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Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas

Also called: Blast Hole Driller, Drill Operator, Driller, Well Driller

What they do:

Operate a variety of drills such as rotary, churn, and pneumatic to tap subsurface water and salt deposits, to remove core samples during mineral exploration or soil testing, and to facilitate the use of explosives in mining or construction. Includes horizontal and earth boring machine operators.

On the job, you would:
  • Operate controls to stabilize machines and to position and align drills.
  • Start, stop, and control drilling speed of machines and insertion of casings into holes.
  • Regulate air pressure, rotary speed, and downward pressure, according to the type of rock or concrete being drilled.
On the job, you'll need:

Engineering and Technology

  • mechanical
  • design

Business

  • management

Safety and Government

  • public safety and security

Transportation

  • movement of people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road

Basic Skills

  • thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem
  • keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements

Problem Solving

  • noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

Hand and Finger Use

  • keep your arm or hand steady
  • hold or move items with your hands

Controlled Movement

  • quickly change the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat
  • use your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down

Verbal

  • listen and understand what people say
  • communicate by speaking

Visual Understanding

  • quickly compare groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things

Realistic

People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions.

  • Attention to Detail
  • Dependability
  • Adaptability/Flexibility
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Initiative
  • Independence

Spreadsheet software

  • Microsoft Excel

Mobile location based services software

  • Global positioning system GPS software

Office suite software

  • Microsoft Office software

Video courtesy of CareerOneStop.

Job Outlook

The job outlook for this position is Average.

New job opportunities are likely in the future.

Median Annual Salary: $51,740

Education

High school diploma/GED or no high school diploma/GED is usually needed.

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