How To Become A Collator Operator: What It Is and Career Path

What is a collator operator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a collator operator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $17.44 an hour? That's $36,279 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -8% and produce -286,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreCollator OperatorUS Average

Salary

2.8

Avg. Salary $36,279

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

7.8

Growth Rate -8%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.16%

Asian 9.56%

Black or African American 12.84%

Hispanic or Latino 26.01%

Unknown 4.14%

White 46.30%

Gender

female 25.82%

male 74.18%

Age - 45

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 45

Stress Level

7.8

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

7.5

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.1

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a collator operator

Explore collator operator education requirements

Most common collator operator degrees

High School Diploma

54.3 %

Bachelor's

15.5 %

Associate

12.9 %

Start to develop specific collator operator skills

Skills	Percentages
Collating	35.05%
Safety Inspections	23.45%
Quality Checks	12.38%
Production Process	8.20%
Safety Procedures	3.77%

Complete relevant collator operator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New collator operators learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a collator operator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real collator operator resumes.

Research collator operator duties and responsibilities

Manage the master calendar and schedule resources such as communication equipment, weapons, transportation and ammunition forecast and delivery.
Monitor combat missions through satellite and computer global positioning systems in order to prepare accurate reports for unit commanders.
Perform repair and preventive maintenance on machinery including cleaning, oiling and adjusting.

Prepare your collator operator resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your collator operator resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a collator operator resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Collator Operator Resume templates

Build a professional Collator Operator resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Collator Operator resume.

Apply for collator operator jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a collator operator job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do collator operators rate their job?