How to hire cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders

Job description template

Copy it, fill in the brackets, and remove anything that does not fit your job. Keep only must-haves you would really turn someone away for.

[Job title] at [Company name]
[City, State] · [Full-time / Part-time] · [Pay range]

About the role
[Two or three sentences about your team, the work and why it matters.]

What you will do
• Add specified amounts of chemicals to equipment at required times to maintain solution levels and concentrations.
• Drain, clean, and refill machines or tanks at designated intervals, using cleaning solutions or water.
• Examine and inspect machines to detect malfunctions.
• Measure, weigh, or mix cleaning solutions, using measuring tanks, calibrated rods or suction tubes.
• Observe machine operations, gauges, or thermometers, and adjust controls to maintain specified conditions.
• Operate or tend machines to wash and remove impurities from items such as barrels or kegs, glass products, tin plate surfaces, dried fruit, pulp, animal stock, coal, manufactured articles, plastic, or rubber.
• Record gauge readings, materials used, processing times, or test results in production logs.
• Set controls to regulate temperature and length of cycles, and start conveyors, pumps, agitators, and machines.

What you bring
• [Required license, certification or years of experience, if any]
• [Education, only if you truly need it. Typical to start in this job: High school diploma or equivalent]
• Working knowledge of production and processing
• [Anything else you would really turn someone away for]

Pay and benefits
[Pay range]. For reference, the U.S. median for this job is $20.93 an hour ($43,530 a year).
[Benefits, schedule and anything else candidates should know.]

How to apply
[Apply on JAI Bot. Every applicant hears back.]

Copy the template Check your finished job post

Interview questions for cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders

Ask every candidate the same questions, in the same order, and write down what they say. Questions about past work show what someone has actually done.

1. Tell me about a time you had to add specified amounts of chemicals to equipment at required times to maintain solution levels and concentrations. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
2. Tell me about a time you had to drain, clean, and refill machines or tanks at designated intervals, using cleaning solutions or water. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
3. Tell me about a time you had to examine and inspect machines to detect malfunctions. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
4. Tell me about a time you had to measure, weigh, or mix cleaning solutions, using measuring tanks, calibrated rods or suction tubes. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
5. Why this job, and why now? What would make you stay here for the long term?

Good answers name a real situation, what the person did themselves and what happened. Avoid questions about age, family plans, religion, health, national origin or anything else unrelated to the job.

What cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders do

• Add specified amounts of chemicals to equipment at required times to maintain solution levels and concentrations.
• Drain, clean, and refill machines or tanks at designated intervals, using cleaning solutions or water.
• Examine and inspect machines to detect malfunctions.
• Measure, weigh, or mix cleaning solutions, using measuring tanks, calibrated rods or suction tubes.
• Observe machine operations, gauges, or thermometers, and adjust controls to maintain specified conditions.
• Operate or tend machines to wash and remove impurities from items such as barrels or kegs, glass products, tin plate surfaces, dried fruit, pulp, animal stock, coal, manufactured articles, plastic, or rubber.
• Record gauge readings, materials used, processing times, or test results in production logs.
• Set controls to regulate temperature and length of cycles, and start conveyors, pumps, agitators, and machines.

Education, experience and outlook for cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders

• Typical education to start: High school diploma or equivalent (BLS)
• Related work experience most have: None (O*NET)
• Training on the job: Moderate-term on-the-job training (BLS)
• Job outlook: +3.4% over ten years, about as fast as average · about 1,700 openings a year (BLS)

What to pay cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders

Pay depends a lot on where the job is. Highest and lowest median yearly pay by state:

See cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders pay in every state

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Job duties and skills: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license; O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. JAI Bot has modified this information; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Pay: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025. Interview questions and the job description template: JAI Bot, based on the duties and skills above.