How to Hire Veterans as Industrial Maintenance Technicians

It's 2 a.m. and line 3 is down. Your one maintenance tech on nights is a good mechanic, but the fault is electrical. So the line waits for day shift, and you lose a shift of output.

That's the hire a lot of plant managers want. It's one person who can fix a gearbox and a motor starter. The same person can then fix a leaking cylinder and a stuck sensor that night.

The military trains a lot of people to do exactly that. They keep pumps, motors, generators, and power panels running on ships, bases, and in the field. But their resumes say things like "Electrician's Mate" or "91D." So if you only look for "industrial maintenance technician," you may miss them.

This guide is for the person who has to fill that req. You'll get the military jobs that feed it and how to read the resume. You'll also get a hands-on test, pay from the latest BLS numbers, and which credentials can wait.

The focus here is the hourly, multi-craft tech on your plant floor. For the people who run a building, see our guide to hiring veterans for facilities maintenance management. For trucks and vans, see fleet maintenance management. And for the whole plant, start with hiring veterans for manufacturing roles.

What does a multi-craft maintenance tech do in your plant?

Before you look at a single resume, write down the crafts the job really needs. Many plants want a mix. The tech fixes things that move, things that carry power, and things that push fluid. They also keep the planned work on schedule so the breakdowns come less often.

An hourly industrial maintenance role usually covers these five areas:

• Mechanical: Bearings, belts, chains, gearboxes, pumps, and alignment.
• Electrical: Motors, starters, drives, control panels, and 480-volt power. Some plants also want 120-volt control work.
• Fluid power: Hydraulic and air systems, valves, cylinders, and hoses.
• Controls: Reading a PLC program on a laptop to find which input or output stopped working.
• Planned work: Running preventive maintenance (PM) tasks on schedule. They log each one in your CMMS, the software that tracks work orders.

Note the line on controls. This tech troubleshoots with a PLC. They don't write the program. Need someone to build and change the code? That's a controls tech. Our guide to hiring veterans for industrial automation and robotics covers that hire.

Now rank the crafts for your plant. A bottling line may lean mechanical. A plant full of drives and conveyors may lean electrical. That ranking tells you which military jobs to look for first and which test station matters most.

Which military jobs feed an industrial maintenance technician role?

Several military jobs do plant-style work every day. The titles just don't say "maintenance tech." Group them by the craft they bring, then match that to the ranking you just made.

A few of these deserve a closer look. A Navy Machinery Repairman works in a ship's machine shop. They make and fix parts on lathes, mills, and CNC machines. That suits a plant that rebuilds its own parts. A Navy Electrician's Mate keeps a ship's motors, generators, controllers, and switchboards running. That's close to your electrical side.

On the Army side, a 91D Tactical Power Generation Specialist works on generators. That job mixes engine, electrical, and controls work. A Coast Guard Machinery Technician works on engines, hydraulics, heating and air systems, and basic electrical.

Search for these titles and codes too, like "Electrician's Mate" or "91D." Many veteran resumes use them. You can post your openings and search veteran candidates on BMR with the same words.

This list isn't complete. Every branch has more jobs that fix equipment for a living. The Air Force has electrical and utilities jobs, for one. Is a title new to you? Our guide on how to read a military job title on a resume shows how to decode it.

How do you read a maintenance veteran's resume?

The bullets tell you if they can do your job. Read each bullet for four things.

• The gear: Did they name what they worked on? Look for motors, pumps, generators, switchboards, compressors, or hydraulic units.
• The size: Look for voltage, horsepower, kilowatts, or how many units they kept running. Size tells you how hard the work was.
• The routine: Look for planned maintenance, checks on a set schedule, and work they logged. That's the habit you want for your PM program.
• The safety step: Look for tag-out or lockout work. The military uses its own tag-out programs, and the habit carries over.

Try it on one bullet. The example below is made up, but its shape is common on Navy resumes.

"EM2" tells you two things. "EM" is the job, Electrician's Mate. The "2" is the pay grade, petty officer second class (E-5). PMS is the Navy's planned maintenance system. For a full decode of those terms, see our guide to recognizing maintenance and reliability experience.

Two more things to watch. First, many veterans write humbly. "Assisted with" may mean they did the work while a senior person signed it off. Ask about it. Second, a thin resume isn't proof of thin skill. Some people just never learned to write one. That's why the next step matters more than the paper.

What should you test in the interview?

A talk-only interview tells you if someone can talk about maintenance. A short bench test shows you if they can do it. A spare motor, a meter, a print, and a laptop with your PLC software will do.

Run the same stations for every candidate, veteran or not. Score each one on a sheet before the next person comes in. Our guide to work sample tests for veteran candidates covers how to keep it fair.

Each station takes 10 to 15 minutes. Weight the scores by the craft ranking you made at the start. If your plant leans electrical, stations 2 and 4 count most.

Questions that pair with the test

Ask about real breakdowns. These questions work well:

• "Tell me about the last thing you fixed that broke without warning. What did you check first?"
• "Walk me through how your old shop did lockout or tag-out. Who signed off?"
• "What's the biggest motor or generator you've worked on? What did you do to it?"
• "Tell me about a fix that didn't work the first time. What did you do next?"

Listen for a clear order of steps. Good techs check the simple things first and can explain why. Write the questions into a scorecard so every interviewer asks the same ones. Then score the answers the same way for every candidate.

What should you pay a veteran maintenance tech?

Pay the market rate for the crafts the person passed on your test. Military service doesn't change the going rate, in either direction.

Start with the federal numbers. The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook uses the May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) release. In that release, the median pay for industrial machinery mechanics was $64,520 a year. For machinery maintenance workers, it was $60,850.

A few more numbers from the same BLS page help you set a range:

• Whole group: The median for mechanics, maintenance workers, and millwrights together was $64,100, or $30.82 an hour.
• Low and high ends: The bottom 10 percent earned less than $45,760. The top 10 percent earned more than $94,530.
• In manufacturing: The median in that industry was $65,220.
• Outlook: BLS projects 14 percent job growth from 2025 to 2035, with about 51,900 openings a year.

Those are national numbers. Your area may pay more or less, so check the state data on the same BLS page.

Then set the offer by what the person proved. A tech who passed the electrical and PLC stations belongs near the top of your band. A strong mechanic who struggled with the meter may start lower and move up as they learn.

Also count the extras. BLS notes that these techs may be on call or work nights and weekends, and overtime is common. Shift pay and overtime can decide who takes your offer.

Which certifications matter, and which can wait?

BLS says these workers typically need a high school diploma and on-the-job training. Its guide to the job lists no license. So a missing certificate shouldn't cost you someone who passed your test.

The common ones sort out like this:

• Lockout/tagout: OSHA's rule at 29 CFR 1910.147 says you must train each authorized employee. That training covers your own energy control program. Military tag-out habits help, but they don't replace your training.
• OSHA 10 and 30: Nice to have. But OSHA says none of its Outreach Training Program courses is a certification.
• Electrical license: Rules vary by state and by the work. Check your state before you post the job.
• CMRT: The Certified Maintenance and Reliability Technician exam from SMRP covers four areas, including troubleshooting. Its eligibility list asks for an application and fees, not years on the job.

Paying for one exam is cheap next to a line that sits down for a shift. It also tells your new hire you plan to keep them.

How can an apprenticeship close the gaps?

Many veterans won't pass all five stations on day one. A Navy electrician may need help with hydraulics. A machinist may need help with the meter. A structured training plan fixes that faster than "shadow Mike for a month."

A Registered Apprenticeship gives you that structure. You set the skills, the hours, and the pay steps.

BLS describes millwright programs this way. Each year has at least 144 hours of class time. It also has up to 2,000 hours of paid on-the-job training. The Department of Labor's apprenticeship site for employers lists the steps. Our guide on how to set up a registered apprenticeship to hire veterans walks through it.

There's a perk for your veteran hires too. Say your program is approved for VA benefits. A veteran who qualifies for the GI Bill may then get help with living costs while they train.

The VA's page on job training and apprenticeships lists who can use it. Your state approves the program for VA benefits. Our guide on getting GI Bill approval for an apprenticeship covers the steps.

That benefit can help you close the pay gap during training. Some veterans may turn down an apprentice wage. They may say yes when the GI Bill helps with the bills. Don't promise it, though. Their benefit depends on their own record, and VA decides it.

Plan the path past the first job too. A strong tech who led a crew in the service may be your next maintenance lead. Some move on to run a shift. Our guide to hiring veterans for production supervisor roles covers that step. Later, a few run the plant. See our guide to hiring veterans for plant manager roles.

What to Do Next

Start with one good hire. These steps get you there.

1. Rank the crafts: Write down what your plant needs most, from mechanical to controls.
2. Fix the posting: Name the gear and the crafts, like "motors, drives, hydraulics, PLC troubleshooting." That gives a veteran something to match.
3. Build the bench: Set up the five stations and one score sheet before the first interview.
4. Set the band: Use the BLS numbers and your area's data. Then place each hire by what they passed.
5. Plan the gaps: Pick the training or apprenticeship path for the crafts they're missing.

Then go find the people. 77,901 resumes have been built on Best Military Resume. Over 1,000 new profiles are added every month. Search BMR's veteran talent pool and start with your hardest shift to fill.