maintenance engineer.

The monthly salary for a maintenance engineer with a permanent contract is often a matter of negotiation with the employer, and if you are a good negotiator you have better chances to improve your salary. But there are also other factors that can improve your salary as a maintenance engineer. For example, if you work at inconvenient hours, including evenings and weekends, you may qualify for a higher salary. Some maintenance engineers also work on call and can then receive on-call allowances, which increase the total salary. 

An experienced and well-qualified maintenance engineer also has a better chance of getting a higher salary. By adding further qualifications and knowledge your CV not only do you become more attractive to new employers, but you also end up in a better negotiating position with your current employer. an experienced maintenance engineer with strong technical qualifications can also be considered for roles with more responsibility in the company, which can mean a higher salary.

The exact tasks and areas of responsibility vary depending on who the employer is, but as a maintenance engineer, common tasks can include the following: 

• inspect machines and equipment 

Before a major production begins, a maintenance engineer should have checked the machinery to make sure there are no issues that could cause production stoppages later. Routine and ongoing inspections ensure that problems are detected in time and can be resolved without delaying or completely stopping production. 

• preventive maintenance 

As a maintenance engineer, you are also responsible for scheduled maintenance of machines and equipment to prevent functional problems in the machinery and equipment. You may need help from service technician to solve the problems. During preventive maintenance, you may need to replace worn-out components, recalibrate the instruments and change the filters. It is important to carry out ongoing preventive maintenance according to schedule, to avoid using components in production whose "best before date" has expired. This poses major risks for productivity and can lead to production stoppages. 

• corrective maintenance 

It also happens that more urgent maintenance is needed when unexpected faults occur, and then it is your job as a maintenance engineer to solve the problems. This includes first carrying out troubleshooting to find out what the fault is, and then fixing it in the best possible way. Identifying the most effective way to solve the problem is part of the tasks of a maintenance engineer. One way to solve problems can be to dismantle large machines or parts of the equipment to find the fault and be able to fix it efficiently. 

• repairs 

When a machine breaks down during ongoing production, it’s your job and responsibility to troubleshoot the problem using special tools. You decide whether damaged components and parts need to be replaced, or if a repair is enough for the machine to work again. An important part after carrying out a repair is to make sure the whole machine works as it should and that there aren’t other components starting to age and that need to be replaced so they don’t cause problems later on. 

• installation of new equipment 

When your employer purchases new equipment or new machines, it’s your job to install them. This means you’re responsible not only for the actual installation and start-up of the machines, but also for testing the new system to make sure everything works smoothly.

As a maintenance engineer, your working environment varies depending on your employer and your tasks or areas of responsibility. One example of a workplace is industry, in a noisier environment where there are heavy machines and equipment that require continuous maintenance. In such cases, a maintenance engineer needs to be present to identify urgent problems that may arise. On the other hand, if you work at a consulting firm, you are often based in an office and have a team of technicians reporting to you, who handle the actual maintenance and repairs. You will also visit customers’ workplaces, but usually to provide your expertise.

Most maintenance engineers who work directly in connection with industries have a regular working week, up to 40 hours per week. It can be from 9 am to 5 pm every day, but since many industries operate around the clock, there are also maintenance engineers who need to work at inconvenient hours. 

It’s not uncommon to be on call as a maintenance engineer, so you can go out and solve urgent problems that arise in production. A shift system between different maintenance engineers at a workplace is not unusual if you’re permanently employed. It’s also not uncommon to have short-term contracts as a maintenance engineer, when a company needs help with specific projects or problems.

As a maintenance engineer, you have good opportunities to advance in your career. You can specialise in a specific sector or expand your technical knowledge and qualifications to increase your chances for further career development. For example, someone who has worked for a long time in the manufacturing industry can move on from the job as a maintenance engineer to become more of a specialist or technical expert. 

With long experience as a maintenance engineer, you also have good opportunities to work as consultant in the industry. It is also an option to move from maintenance engineer to a management role with greater responsibility, where you might become responsible for a certain department or an entire factory. Working as a technical maintenance engineer can be an intermediate step between being a maintenance engineer and then taking a management position, either at the same company or with a new employer.

Finding a job as a maintenance engineer through Randstad comes with a range of different advantages. 

• A range of educational and career opportunities 
• An experienced contact person who can help if needed
• Many open jobs in your area
• Full-time or part-time work depending on the job/assignment 

Do you want a permanent position as maintenance engineer? A temporary or fixed-term assignment as maintenance engineer is often a stepping stone to a permanent job. Every year, several people get a permanent position with employers, thanks to a temporary job that has come through us at Randstad. In addition, many companies recruit their permanent employees directly through Randstad.

As a maintenance engineer, you often work with a larger team of colleagues and you are responsible for delegating the tasks. Strong leadership skills ensure both a positive working environment for the team and make sure that the work progresses efficiently. Motivating colleagues is an important part of being a maintenance engineer, but it requires a talent for leadership. Since being a maintenance engineer can be a stressful job, it is also important to have a strong ability to handle stress, so you can be a good leader even in such situations.

Being able to see and solve problems is an important part of being a maintenance engineer, especially in stressful situations. To work efficiently, good reasoning skills are needed, so you don’t waste time on things that aren’t relevant to the problem that has occurred. Being creative and daring to think in new ways are often important qualities for a maintenance engineer.

Having an eye for detail makes it easier for someone who wants to become a good maintenance engineer. It's about noticing small details to find faults that, in the long run, can mean big problems and lead to costly consequences. Someone with a good eye for detail finds it easier to spot that kind of fault early.

Those who are good at physics and mathematics will find it easier to learn how machines, equipment and other relevant things work. Complex calculations may be required to troubleshoot problems when machines are down and production has stopped. If you have a talent for mathematics and physics, it becomes significantly easier to find the problems.

A maintenance engineer is a person who uses technical knowledge to maintain, troubleshoot, and in many cases repair malfunctioning machines or equipment, for example those used in industry. The important thing as a maintenance engineer is to ensure that production never stops and that the machines can be used in an efficient and safe way.

To be successful as a maintenance engineer, you need to be organised, logical and have good problem-solving skills. Having a good eye for detail will also help when troubleshooting issues, which is a big part of the maintenance engineer role. It’s about finding faults as early as possible to avoid production stoppages or troublesome equipment.

There is no formal education to become a maintenance engineer, since it is not a protected title. The work as a maintenance engineer can mean many different things, but those with a technical background have an advantage when applying for jobs as a maintenance engineer. There are upper secondary studies, but to improve your chances of becoming a skilled maintenance engineer, you need to pursue post-secondary studies at a vocational college or study to become a university engineer in maintenance technology.

Anyone starting a career as a maintenance engineer has good opportunities to advance further in their career. With a strong technical academic background and work experience as a maintenance engineer, there are good chances to move up to roles with more responsibility or management positions.

It's easy to apply for a job as a maintenance engineer. Search among our open positions in your area. Then send in your CV or your personal letter or apply via LinkedIn.

If you need help with your job application, you can read all our guides job tips here!

Here you can find more information about the job role maintenance engineer.