Production · Holland code RC

Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

Set up, operate, or tend heating equipment, such as heat-treating furnaces, flame-hardening machines, induction machines, soaking pits, or vacuum equipment to temper, harden, anneal, or heat treat metal or plastic objects.

Also called: Furnace Operator, Heat Treat Operator, Heat Treat Technician, Heat Treater, Batch Heat Treat Operator, Burner, Coating Line Worker, Heat Treat Furnace Operator.

O*NET 51-4191.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $48,750; Middle half earn $40,660 to $58,400. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED); 70% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 2 of 5; Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Read production schedules and work orders to determine processing sequences, furnace temperatures, and heat cycle requirements for objects to be heat-treated.
Determine flame temperatures, current frequencies, heating cycles, and induction heating coils needed, based on degree of hardness required and properties of stock to be treated.
Record times that parts are removed from furnaces to document that objects have attained specified temperatures for specified times.
Determine types and temperatures of baths and quenching media needed to attain specified part hardness, toughness, and ductility, using heat-treating charts and knowledge of methods, equipment, and metals.
Examine parts to ensure metal shades and colors conform to specifications, using knowledge of metal heat-treating.
Adjust controls to maintain temperatures and heating times, using thermal instruments and charts, dials and gauges of furnaces, and color of stock in furnaces to make setting determinations.
Set and adjust speeds of reels and conveyors for prescribed time cycles to pass parts through continuous furnaces.
Start conveyors and open furnace doors to load stock, or signal crane operators to uncover soaking pits and lower ingots into them.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening3.1 / 5
Speaking3.1 / 5
Monitoring3.1 / 5
Critical Thinking3.0 / 5
Reading Comprehension2.9 / 5
Writing2.9 / 5

Knowledge areas

Production and Processing3.9 / 5
Mathematics3.3 / 5
Education and Training2.9 / 5
Administration and Management2.8 / 5
Chemistry2.7 / 5
Mechanical2.6 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic97
Investigative20
Artistic0
Social10
Enterprising0
Conventional51

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

metal furnace operator · DE Schmelzofensteuerer/Schmelzofensteuerin · FR conducteur de fours de la métallurgie/conductrice de fours de la métallurgie
heat treatment furnace operator · DE Maschinenbediener im Bereich Wärmebehandlung/Maschinenbedienerin im Bereich Wärmebehandlung · FR opérateur de four de traitement thermique/opératrice de four de traitement thermique
metal annealer · DE Konvertermann/Konverterfrau · FR opérateur de four de recuit/opératrice de four de recuit
plastic heat treatment equipment operator · DE Duroplastarbeiter/Duroplastarbeiterin · FR conducteur de traitement thermique/conductrice de traitement thermique

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Plastics process operatives (8114)18,200 employed
Metal machining setters and setter-operators (5221)40,400 employed
Metal making and treating process operatives (8115)11,500 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Technicians and associate professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€50,992
Austria	€46,986
Germany	€44,473
Netherlands	€42,448
Ireland	€41,613
Sweden	€41,155
Italy	€34,882
France	€34,816
Spain	€29,757
Portugal	€18,080
Poland	€12,108

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the lower third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -1.09. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (51-4191).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

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