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Cooling Equipment Operator

💰 Earn $36K-$49K
📚 High School Diploma or GED
⏱️ 6–12 Month Training
📈 7.2% Job Growth
  • Ideal for those who enjoy precision and working with advanced cooling systems.
  • Ensure the safety and quality of products by maintaining optimal cooling conditions.
  • Unique role in preserving food, medical supplies, and chemicals efficiently.
Cooling Equipment Operator
What Cooling Equipment Operators DoOperate or tend equipment such as cooling and freezing units, refrigerators, batch freezers, and freezing tunnels, to cool or freeze products, food, blood plasma, and chemicals.
  • Record temperatures, amounts of materials processed, or test results on report forms.
  • Monitor pressure gauges, ammeters, flowmeters, thermometers, or products, and adjust controls to maintain specified conditions, such as feed rate, product consistency, temperature, air pressure, and machine speed.
  • Read dials and gauges on panel control boards to ascertain temperatures, alkalinities, and densities of mixtures, and turn valves to obtain specified mixtures.
  • Start machinery, such as pumps, feeders, or conveyors, and turn valves to heat, admit, or transfer products, refrigerants, or mixes.
  • Correct machinery malfunctions by performing actions such as removing jams, and inform supervisors of malfunctions as necessary.
Cooling Equipment Operators Education, Salary, and Growth
Minimum EducationHigh School Diploma or GED
Career ProspectsExcellent (Increasing by 5% or more)
Training Time6 months to 1 year
Job Openings800 Annually
Median Earnings
$40,590 in California
$40,160 Nationally

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Is This Career Right For You?
YOU Like
  • Thinking and problem solving
  • Using data or completing tasks
  • Working with my hands
you value
  • Having support
  • Having freedom
  • Personal relationships
you are skilled in
  • Active Listening
  • Coordination
  • Critical Thinking
  • Speaking
  • Monitoring
  • Reading Comprehension
Go Deeper: Cooling Equipment Operators Explained
Cooling Equipment OperatorExplore career pathways, key skills, and what each role has to offer.
How Do You Train for This Career?

Learn about the education and training paths that can lead to this career — and what to expect from each one.

Vocational SchoolA vocational school typically equips students with specialized skills and practical training in specific trades or occupations, enhancing their employability and providing direct pathways to relevant careers.
🎓 Skills-Focused
⏱️ Finish in 6 months - 2 years
Workforce Development ProgramA workforce development program typically enhances participants' opportunities to succeed in the workforce through employment skill-building, career counseling, connections to employers, and pathways to high-demand and high-wage jobs.
🎓 Skills-Focused
⏱️ Finish in 6 months - 2 years
ApprenticeshipAn apprenticeship typically offers a combination of hands-on training and classroom instruction, leading to practical skills, industry-specific knowledge, and the potential for long-term employment in a specific trade or profession.
🎓 Paid Work
⏱️ Finish in 2-5 years
Strategic EmploymentStrategic employment provides individuals with valuable work experience, opportunities for professional growth and networking, and exposure to an industry where they may want to pursue advancement.
🎓 Paid Work
⏱️ Finish in 1-3 years
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What Are Similar Careers?

Updated April 2026. Data sourced from O*NET and Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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Cooling Equipment Operator | Explore this Career