Hydroelectric Plant Technicians build equipment maintenance, operations monitoring and operation and control skills that carry over to other work. Below are 25 careers ranked by how closely their skills match, with pay from BLS May 2025. The closest match is Wind Turbine Service Technicians (92%).
Updated October 2026 · Data: O*NET 31.0 and BLS OEWS May 2025 · How we match careers
Sorted by skill match.
| # | Career | Skill match | Median pay | Pay change | Extra education |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wind Turbine Service Technicians | 92% | $64,120 | — | None |
| 2 | Geothermal Technicians | 90% | $49,230Pay for the broader BLS group “Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers, All Other” | Not compared | None |
| 3 | Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door | 87% | $74,340 | — | None |
| 4 | Ship Engineers | 87% | $109,530 | — | None |
| 5 | Maintenance and Repair Workers, General | 85% | $49,590 | — | None |
| 6 | Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Powerhouse, Substation, and Relay | 85% | $103,020 | — | None |
| 7 | Wellhead Pumpers | 83% | $69,960 | — | None |
| 8 | Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians | 82% | $79,870 | — | None |
| 9 | Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics, Except Engines | 82% | $65,510 | — | None |
| 10 | Industrial Machinery Mechanics | 82% | $64,520 | — | None |
Compared with Hydroelectric Plant Technicians, median —. Skill match is our estimate (0–99) from O*NET 31.0 skills, knowledge, work activities and interests, adjusted for preparation and big pay drops. Pay: BLS OEWS May 2025, national median.
How important each skill is in work as hydroelectric plant technicians (O*NET importance, scale 1–5).
The gaps that show up most often across your top 10 matches.
Free and low-cost training: use the CareerOneStop training finder below.
A concrete first step, the skills to add, and the hard parts of each job, from O*NET 31.0 education, training and work context data.
92% skill match · $64,120
Troubleshooting · Management of Personnel Resources · Repairing
90% skill match · $49,230 (broader BLS group)
Installation · Operations Analysis · Management of Personnel Resources
87% skill match · $74,340
If you want to stay close to what you do now, these roles are the nearest.
The closest matches are Wind Turbine Service Technicians (92% skill match, median $64,120), Geothermal Technicians (90% skill match, median $49,230) and Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door (87% skill match, median $74,340), based on O*NET 31.0 data and BLS May 2025 pay.
None of the 25 closest matches pays more than hydroelectric plant technicians at the national median (BLS May 2025). Higher-paying moves usually need more training.
25 of the 25 matches usually need no more education than you have now, based on O*NET Job Zones.
We compare the importance of skills, knowledge, work activities and interests in O*NET 31.0 for your job and every other career, then adjust for extra preparation and big pay drops. The full method is on our Methodology page.