Career profile for Engraver

What does an Engraver do?

Engravers engrave or etch metal, wood, rubber, or other materials.

In addition, Engravers includes such workers as etcher-circuit processors, pantograph engravers, and silk screen etchers.

What kind of tasks does an Engraver perform regularly?

Engravers are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

Inspect etched work for depth of etching, uniformity, and defects, using calibrated microscopes, gauges, fingers, or magnifying lenses.
Examine sketches, diagrams, samples, blueprints, or photographs to decide how designs are to be etched, cut, or engraved onto workpieces.
Clean and polish engraved areas.

The above responsibilities are specific to Engravers. More generally, Engravers are involved in several broader types of activities:

Activities	Importance	Details
Getting Information		Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
Controlling Machines and Processes		Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work		Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events		Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
Handling and Moving Objects		Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.

Getting Information

Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.

Controlling Machines and Processes

Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).

Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work

Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.

Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events

Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.

Handling and Moving Objects

Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.

What is an Engraver salary?

The median salary for an Engraver is $31,790, and the average salary is $35,230. Both the median and average roughly describe the middle of the Engraver salary range, but the average is more easily affected by extremely high or low salaries.

Many Engravers earn significantly more or less than the average, due to several factors. About 10% of Engravers earn less than $21,620 per year, 25% earn less than $25,630, 75% earn less than $42,090, and 90% earn less than $55,140.

Between the years of 2020 and 2030, the number of Engravers is expected to change by 2.0%, and there should be roughly 1,300 open positions for Engravers every year.

Median annual salary: $31,790
Typical salary range: $21,620 - $55,140
Projected growth (2020 - 2030): 2.0%

What personality traits are common among Engravers?

Interests

Career interests describe a person's preferences for different types of working environments and activities. When a person's interest match the demands of an occupation, people are usually more engaged and satisfied in that role.

Compared to most occupations, those who work as an Engraver are usually higher in their Realistic interests.

Engravers typically have very strong Realistic interests. Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Values

People differ in their values, or what is most important to them for building job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Compared to most people, those working as an Engraver tend to value Support, Relationships, and Independence.

Most importantly, Engravers moderately value Support. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees.

Second, Engravers moderately value Relationships. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment.

Lastly, Engravers moderately value Independence. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions.

Psychological Demands

Each occupation brings its own set of psychological demands, which describe the characteristics necessary to perform the job well.

In order to perform their job successfully, people who work as Engravers must consistently demonstrate qualities such as attention to detail, independence, and dependability.

Below, you'll find a list of qualities typically required of Engravers, ranked by importance:

Demands	Importance	Details
Attention to Detail		Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Independence		Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
Dependability		Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Achievement/Effort		Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
Persistence		Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.

Attention to Detail

Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.

Independence

Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.

Dependability

Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.

Achievement/Effort

Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.

Persistence

Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.

What education and training do Engravers need?

Working as an Engraver usually requires a high school diploma.

Engravers need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with this occupation.

Educational degrees among Engravers

13.3% did not complete high school or secondary school
28.1% completed high school or secondary school
24.1% completed some college coursework
8.6% earned a Associate's degree
23.8% earned a Bachelor's degree
2.1% earned a Master's degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Engravers

Engravers may benefit from understanding of specialized subject areas, such as production and processing, customer and personal service, or design knowledge.

The list below shows several areas in which most Engravers might want to build proficiency, ranked by importance.

Knowledge areas	Importance	Details
Production and Processing		Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
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.
Design		Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Mechanical		Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
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.

Production and Processing

Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

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.

Design

Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

Mechanical

Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

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.

Important Abilities needed by Engravers

Engravers must develop a particular set of abilities to perform their job well. Abilities are individual capacities that influence a person's information processing, sensory perception, motor coordination, and physical strength or endurance. Individuals may naturally have certain abilities without explicit training, but most abilities can be sharpened somewhat through practice.

For example, Engravers need abilities such as near vision, arm-hand steadiness, and control precision in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Engravers, ranked by their relative importance.

Abilities	Importance	Details
Near Vision		The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Arm-Hand Steadiness		The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Control Precision		The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
Oral Comprehension		The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression		The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

Near Vision

The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

Arm-Hand Steadiness

The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.

Control Precision

The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.

Oral Comprehension

The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Oral Expression

The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

Critical Skills needed by Engravers

Skills are developed capacities that enable people to function effectively in real-world settings. Unlike abilities, skills are typically easier to build through practice and experience. Skills influence effectiveness in areas such as learning, working with others, design, troubleshooting, and more.

Engravers frequently use skills like reading comprehension, monitoring, and operations monitoring to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Engravers, ranked by their relative importance.

Skills	Importance	Details
Reading Comprehension		Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Monitoring		Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Operations Monitoring		Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
Active Listening		Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Speaking		Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Reading Comprehension

Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.

Monitoring

Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Operations Monitoring

Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.

Active Listening

Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Speaking

Talking to others to convey information effectively.

What is the source of this information?

The information provided on this page is adapted from data and descriptions published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under the CC BY 4.0 license. TraitLab has modified some information for ease of use and reading, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

If you have any questions or suggestions about this information, please send a message.

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