Mechanical Engineering Technologists and Technicians
Apply theory and principles of mechanical engineering to modify, develop, test, or adjust machinery and equipment under direction of engineering staff or physical scientists.
Most important skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Speaking
- Complex Problem Solving
- Writing
- Operations Monitoring
- Judgment and Decision Making
Key knowledge
- Engineering and Technology
- Mechanical
- Design
- Mathematics
- English Language
- Computers and Electronics
- Production and Processing
- Physics
What the work involves
- Analyze or estimate production costs, such as labor, equipment, and plant space.
- Devise, fabricate, or assemble new or modified mechanical components for products such as industrial machinery or equipment, and measuring instruments.
- Discuss changes in design, method of manufacture and assembly, or drafting techniques and procedures with staff and coordinate corrections.
- Monitor, inspect, or test mechanical equipment.
- Draft detail drawing or sketch for drafting room completion or to request parts fabrication by machine, sheet or wood shops.
- Review project instructions and blueprints to ascertain test specifications, procedures, and objectives, and test nature of technical problems such as redesign.
- Review project instructions and specifications to identify, modify and plan requirements fabrication, assembly and testing.
- Set up and conduct tests of complete units and components under operational conditions to investigate proposals for improving equipment performance.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Investigative, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree (36.5% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 4 years, up to and including 6 years (33.9%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (34.6%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 3: Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Mechanical Engineering Technologists and Technicians 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 | High | Higher on contact with others than 64% of occupations compared | 64% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Low | Lower on dealing with the public than 61% of occupations compared | 32% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important” |
| Teamwork | Low | Lower on teamwork than 70% of occupations compared | 38% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Moderate | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 59% of occupations compared | 43% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | High | Higher on time pressure than 68% of occupations compared | 42% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Moderate | Lower on conflict situations than 54% of occupations compared | 44% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Moderate | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 50% of occupations compared | 47% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Very high | Higher on consequence of error than 85% of occupations compared | 41% of surveyed respondents chose “Very serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: high
- Conflict situations: moderate
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: moderate
- Consequence of error: very high
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: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 7.12%
- Contact with others most of the time: 29.38%
- Constant contact with others: 63.5%
n = 33, Incumbent 08/2022
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 15.97%
- Fairly important: 22.87%
- Important: 10.86%
- Very important: 32.25%
- Extremely important: 18.05%
n = 34, Incumbent 08/2022
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 9.29%
- Important: 16.31%
- Very important: 37.53%
- Extremely important: 36.86%
n = 34, Incumbent 08/2022
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 4.98%
- Limited freedom: 18.71%
- Some freedom: 43.3%
- A lot of freedom: 33.01%
n = 34, Incumbent 08/2022
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 8.41%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 17.15%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 32.06%
- Every day: 42.39%
n = 34, Incumbent 08/2022
Conflict situations
- Never: 7.18%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 30.63%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 44.46%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 13.07%
- Every day: 4.66%
n = 34, Incumbent 08/2022
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 7.18%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 47.19%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 15.09%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 23.77%
- Every day: 6.77%
n = 34, Incumbent 08/2022
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 2.22%
- Fairly serious: 17.29%
- Serious: 6.5%
- Very serious: 41.36%
- Extremely serious: 32.63%
n = 34, Incumbent 08/2022
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O*NET-SOC 17-3027.00 · SOC 17-3027 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8