| 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: 100 (%) | Description: Repair or adjust track switches, using wrenches and replacement parts. |
| Importance: 99 (%) | Description: Operate track wrenches to tighten or loosen bolts at joints that hold ends of rails together. |
| Importance: 98 (%) | Description: Cut rails to specified lengths, using rail saws. |
| Importance: 98 (%) | Description: Patrol assigned track sections so that damaged or broken track can be located and reported. |
| Importance: 97 (%) | Description: Engage mechanisms that lay tracks or rails to specified gauges. |
| Importance: 96 (%) | Description: Lubricate machines, change oil, or fill hydraulic reservoirs to specified levels. |
| Importance: 95 (%) | Description: Drill holes through rails, tie plates, or fishplates for insertion of bolts or spikes, using power drills. |
| Importance: 92 (%) | Description: Clean tracks or clear ice or snow from tracks or switch boxes. |
| Importance: 92 (%) | Description: Clean, grade, or level ballast on railroad tracks. |
| Importance: 90 (%) | Description: Clean or make minor repairs to machines or equipment. |
| Importance: 90 (%) | Description: Spray ties, fishplates, or joints with oil to protect them from weathering. |
| Importance: 88 (%) | Description: Dress and reshape worn or damaged railroad switch points or frogs, using portable power grinders. |
| Importance: 84 (%) | Description: Grind ends of new or worn rails to attain smooth joints, using portable grinders. |
| Importance: 82 (%) | Description: Operate single- or multiple-head spike pullers to pull old spikes from ties. |
| Importance: 80 (%) | Description: Operate single- or multiple-head spike driving machines to drive spikes into ties and secure rails. |
| Importance: 79 (%) | Description: Raise rails, using hydraulic jacks, to allow for tie removal and replacement. |
| Importance: 76 (%) | Description: Weld sections of track together, such as switch points and frogs. |
| Importance: 73 (%) | Description: Observe leveling indicator arms to verify levelness and alignment of tracks. |
| Importance: 69 (%) | Description: String and attach wire-guidelines machine to rails so that tracks or rails can be aligned or leveled. |
| Importance: 69 (%) | Description: Drive vehicles that automatically move and lay tracks or rails over sections of track to be constructed, repaired, or maintained. |
| Importance: 69 (%) | Description: Push controls to close grasping devices on track or rail sections so that they can be raised or moved. |
Athletics and Team Sports Careers and Jobs
Select, Find and Prepare for Athletics and Team Sports Careers and Jobs - all on one page
For people who want to stay involved in sports professionally, whether on the field or in team operations. Use the tools below to see which athletics and team sports roles fit your background and goals.
Careers here split between coaching/instruction roles and the sports-business side (operations, management, scouting). Use the tools below to explore Athletics and Team Sports-related job titles sorted by growth rate, salary, or required education. You can start with entry points like Assistant Coach, or look ahead to advanced roles such as Head Coach or Sports Operations Manager. Along the way, you will see specific certifications, such as Coaching certification (e.g., NFHS or sport-specific), that can help you move up the career ladder.
Here is a short Helper Video 
This page will take you through 4 steps to (1) Select from Athletics and Team Sports careers/jobs, (2) Find Athletics and Team Sports job listings, (3) Prepare for Athletics and Team Sports careers, and (4) Provide Athletics and Team Sports career-specific resources.
Step 1: Select a Career/Job: This page starts with 4 ways for you to identify and select from listings of Athletics and Team Sports careers/jobs:
A) Fastest Growing Athletics and Team Sports Careers - 2025 to 2035 (est.)
These listings are based on job growth estimates and helps you to identify the fastest growing and evolving Athletics and Team Sports careers. Some careers may not initially seem related to Athletics and Team Sports, so relevant Athletics and Team Sports jobs are listed alongside each listing. This can also help us to identify which careers (bottom of the listing) may have negative growth - perhaps due to automation or planned obsolescence.
B) Median Annual Salary U.S. Athletics and Team Sports Careers
These listings are sorted (descending) by median annual salary in the U.S. This may help us to identify our ideal career. We may not qualify at this time for the desired career, but this listing and the results provided can help us to explore job details, as well as learn how to appropriately prepare for the career.
C) Athletics and Team Sports Career Ladders (Educational Requirements)
These listings will help us to identify Athletics and Team Sports careers sorted by educational requirements (with the most difficult to obtain listed first). This may help us to identify career ladders (as we scroll down the list), and help us to get jobs that we qualify for now.
D) Select From a Listing of 90 Athletics and Team Sports Jobs.
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 job titles
2) Browse the list (Don't Filter) - You can simply explore the list of job titles. There may be many that you might never have considered to be of interest.
Once you have identified a job title 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 chosen career. Information may include (not every career choice includes all of the elements below - updates occur quarterly):
Core Duties: Lists the primary worker-related tasks performed in this occupation
Supplemental Duties: Lists additional tasks that are performed but are secondary to the core duties
Work Activities: Summarizes the broad types of behaviors and actions related to this career
Specific Work Activities: Provides more granular day-to-day activities tied to the work performed
Essential Skills: Provides foundational skills that are core to performing this specific occupation
Transferable Skills: Provides career-portable skills that can be applied across multiple occupations and industries
Day-in-the-Life Summaries: Provides a snapshot of the key activities performed on a typical workday in this career
Knowledge Required: Provides the requirements regarding the acquisition of facts and principles
Software Skills: Lists software tools commonly used in this occupation, organized by category and priority
Preparation Required: Provides a summary of the required experience and education
Education Required: Detailed breakdown of the education required
Training and Experience Required: Detailed breakdown of the training and Training and Experience Required
Local Salary Information: Provides national and local salary ranges
Certifications: Provides appropriate government and private-sector certifications and/or credentials that may be required
Professional Associations: Provides professional associations that are related to the career selected
Job Listings: Provides links to active current job listings for the selected career, along with multiple similar job titles to explore. All information appears on this page without navigating away.
Related Careers to Consider: Lists up to 20 careers that might be of interest to you (related to your initial choice - what they do, what they know, and what they're called), ranked by best fit.
** If you clicked on a link from section D (as described in Step 1 above), you will see one or more links to an occupation that is usually a bit more general than your initial job selection - the link(s) is directly related to the specific job you identified through your prior selections.
*NOTE: It is possible that there may not be a career path identified for the specific job you selected in Step 1. If this is the case, scroll up the page and click on a different career/job.
Step 4: Career-Specific Resources (detailed and constantly updated): Continue to scroll down the page and you will find tabs that provide detailed (updated) links 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. Can also assist with coffee chats.
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/Job
20 Athletics and Team Sports careers are listed below (sorted by Percentage Change in Total Job Openings - 2025 to 2035 est.). Athletics and Team Sports-related jobs specific to each career are also provided. This shows which careers are emerging and growing the fastest. Please Scroll and Select below:
| Occupations | U.S. Job Openings 2025-2035 (% change) | Athletics and Team Sports-Related Jobs |
23 Athletics and Team Sports careers are listed below (sorted by U.S. National Median Salary). Athletics and Team Sports-related jobs specific to each occupation are also provided. Please Scroll and Select below::
| Occupations | National Median Salary | Athletics and Team Sports-Related Jobs |
23 Athletics and Team Sports careers are listed (sorted by Education/Preparation Requirements - descending) to provide career ladders. Athletics and Team Sports-related jobs specific to each career are also provided.
|
Education/Preparation Categories: 5 = Usually requires graduate school (e.g., Master's degree, Ph.D., M.D., or J.D.) 4 = Usually requires a four-year Bachelor's degree 3 = Usually requires vocational training, related on-the-job experience, or Associate's degree 2 = Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, but not always Please Scroll and Select below: |
||
| Occupations | Education/Preparation | Athletics and Team Sports-Related Jobs |
Scroll through the picklist (below). There are 90 specific Athletics and Team Sports job titles listed. Select those that may be of interest - you will get active job listing links, along with detailed resources to help you prepare for a career related to that job.
You can use this form two ways:
Filter - As you enter a keyword, you will filter (limit) the list of job titles below
Browse the list (Don't Filter) - You can simply explore the list of job titles. There may be many that you might never have considered to be of interest.
OR - leave blank and scroll through the choices:
Select a Job Title (Scroll and Select) :
Step 2 of 4: Find a Job
Find Job Listings:
Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators.
Step 3 of 4: Prepare For a Career
Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators
Description: Lay, repair, and maintain track for standard or narrow-gauge railroad equipment used in regular railroad service or in plant yards, quarries, sand and gravel pits, and mines. Includes ballast cleaning machine operators and railroad bed tamping machine operators.
Please click on a section below to expand and see detailed occupational information related to "Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators":
U.S. Total Employment (2025):
17,400U.S. Total Employment (2035 est.):
17,700
Employment Change (2025-2035 est.):
300 (1.5%) Average Annual Job Openings (2025-2035 est.):
1,200
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: 65 (%) | Description: Drive graders, tamping machines, brooms, or ballast spreading machines to redistribute gravel or ballast between rails. |
| Importance: 56 (%) | Description: Paint railroad signs, such as speed limits or gate-crossing warnings. |
| Importance: 52 (%) | Description: Adjust controls of machines that spread, shape, raise, level, or align track, according to specifications. |
| Importance: 47 (%) | Description: Operate tie-adzing machines to cut ties and permit insertion of fishplates that hold rails. |
| Importance: 47 (%) | Description: Turn wheels of machines, using lever controls, to adjust guidelines for track alignments or grades, following specifications. |
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: 90 (%) | Description: Handling and Moving Objects: Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things. |
| Importance: 89 (%) | Description: Making Decisions and Solving Problems: Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems. |
| Importance: 88 (%) | Description: Controlling Machines and Processes: Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles). |
| Importance: 87 (%) | Description: Getting Information: Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources. |
| Importance: 86 (%) | 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: 83 (%) | Description: Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work: Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work. |
| Importance: 81 (%) | 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: 79 (%) | 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: 79 (%) | 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: 79 (%) | 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: Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others: Getting members of a group to work together to accomplish tasks. |
| Importance: 76 (%) | Description: Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials: Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects. |
| Importance: 75 (%) | Description: Processing Information: Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data. |
| Importance: 73 (%) | Description: Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings: Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems. |
| Importance: 72 (%) | Description: Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge: Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job. |
| Importance: 72 (%) | Description: Scheduling Work and Activities: Scheduling events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others. |
| Importance: 72 (%) | Description: Thinking Creatively: Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions. |
| Importance: 71 (%) | Description: Performing Administrative Activities: Performing day-to-day administrative tasks such as maintaining information files and processing paperwork. |
| Importance: 70 (%) | 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: 68 (%) | 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: 68 (%) | 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: 67 (%) | 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: 67 (%) | Description: Guiding, Directing, and Motivating Subordinates: Providing guidance and direction to subordinates, including setting performance standards and monitoring performance. |
| Importance: 65 (%) | Description: Judging the Qualities of Objects, Services, or People: Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people. |
| Importance: 63 (%) | Description: Developing and Building Teams: Encouraging and building mutual trust, respect, and cooperation among team members. |
| Importance: 63 (%) | 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: 62 (%) | Description: Documenting/Recording Information: Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form. |
| Importance: 61 (%) | Description: Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others: Translating or explaining what information means and how it can be used. |
| Importance: 60 (%) | Description: Developing Objectives and Strategies: Establishing long-range objectives and specifying the strategies and actions to achieve them. |
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: |
|
| Apply paint to surfaces. | |
| Apply sealants or other protective coatings. | |
| Clean equipment or facilities. | |
| Compact materials to create level bases. | |
| Cut metal components for installation. | |
| Cut wood components for installation. | |
| Drill holes in construction materials. | |
| Locate equipment or materials in need of repair or replacement. | |
| Maintain construction tools or equipment. | |
| Maintain mechanical equipment. | |
| Operate cranes, hoists, or other moving or lifting equipment. | |
| Operate heavy-duty construction or installation equipment. | |
| Smooth surfaces with abrasive materials or tools. | |
| Spread sand, dirt or other loose materials onto surfaces. | |
| Verify alignment of structures or equipment. | |
| Weld metal components. | |
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: 75 (%) | Description: Public Safety and Security: Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions. |
| Importance: 74 (%) | 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: 73 (%) | Description: Mechanical: Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance. |
| Importance: 70 (%) | Description: Production and Processing: Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods. |
| Importance: 69 (%) | Description: Mathematics: Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications. |
| Importance: 68 (%) | Description: Building and Construction: Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads. |
| Importance: 66 (%) | Description: Education and Training: Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects. |
| Importance: 64 (%) | 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: 63 (%) | Description: Administration and Management: Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources. |
| Importance: 62 (%) | Description: Engineering and Technology: Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services. |
| Importance: 60 (%) | Description: Customer and Personal Service: Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction. |
| Importance: 60 (%) | Description: Physics: Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes. |
| Importance: 59 (%) | Description: Personnel and Human Resources: Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems. |
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: 62 (%) | Description: Operations Monitoring: Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly. |
| Importance: 62 (%) | Description: Operation and Control: Controlling operations of equipment or systems. |
| Importance: 54 (%) | Description: Equipment Maintenance: Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed. |
| Importance: 52 (%) | Description: Repairing: Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools. |
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: Apply protective solutions or coatings. |
| Activity: Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas. |
| Activity: Cut materials. |
| Activity: Drill holes in earth or materials. |
| Activity: Inspect commercial, industrial, or production systems or equipment. |
| Activity: Inspect completed work or finished products. |
| Activity: Join parts using soldering, welding, or brazing techniques. |
| Activity: Maintain tools or equipment. |
| Activity: Operate construction or excavation equipment. |
| Activity: Operate lifting or moving equipment. |
| Activity: Perform general construction or extraction activities. |
| Activity: Smooth surfaces of objects or equipment. |
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 |
| Office suite software: |
| Microsoft Office software |
| Spreadsheet software: |
| Microsoft Excel |
| General Software Tools |
| Time accounting software: |
| Timekeeping software |
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. |
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: 38.0 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: None |
| Frequency of Attainment: 28.0 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years |
| Frequency of Attainment: 12.7 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year |
| Frequency of Attainment: 11.9 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months |
| Frequency of Attainment: 6.3 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 6 years, up to and including 8 years |
| Frequency of Attainment: 3.2 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 3 months, up to and including 6 months |
Local Salary Information
Select a State (scroll and Select) :
Please select a State to see State and National Salaries
Professional Associations
| Professional Associations These associations connect people who work in this occupation or related fields. How can you start using these associations to learn more, build your network, or find mentoring opportunities? |
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Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees (BMWE)
| |
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National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC)
| |
Job Listings
| Job Listings and Similar Occupational Titles - scroll and click to identify common requirements, keywords, and skills in current job listings |
Related Careers to Consider
Step 4 of 4: Career-Specific Resources
This section contains detailed external resources appropriate to "Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators". 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): Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators
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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