Cutters and Trimmers, Hand
Use hand tools or hand-held power tools to cut and trim a variety of manufactured items, such as carpet, fabric, stone, glass, or rubber.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Time Management
- Reading Comprehension
- Monitoring
- Social Perceptiveness
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Critical Thinking
Key knowledge
- Production and Processing
- Mathematics
- English Language
- Public Safety and Security
- Computers and Electronics
- Administration and Management
- Education and Training
- Psychology
What the work involves
- Mark or discard items with defects such as spots, stains, scars, snags, chips, scratches, or unacceptable shapes or finishes.
- Trim excess material or cut threads off finished products, such as cutting loose ends of plastic off a manufactured toy for a smoother finish.
- Cut, shape, and trim materials, such as textiles, food, glass, stone, and metal, using knives, scissors, and other hand tools, portable power tools, or bench-mounted tools.
- Separate materials or products according to size, weight, type, condition, color, or shade.
- Mark identification numbers, trademarks, grades, marketing data, sizes, or model numbers on products.
- Read work orders to determine dimensions, cutting locations, and quantities to cut.
- Mark cutting lines around patterns or templates, or follow layout points, using squares, rules, and straightedges, and chalk, pencils, or scribes.
- Unroll, lay out, attach, or mount materials or items on cutting tables or machines.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Artistic.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Less than a High School Diploma (72.8% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (32.4%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (49.8%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Cutters and Trimmers, Hand is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very low | Lower on contact with others than 97% of occupations compared | 56% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very low | Lower on dealing with the public than 99% of occupations compared | 95% of surveyed respondents chose “Not important at all” |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 91% of occupations compared | — |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 95% of occupations compared | 38% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Moderate | Lower on time pressure than 59% of occupations compared | — |
| Conflict situations | Very low | Lower on conflict situations than 99% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 99% of occupations compared | 80% of surveyed respondents chose “Never” |
| Consequence of error | Very low | Lower on consequence of error than 88% of occupations compared | — |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: moderate
- Conflict situations: very low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very low
- Consequence of error: very low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 34.84%
- Occasional contact with others: 4.11%
- Contact with others about half the time: 4.74%
- Contact with others most of the time: 0%
- Constant contact with others: 56.31%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2019
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 95.35%
- Fairly important: 0.72%
- Important: 0%
- Very important: 0%
- Extremely important: 3.93%
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2019
Teamwork
- Not important at all: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Fairly important: 0.52%
- Important: 21.54%
- Very important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Extremely important: 22.12%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2019
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 16.85%
- Very little freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Limited freedom: 1.09%
- Some freedom: 37.61%
- A lot of freedom: 18.91%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2019
Time pressure
- Never: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a week or more but not every day: 20.2%
- Every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2019
Conflict situations
- Never: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a year or more but not every month: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a month or more but not every week: 0%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 0.54%
- Every day: 1.01%
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2019
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 79.6%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 18.2%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 1.15%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 0.51%
- Every day: 0.54%
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2019
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Fairly serious: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Serious: 1.09%
- Very serious: 3.94%
- Extremely serious: 19.22%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2019
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O*NET-SOC 51-9031.00 · SOC 51-9031 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8