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What They Do
About This Career
Repairs, adjusts, or installs all types of electric or gas household appliances, such as refrigerators, washers, dryers, and ovens.
This career is part of the Manufacturing cluster Maintenance, Installation and Repair pathway.
A person in this career:
- Bills customers for repair work, and collects payment.
- Observes and examines appliances during operation to detect specific malfunctions such as loose parts or leaking fluid.
- Talks to customers or refers to work orders to establish the nature of appliance malfunctions.
- Refers to schematic drawings, product manuals, and troubleshooting guides to diagnose and repair problems.
- Traces electrical circuits, following diagrams, and conducts tests with circuit testers and other equipment to locate shorts and grounds.
- Replaces worn and defective parts such as switches, bearings, transmissions, belts, gears, circuit boards, or defective wiring.
- Provides repair cost estimates, and recommends whether appliance repair or replacement is a better choice.
- Disassembles appliances so that problems can be diagnosed and repairs can be made.
- Responds to emergency calls for problems such as gas leaks.
- Services and repairs domestic electrical or gas appliances, such as clothes washers, refrigerators, stoves, and dryers.
Working Conditions and Physical Demands
People who do this job report that:
- You would often handle loads up to 20 lbs., sometimes up to 50 lbs. You might do a lot of lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling.
- Exposure to pollutants, gases, dust, fumes, odors, poor ventilation, etc.
- Requires getting into awkward positions
- Conditions are very hot (above 90 F) or very cold (under 32 F)
- Work in this occupation involves using your hands to hold, control, and feel objects more than one-third of the time
- Work in this occupation requires being inside most of the time
Working in this career involves (physical activities):
- Identifying color and seeing differences in color, including shades and brightness
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching
- Seeing clearly up close
- Identifying and understanding the speech of another person
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying objects
- Using abdominal and lower back muscles repeatedly or over time without tiring
Work Hours and Travel
- Irregular hours
- Weekend work
Specialty and Similar Careers
Careers that are more detailed or close to this career:
- Appliance Service Technician
- Repair Technician
- Vacuum Repairer
- Appliance Repair Technician (Appliance Repair Tech)
- Appliance Technician (Appliance Tech)
- Service Technician (Service Tech)
- Appliance Repair Mechanic
- Appliance Mechanic
- Repair Man
Every year the U.S. Department of Labor conducts national surveys of wage data by occupation in every state and in all industry divisions. These surveys are conducted through the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program.
The statistics collected for one year are published the next fall. For example, 2013 wage information was published in the fall of 2014.
There are over 800 occupations in the surveys, and these occupations cover the entire U.S. labor market. The surveys ask for reports in a scale of ranges for both hourly wages and annual wages.
In many cases, these occupations are broad enough to cover many more detailed specialties of an occupation. A specific occupation may be included in a broader occupational category for which labor market data is available. When you look at the statistics for a broad category, be aware that the salary data for a specific career may differ.
For more details about how wage information is collected and calculated by the U.S. Department of Labor, visit their website at http://www.bls.gov/bls/blswage.htm.
Every year the U.S. Department of Labor conducts a national survey of over 400,000
employers in every state and in all industry divisions. This survey is conducted
through the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program. Every other year the
department publishes outlook information based on these surveys.
Each outlook period covers 10 years. For example, in 2003 the outlook information
was published for 2004-2014. Employers are asked to report the number of employees
in about 770 different occupations that cover the entire U.S. labor market.
From this information, staffing patterns for different industries are established.
Industry growth is projected into the future based on past trends and current economic
conditions. Industry staffing patterns are then applied to the industry projections
to obtain occupational projections.
In many cases, these occupations are broad enough to cover many more detailed specialties
of an occupation. A specific occupation may be included in a broader occupational
category for which labor market data is available. When you look at the statistics
for a broad category, be aware that the employment data for a specific field may
differ.
For more details about how employment information is collected and calculated by
the U.S. Department of Labor, visit their website at http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.
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