Career profile for Vending Mechanic

What does a Vending Mechanic do?

Vending Mechanics install, service, adjust, or repair coin, vending, or amusement machines including video games, juke boxes, pinball machines, or slot machines.

What kind of tasks does a Vending Mechanic perform regularly?

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

Fill machines with products, ingredients, money, and other supplies.
Inspect machines and meters to determine causes of malfunctions and fix minor problems such as jammed bills or stuck products.
Test machines to determine proper functioning.
Replace malfunctioning parts, such as worn magnetic heads on automatic teller machine (ATM) card readers.
Maintain records of machine maintenance and repair.
Clean and oil machine parts.
Order parts needed for machine repairs.
Adjust and repair coin, vending, or amusement machines and meters and replace defective mechanical and electrical parts, using hand tools, soldering irons, and diagrams.
Record transaction information on forms or logs, and notify designated personnel of discrepancies.

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

Activities	Importance	Details
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.
Performing General Physical Activities		Performing physical 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.
Getting Information		Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings		Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
Making Decisions and Solving Problems		Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.

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.

Performing General Physical Activities

Performing physical 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.

Getting Information

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

Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings

Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.

Making Decisions and Solving Problems

Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.

What is a Vending Mechanic salary?

The median salary for a Vending Mechanic is $37,580, and the average salary is $39,710. Both the median and average roughly describe the middle of the Vending Mechanic salary range, but the average is more easily affected by extremely high or low salaries.

Many Vending Mechanics earn significantly more or less than the average, due to several factors. About 10% of Vending Mechanics earn less than $22,770 per year, 25% earn less than $29,280, 75% earn less than $48,440, and 90% earn less than $60,930.

Between the years of 2020 and 2030, the number of Vending Mechanics is expected to change by 9.2%, and there should be roughly 3,600 open positions for Vending Mechanics every year.

Median annual salary: $37,580
Typical salary range: $22,770 - $60,930
Projected growth (2020 - 2030): 9.2%

What personality traits are common among Vending Mechanics?

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 a Vending Mechanic are usually higher in their Realistic and Conventional interests.

Vending Mechanics 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.

Also, Vending Mechanics typically have strong Conventional interests. Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

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 a Vending Mechanic tend to value Relationships, Independence, and Support.

Most importantly, Vending Mechanics 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.

Second, Vending Mechanics moderately value Independence. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions.

Lastly, Vending Mechanics moderately value Support. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees.

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 Vending Mechanics must consistently demonstrate qualities such as stress tolerance, self-control, and dependability.

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

Demands	Importance	Details
Stress Tolerance		Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.
Self-Control		Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
Dependability		Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Initiative		Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
Attention to Detail		Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.

Stress Tolerance

Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.

Self-Control

Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.

Dependability

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

Initiative

Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.

Attention to Detail

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

What education and training do Vending Mechanics need?

Working as a Vending Mechanic usually requires a high school diploma.

Vending Mechanics 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 Vending Mechanics

9.1% did not complete high school or secondary school
41.9% completed high school or secondary school
30.0% completed some college coursework
10.0% earned a Associate's degree
7.3% earned a Bachelor's degree
1.1% earned a Master's degree
0.7% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Vending Mechanics

Vending Mechanics may benefit from understanding of specialized subject areas, such as computers and electronics, mechanical, or customer and personal service knowledge.

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

Knowledge areas	Importance	Details
Computers and Electronics		Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Mechanical		Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
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.
Administrative		Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Sales and Marketing		Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

Computers and Electronics

Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Mechanical

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

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.

Administrative

Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

Sales and Marketing

Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

Important Abilities needed by Vending Mechanics

Vending Mechanics 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, Vending Mechanics need abilities such as manual dexterity, finger dexterity, and arm-hand steadiness in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Vending Mechanics, ranked by their relative importance.

Abilities	Importance	Details
Manual Dexterity		The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
Finger Dexterity		The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
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.
Near Vision		The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

Manual Dexterity

The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.

Finger Dexterity

The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.

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.

Near Vision

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

Critical Skills needed by Vending Mechanics

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.

Vending Mechanics frequently use skills like repairing, equipment maintenance, and troubleshooting to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Vending Mechanics, ranked by their relative importance.

Skills	Importance	Details
Repairing		Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
Equipment Maintenance		Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
Troubleshooting		Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
Operations Monitoring		Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
Operation and Control		Controlling operations of equipment or systems.

Repairing

Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.

Equipment Maintenance

Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.

Troubleshooting

Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.

Operations Monitoring

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

Operation and Control

Controlling operations of equipment or systems.

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.

Career profile Vending Mechanic

Vending Mechanic

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