular replacement rota
• carry out quality inspections on jobs
• respond immediately to equipment breakdowns
• fix faults on site or arrange for replacement equipment to be installed
• keep production managers informed of progress
• organise teams or individuals to make sure that 24-hour cover is available
• complete documentation like job and fault finding reports, stock control records and risk assessments

You could work in a factory, on a construction site or at a manufacturing plant.

Your working environment may be noisy and outdoors some of the time.

You may need to wear safety clothing and use safety equipment.