Skilled trades
Machinist in Los Angeles
21 postings read · sampled 2026-09-01 · source ats
What employers actually ask for
Credentials named in the 21 postings we read, ranked by how many mentioned each one.
None. Across 21 postings, no certification or licence was named often enough to call it a requirement. For this role in this market, employers are hiring on demonstrated work rather than credentials — which means money spent on a certificate here is unlikely to be what gets you the interview.
What the official taxonomy says
O*NET surveys people already doing this job. That describes who got hired over a long window, not what employers are asking for now — where it disagrees with the counts above, the counts are the more current answer.
- High school diploma or equivalent36%
- Post-secondary certificate33%
- Some college, no degree17%
Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
O*NET 51-4041.00 · pulled 2026-09-01 · percentages are of surveyed workers, each rounded separately, so they need not total 100
This sample is small enough that one posting moves any percentage by more than a couple of points, so we are not calling anything low-signal here. Read the numbers above as a direction, not a measurement.
What it pays
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. A different survey from the postings above, so the two do not share a sample.
Who was hiring
Employers with at least one matching posting in this sample.
SpaceX · Rocket Lab · SkillSource · Kairos Power · Mach Industries · McWane Inc · O-I (Owens-Illinois)
The same role elsewhere
Next
- Roast and Resolve — Now aim your résumé at this target. Free roast, paid rewrite.
- Synap — Two-minute daily lessons to drill the skills underneath the credential.