Have you finalized and thought about starting a career in construction as a heavy equipment operator? Do you love operating heavy machinery? Do you love to work in a team and follow orders and are prepared to accept physical challenges? Heavy equipment industry is an industry that looks out for people who possess hands-on skills, like you.

Heavy equipment operators operate equipment used in the construction and maintenance of bridges, roads, airports, tunnels, pipelines, buildings and other structural work. Construction companies, public works and heavy equipment contractors recruit equipment operators.

Work is like:

Heavy equipment operators are very important to construction, surface mining, and other industrial activities. In this profile the operators control large, costly equipment. The operators have to be very confident and good coordination because the work requires small movements of the controls that are then turned into large powerful machine movements.

The operators are supposed to watch the maintenance of the machine carefully. Heavy equipment jobs hold a lot of responsibility, as the manager has to head a team of workers who rely on him to handle precise and safe jobs. Operators get job satisfaction from constant learning.

Duties:

. Maneuver equipments like bulldozers, backhoes, loaders and graders, excavate, load and grade rock, material and gravel during construction.

. Operate bulldozers and heavy equipments to clear stumps, brush prior logging activities and build roads at logging and surface mining sites.

. Operate equipment to force piling into earth, to offer support for buildings, bridges and other structures.

. Maneuver heavy dredging equipment used to deepen waterways or retrieve earth fill.

. Control heavy surfacing and paving equipment, compact and spread concrete asphalt and other surface materials during road and highway construction.

. Maneuver equipment to load, move and unload heavy cargo.

. Carry out pre operational checks on equipment and examine, clean, refill and lubricate and stock up equipment.

Work conditions:

Heavy equipment operators generally work for 40 hours and five days a week and many careers in the construction field operate during peak hours as well as require overtime. Additional working hours depend on the sector and region.

Heavy equipment operators work outdoors, with other operators and in strenuous environment. This career holds safety as the top priority and they are trained to work safely and take extra precautionary care.

Job prospects:

A heavy equipment operator's job prospects are anticipated to increase in the coming years. This is all due to a severe shortage of good training programs and scarcity of trained workers. People usually don't opt for jobs in a place where they have to work in uncomfortable working environments.

A heavy equipment operator's job growth is due to economic augmentation that demands more schools, businesses, homes, etc. Supplementary workers will be required to construct roads, highways and bridges. The scope of the job profile of a equipment operator is expected cover most job openings, as economic growth have bought in new infrastructural growth, which requires constant maintenance. There would be constant requirement for equipment operators to maintain and patch up roads. Many cities are growing and installing mass transportation systems. This expansion would need workers to fill in new jobs.