How to hire earth drillers, except oil and gas

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
• Drive or guide truck-mounted equipment into position, level and stabilize rigs, and extend telescoping derricks.
• Operate controls to stabilize machines and to position and align drills.
• Operate machines to flush earth cuttings or to blow dust from holes.
• Perform routine maintenance and upgrade work on machines and equipment, such as replacing parts, building up drill bits, and lubricating machinery.
• Regulate air pressure, rotary speed, and downward pressure, according to the type of rock or concrete being drilled.
• Select and attach drill bits and drill rods, adding more rods as hole depths increase, and changing drill bits as needed.
• Start, stop, and control drilling speed of machines and insertion of casings into holes.
• Verify depths and alignments of boring positions.

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]
• Strong critical thinking, monitoring, active listening and speaking skills
• Working knowledge of mechanical
• [Anything else you would really turn someone away for]

Pay and benefits
[Pay range]. For reference, the U.S. median for this job is $28.94 an hour ($60,190 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 earth drillers, except oil and gas

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 drive or guide truck-mounted equipment into position, level and stabilize rigs, and extend telescoping derricks. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
2. Tell me about a time you had to operate controls to stabilize machines and to position and align drills. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
3. Tell me about a time you had to operate machines to flush earth cuttings or to blow dust from holes. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
4. Tell me about a time you had to perform routine maintenance and upgrade work on machines and equipment, such as replacing parts, building up drill bits, and lubricating machinery. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
5. Describe a decision at work where the obvious answer was wrong. How did you work out the better choice?
6. How do you keep track of your own work quality during a busy shift or week? Give an example of catching a problem early.
7. Tell me about a time you had to understand a request or problem that was explained poorly. How did you make sure you got it right?
8. 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 earth drillers, except oil and gas do

• Drive or guide truck-mounted equipment into position, level and stabilize rigs, and extend telescoping derricks.
• Operate controls to stabilize machines and to position and align drills.
• Operate machines to flush earth cuttings or to blow dust from holes.
• Perform routine maintenance and upgrade work on machines and equipment, such as replacing parts, building up drill bits, and lubricating machinery.
• Regulate air pressure, rotary speed, and downward pressure, according to the type of rock or concrete being drilled.
• Select and attach drill bits and drill rods, adding more rods as hole depths increase, and changing drill bits as needed.
• Start, stop, and control drilling speed of machines and insertion of casings into holes.
• Verify depths and alignments of boring positions.

Skills that matter most

Critical ThinkingMonitoringActive ListeningSpeakingMechanical

Education, experience and outlook for earth drillers, except oil and gas

• Typical education to start: High school diploma or equivalent (BLS)
• Related work experience most have: 6 months to 1 year (O*NET)
• Experience usually needed to start: Less than 5 years (BLS)
• Training on the job: Long-term on-the-job training (BLS)
• Job outlook: +3.6% over ten years, about as fast as average · about 1,400 openings a year (BLS)

What to pay earth drillers, except oil and gas

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

See earth drillers, except oil and gas pay in every state

Related hiring guides

• Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas
• Helpers--Extraction Workers
• Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
• Continuous Mining Machine Operators
• Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining
• Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators
• Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters
• Roustabouts, Oil and Gas
• Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas
• Construction Laborers

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.