Heavy Equipment Careers – Look At What Employers Are Wanting

When considering any career change, it’s important to look at the bigger picture, and this includes employers. If you’re looking to enter the field of heavy equipment operations, one key element is job vacancy – what, exactly, is an employer looking for? It may sound very simplistic, and it is in terms of social skills – for example, reliability. However, you need to look a little closer.

If you look back over the job vacancies that have been posted on these pages each Saturday, and on our jobs website, there is one characteristic that should stand out – employers are looking for heavy equipment operators. They are not looking for bulldozer operators or road grader operators – they are asking for multi-skilled operators. Sometimes they will list the range of equipment that an operator could be required to operate, however, it stills boils down to a requirement for a multi-skilled operator.

That doesn’t mean you cannot specialize in one piece of heavy equipment. It does mean that opportunities may be limited if you do specialize. Sometimes, the key to specialization relies in the old-fashioned ‘foot in door’ theory. Get a job with an employer who is looking for multi-skilled heavy equipment operators, then work your way into becoming their main bulldozer operator, or grader operator (or whichever equipment you want to specialize in).

Like all careers, undertaking training that meets the needs of employers is the first step to success. Being willing to meet those needs in the short term will help to further your career. Once you have the experience and reputation, you can then start to dictate the direction of your career. Your first step is to find a heavy equipment operator training program that exposes you to a wide range of heavy equipment. The wider the range, the better your chances of a successful career.