FlightWay / Careers / Non-Destructive Testing Specialists

Engineering & Science

Non-Destructive Testing Specialists

Test the safety of structures, vehicles, or vessels using x-ray, ultrasound, fiber optic or related equipment.

Sector: Engineering & Science
Preparation: Zone 2 — some preparation needed
O*NET code: 17-3029.01

What you'll actually do

The activities O*NET rates highest for this occupation, most important first. Numbers are out of 100.

Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials

central to the job — rated 96/100 for importance.
Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards

central to the job — rated 94/100 for importance.
Getting Information

central to the job — rated 88/100 for importance.
Documenting/Recording Information

central to the job — rated 88/100 for importance.
Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings

a major part of the work — rated 84/100 for importance.
Making Decisions and Solving Problems

a major part of the work — rated 81/100 for importance.

Test the safety of structures, vehicles, or vessels using x-ray, ultrasound, fiber optic or related equipment.

What it takes

Two numbers per line: the level the work expects, and how important it is to doing the job well. Both are O*NET ratings, already on a 0–100 scale.

Skills

Quality Control Analysis

Needed at a solid working level (57/100), and rated 72/100 for importance.
Reading Comprehension

Needed at a solid working level (55/100), and rated 72/100 for importance.
Active Listening

Needed at a solid working level (48/100), and rated 66/100 for importance.
Critical Thinking

Needed at a solid working level (52/100), and rated 63/100 for importance.
Monitoring

Needed at a solid working level (52/100), and rated 60/100 for importance.

Knowledge

Engineering and Technology

Needed at a high level (70/100), and rated 77/100 for importance.
Mathematics

Needed at a high level (68/100), and rated 74/100 for importance.
English Language

Needed at a solid working level (56/100), and rated 73/100 for importance.
Physics

Needed at a high level (63/100), and rated 71/100 for importance.

Abilities

Problem Sensitivity

Needed at a high level (61/100), and rated 78/100 for importance.
Deductive Reasoning

Needed at a solid working level (57/100), and rated 75/100 for importance.
Near Vision

Needed at a solid working level (57/100), and rated 75/100 for importance.
Written Comprehension

Needed at a solid working level (54/100), and rated 75/100 for importance.

How people get in

O*NET places this occupation in Zone 2 — some preparation needed. That is a statement about what employers typically require, not a rule about you.

Education

A high-school diploma is the usual starting point.

Experience

Some prior work experience helps but is rarely required.

Training

Expect a few months to a year of on-the-job training.

What it pays

These are typical engineering compensation bands by employer tier — sector-level figures, not a measured salary for Non-Destructive Testing Specialists specifically. Treat them as the shape of the market, then check a real posting for the number.

SpaceX · NVIDIA · Boeing

$120k – $200k+

Manufacturing Corps

$85k – $140k

Local Engineering Firms

$65k – $110k

How the work tends to run

Each line below is read off a single O*NET activity rating for this occupation — named, so you can disagree with it.

Most of the day happens at a screen.From “Working with Computers”
You own decisions rather than execute someone else’s.From “Making Decisions and Solving Problems”
Rules and standards are checkable and someone checks them.From “Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards”
You run equipment, and running it well is a skill in itself.From “Controlling Machines and Processes”

How FlightWay scores your fit against this

No black box. Here is the whole method, factor by factor.

1. You answer a short quiz: Your answers build a profile across the same 161 O*NET dimensions this page is describing — skills, knowledge, abilities and work activities. Same axes, so the comparison is like-for-like.
2. We correlate the two profiles: Fit is a mean-centered cosine — a correlation between the SHAPE of your profile and the shape of Non-Destructive Testing Specialists. Centering matters: raw similarity between any two occupations sits at 0.70–0.85 because all work shares a common profile, so without it every career would look like a match.
3. The number you see is personality fit only: "Would I want this work" and "am I ready for this work" are different questions, and averaging them answers neither. So readiness — what your résumé, coursework and projects prove — is scored separately and shown next to fit, never blended into it.
4. Every factor is visible: You can open any match and see which dimensions pushed it up and which pulled it down. If you disagree with the number, you can see exactly where it came from.

More in Engineering & Science

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Occupational data on this page comes from the O*NET 30.3 Database, published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). O*NET is a registered trademark of USDOL/ETA. FlightWay is not endorsed by, and USDOL/ETA is not responsible for, anything built on that data — see our terms. What is ours is the comparison, the score and the plan.