| Important Core Job Duties (in order of importance) For the Top 5 most important - How can you build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. |
|
| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 95 (%) | Description: Organize materials to prepare for use. |
| Importance: 86 (%) | Description: Observe and monitor equipment operation during the extraction process to detect any problems. |
| Importance: 83 (%) | Description: Clean up work areas and remove debris after extraction activities are complete. |
| Importance: 79 (%) | Description: Unload materials, devices, and machine parts, using hand tools. |
| Importance: 78 (%) | Description: Load materials into well holes or into equipment, using hand tools. |
| Importance: 77 (%) | Description: Drive moving equipment to transport materials and parts to excavation sites. |
| Importance: 71 (%) | Description: Set up and adjust equipment used to excavate geological materials. |
| Importance: 70 (%) | Description: Repair and maintain automotive and drilling equipment, using hand tools. |
| Importance: 68 (%) | Description: Clean and prepare sites for excavation or boring. |
Associate Degree Careers and Jobs
Explore Careers and Jobs Predominantly Filled by Those with an Associate's Degree or Less - All On One Page.
Sorted by median annual U.S. salary and including percentage of job holders with Associate's Degree or less.
An associate's degree can open doors to skilled technical, healthcare, and business support roles without the time commitment of a four-year degree. For people who want a faster, more affordable path into a stable career. Compare careers ranked by salary, review degree-holder and experience percentages, and access preparation resources for each role.
Here is a short Helper Video 
.
This page will take you through 4 steps, relative to an Associate's Degree, to (1) Select a career, (2) Find active job listings, (3) Prepare for the career you chose, and (4) Provide web resources specific to the career you chose.
Step 1: Select a Career: You will be presented with a listing of Associate's Degree careers. The list may be quite long. There are two ways you might like to use this list:
1) Filter - As you enter a word, you will filter (limit) the list of careers below
2) Browse the list (Don't Filter) - You can simply browse the list of careers. There may be many that you might never have considered. This may help you to discover careers that might be of interest.
Once you have identified a career of interest, simply click on it.
Step 2: Find a Job: After you have selected a career/job title above, you will see a form asking for your location. You will see several radio selection choices to utilize the job search site of your choice.
Step 3: Prepare For a Career: In this section you will gain access to detailed information to help you prepare for the career you selected. Information includes core and supplemental duties, general and specific work activities, knowledge required, essential and transferable skills required, day-in-the-life summaries, knowledge required, software skills required, preparation required, educational requirements, training and work experience required, local salary information, certifications, professional associations, current job listings for the job selected along with multiple similar job titles, and related careers (related to what they do, what they know, and what they're called).
Step 4: Career-Specific Resources (detailed and constantly updated): Continue to scroll down the page and you will find tabs that will provide detailed (updated) links to occupational information specific to the career you selected. This information includes:
Videos: Provides a listing of video links related to this career. A great way to get a quick overview of the occupation.
Resumes: Sources for resume materials and techniques. This can help to get you started.
Job Description: Sources that provide job descriptions, which are vital to resume and interview preparation.
Interviews: Provides links that can help you to prepare for and successfully complete the job interview.
Step by Step: Provides links to resources that can help to organize the career search process.
LinkedIn: One of the best professional social media sites that provides links, opportunities, and networking specifically for careers and career development.
Step 1 of 4: Select a Career
Leading Books About Associate Degree Jobs
What jobs can you get with an Associate's Degree? Scroll through the picklist (below). These are careers related to the Associate's Degree level, with at least 30% of job holders having an Associate's Degree. - 571 specific careers are listed, with matching jobs currently available. Select those careers that may be of interest - you will then get links to matching active job listings, and detailed resources to help you prepare.
You can use this form two ways:
1) Enter a Keyword - As you enter a keyword, you will filter (limit) the listing to those careers that contain the keyword entered
2) Browse the list (Don't enter a keyword) - You can simply browse the list of careers. There may be many that you might never have considered. This may help you to discover jobs that might be of interest.
OR - leave blank and scroll through the choices:
Select a Job Title - Sorted by Annual Salary -(scroll and Select) :
Legend: Career Title Link / (% having Associate's Degree or less) / (Median Annual U.S. Salary)
Step 2 of 4: Find a Job
Job Listings for: Helpers--Extraction Workers.
Step 3 of 4: Prepare For a Career
Prepare for the "Helpers--Extraction Workers" Career
The details below will provide a pathway to your specific job goal and help you to identify an appropriate career ladder.
Helpers--Extraction Workers
Description: Help extraction craft workers, such as earth drillers, blasters and explosives workers, derrick operators, and mining machine operators, by performing duties requiring less skill. Duties include supplying equipment or cleaning work area.
Please click on a section below to expand and see detailed occupational information related to "Helpers--Extraction Workers":
U.S. Total Employment (2023):
12,600U.S. Total Employment (2033 est.):
15,500
Employment Change (2023-2033 est.):
2,900 (23%) Average Annual Job Openings (2023-2033 est.):
1,900
Core Duties
Supplemental Duties
| Important Supplemental Job Duties (in order of importance)
For the Top 5 most important - How can you build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. |
|
| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 62 (%) | Description: Provide assistance to extraction craft workers, such as earth drillers and derrick operators. |
| Importance: 53 (%) | Description: Signal workers to start geological material extraction or boring. |
| Importance: 51 (%) | Description: Dig trenches. |
| Importance: 50 (%) | Description: Dismantle extracting and boring equipment used for excavation, using hand tools. |
| Importance: 49 (%) | Description: Collect and examine geological matter, using hand tools and testing devices. |
Work Activities
| Important General Work Activities (in order of importance)
For the Top 5 most important - How can you build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. |
|
| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 95 (%) | Description: Handling and Moving Objects: Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things. |
| Importance: 95 (%) | Description: Controlling Machines and Processes: Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles). |
| Importance: 94 (%) | Description: Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment: Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or watercraft. |
| Importance: 91 (%) | Description: Repairing and Maintaining Mechanical Equipment: Servicing, repairing, adjusting, and testing machines, devices, moving parts, and equipment that operate primarily on the basis of mechanical (not electronic) principles. |
| Importance: 89 (%) | Description: Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates: Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person. |
| Importance: 88 (%) | Description: Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials: Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects. |
| Importance: 87 (%) | Description: Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards: Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards. |
| Importance: 87 (%) | Description: Performing General Physical Activities: Performing general physical activities includes doing activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials. |
| Importance: 85 (%) | Description: Making Decisions and Solving Problems: Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems. |
| Importance: 84 (%) | Description: Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings: Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems. |
| Importance: 82 (%) | Description: Getting Information: Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources. |
| Importance: 80 (%) | Description: Monitoring and Controlling Resources: Monitoring and controlling resources and overseeing the spending of money. |
| Importance: 79 (%) | Description: Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others: Translating or explaining what information means and how it can be used. |
| Importance: 79 (%) | Description: Developing Objectives and Strategies: Establishing long-range objectives and specifying the strategies and actions to achieve them. |
| Importance: 78 (%) | Description: Coaching and Developing Others: Identifying the developmental needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or otherwise helping others to improve their knowledge or skills. |
| Importance: 78 (%) | Description: Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information: Estimating sizes, distances, and quantities; or determining time, costs, resources, or materials needed to perform a work activity. |
| Importance: 77 (%) | Description: Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events: Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events. |
| Importance: 77 (%) | Description: Processing Information: Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data. |
| Importance: 77 (%) | Description: Assisting and Caring for Others: Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients. |
| Importance: 75 (%) | Description: Documenting/Recording Information: Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form. |
| Importance: 74 (%) | Description: Analyzing Data or Information: Identifying the underlying principles, reasons, or facts of information by breaking down information or data into separate parts. |
| Importance: 73 (%) | Description: Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work: Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work. |
| Importance: 73 (%) | Description: Developing and Building Teams: Encouraging and building mutual trust, respect, and cooperation among team members. |
| Importance: 72 (%) | Description: Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others: Getting members of a group to work together to accomplish tasks. |
| Importance: 71 (%) | Description: Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge: Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job. |
| Importance: 70 (%) | Description: Judging the Qualities of Objects, Services, or People: Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people. |
| Importance: 69 (%) | Description: Guiding, Directing, and Motivating Subordinates: Providing guidance and direction to subordinates, including setting performance standards and monitoring performance. |
| Importance: 69 (%) | Description: Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others: Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others. |
| Importance: 69 (%) | Description: Training and Teaching Others: Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others. |
| Importance: 69 (%) | Description: Thinking Creatively: Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions. |
| Importance: 69 (%) | Description: Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships: Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time. |
| Importance: 68 (%) | Description: Repairing and Maintaining Electronic Equipment: Servicing, repairing, calibrating, regulating, fine-tuning, or testing machines, devices, and equipment that operate primarily on the basis of electrical or electronic (not mechanical) principles. |
| Importance: 68 (%) | Description: Scheduling Work and Activities: Scheduling events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others. |
| Importance: 65 (%) | Description: Communicating with People Outside the Organization: Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail. |
| Importance: 64 (%) | Description: Providing Consultation and Advice to Others: Providing guidance and expert advice to management or other groups on technical, systems-, or process-related topics. |
| Importance: 63 (%) | Description: Drafting, Laying Out, and Specifying Technical Devices, Parts, and Equipment: Providing documentation, detailed instructions, drawings, or specifications to tell others about how devices, parts, equipment, or structures are to be fabricated, constructed, assembled, modified, maintained, or used. |
Specific Work Activities
| Important Specific Work Activities
How can you begin to build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. Specific Work Activities appear below: |
|
| Assist skilled construction or extraction personnel. | |
| Clean work sites. | |
| Collect geological samples. | |
| Dig holes or trenches. | |
| Dismantle equipment or temporary structures. | |
| Drive trucks or truck-mounted equipment. | |
| Load materials into construction equipment. | |
| Load or unload materials used in construction or extraction. | |
| Maintain drilling equipment. | |
| Monitor extraction operations. | |
| Operate mining equipment. | |
| Prepare excavation or extraction sites for commissioning or decommissioning. | |
| Select construction materials. | |
| Signal equipment operators to indicate proper equipment positioning. | |
Knowledge Required
| Knowledge Required (in order of importance)
For the Top 5 most important - How can you build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. |
|
| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 79 (%) | Description: Mechanical: Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance. |
| Importance: 69 (%) | Description: English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar. |
| Importance: 65 (%) | Description: Transportation: Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits. |
| Importance: 59 (%) | Description: Mathematics: Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications. |
Essential Skills
| Essential Skills (in order of importance)
These are the foundational skills most central to success in this occupation. For the Top 5 most important, how can you begin building experience and confidence using these skills now? |
|
| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 62 (%) | Description: Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action. |
| Importance: 52 (%) | Description: Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems. |
Transferable Skills
| Transferable Skills (in order of importance)
These are skills that can transfer across occupations and industries. For the Top 5 most important, how can you strengthen these skills now so they support both this career and future career flexibility? |
|
| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 60 (%) | Description: Operations Monitoring: Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly. |
| Importance: 58 (%) | Description: Operation and Control: Controlling operations of equipment or systems. |
| Importance: 58 (%) | Description: Equipment Maintenance: Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed. |
| Importance: 56 (%) | Description: Troubleshooting: Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it. |
| Importance: 56 (%) | Description: Repairing: Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools. |
| Importance: 52 (%) | Description: Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions. |
| Importance: 52 (%) | Description: Equipment Selection: Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job. |
| Importance: 52 (%) | Description: Quality Control Analysis: Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance. |
Day-in-the-Life Summaries
| Day-in-the-Life Summaries These summaries show the main types of activities you are likely to perform on a regular basis in this occupation. How can you imagine your typical workday — using these examples to see if this type of work fits you? |
| Activity: Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas. |
| Activity: Collect environmental or biological samples. |
| Activity: Disassemble equipment. |
| Activity: Load products, materials, or equipment for transportation or further processing. |
| Activity: Maintain tools or equipment. |
| Activity: Monitor operations to ensure adequate performance. |
| Activity: Operate construction or excavation equipment. |
| Activity: Operate transportation equipment or vehicles. |
| Activity: Perform general construction or extraction activities. |
| Activity: Prepare industrial materials for processing or use. |
| Activity: Select materials or equipment for operations or projects. |
| Activity: Signal others to coordinate work activities. |
Software Skills
|
Software Skills These are examples of software tools commonly used in this occupation, organized from most to least important for your career preparation. How can you start learning or practicing the highest-priority tools so that you feel confident using them on the job? |
| Emerging Tech Skills |
| Electronic mail software: |
| Microsoft Outlook |
| Office suite software: |
| Microsoft Office software |
| Spreadsheet software: |
| Microsoft Excel |
| Word processing software: |
| Google Docs Microsoft Word |
Preparation Required
| Preparation Required - How much preparation is needed to obtain this type of job? |
| Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed |
| Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training. |
| Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not. |
| Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training. |
| These occupations involve following instructions and often involve using your knowledge and skills to help others. Examples include dishwashers, landscaping and groundskeeping workers, counter and rental clerks, dental laboratory technicians, and security guards. |
Education Required
| Education Required - by frequency of educational attainment This shows you details about the level of education most commonly held by workers in this occupation. How can you begin planning the educational pathway that will prepare you best for this type of work? |
|
| Frequency of Attainment (%) | Level of Education |
| Frequency of Attainment: 96.6 (%) | Level of Education: High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED) |
| Frequency of Attainment: 1.7 (%) | Level of Education: Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production) |
| Frequency of Attainment: 1.7 (%) | Level of Education: Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) |
Training and Experience Required
| Training and Experience Required - by frequency of training and work experience attainment This section shows you how often different types of training and work experience are required for this occupation. How can you start gaining the kinds of experience and training that are most common for this type of work? |
|
| Frequency of Attainment (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience |
| Frequency of Attainment: 55.5 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: None |
| Frequency of Attainment: 30.4 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 3 months, up to and including 6 months |
| Frequency of Attainment: 8.7 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years |
| Frequency of Attainment: 2.0 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year |
| Frequency of Attainment: 1.7 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Up to and including 1 month |
| Frequency of Attainment: 1.7 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years |
Local Salary Information
Select a State (scroll and Select) :
Please select a State to see State and National Salaries
Job Listings
Related Careers to Consider
Step 4 of 4: Career-Specific Resources (detailed and constantly updated)
This section contains detailed resources appropriate to "Helpers--Extraction Workers". Explore these resources to start learning more. Links are constantly updated, so bookmark this page.
Videos
Here is a listing of videos related to this career. A great way to get a quick overview of the occupation.
Resumes
Here are resources that allow you to see example resumes for this occupation. It may be helpful to see examples from others who have this type of experience.
Job Description
Here are resources that provide job descriptions, which are vital for resume and interview preparation.
Interviews
There are many great resources that can help guide you through the interview process. These links provide help in preparing and performing an effective interview, specific to this occupation.
Step-by-Step
Here are links to help guide you, step-by-step, to become a(n): Helpers--Extraction Workers
LinkedIn®
Here are links to various posts and groups from LinkedIn ® that relate to this occupation. Great way to start building professional contacts in the field that might be most appropriate for you.
Developed by Dr. Ralph Jagodka, Ed.D., Professor Emeritus of Business Management at Mt. San Antonio College and author of the Harvard Business Impact article "What to Do When Students Ask You for Career Advice." - Full bio. © 2026 About This Page
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