Also called: Shot Peen Operator, Surface Enhancement Technician
Blasts metal parts with millions of tiny steel or glass beads to toughen them so jet engines and car springs don't crack.
You load turbine blades into a peening machine and set exactly how hard and how long the tiny shot will hit them. To prove it worked, you peen a thin test strip and measure how much it curved. Every number goes into records because the parts will fly.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Certificate, about 0.5 years after high school. High school plus shot peening certification.
Ways in: On-the-job training, Certification. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Growing about average. Aerospace and auto parts keep demand steady.
Medium risk for 10 years. Peening machines are automated, but setup, test strips and sign-off stay human.
Age 18+. One way to start: Apply at shot-peening or aerospace finishing shops; they send you to the certification course First: Shot peening Level 1 certification (short course and exam)
Classes: Physics, Shop class, Algebra, Chemistry.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.