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Date: 12/18/2025

Non-Destructive Testing Specialists

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

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    Work Activities

    Work Activities

    • Conduct liquid penetrant tests to locate surface cracks by coating objects with fluorescent dyes, cleaning excess penetrant, and applying developer.
    • Identify defects in concrete or other building materials, using thermal or infrared testing.
    • Interpret or evaluate test results in accordance with applicable codes, standards, specifications, or procedures.
    • Make radiographic images to detect flaws in objects while leaving objects intact.
    • Map the presence of imperfections within objects, using sonic measurements.
    • Produce images of objects on film, using radiographic techniques.
    • Develop or use new non-destructive testing methods, such as acoustic emission testing, leak testing, and thermal or infrared testing.
    • Examine structures or vehicles such as aircraft, trains, nuclear reactors, bridges, dams, and pipelines, using non-destructive testing techniques.
    • Evaluate material properties, using radio astronomy, voltage and amperage measurement, or rheometric flow measurement.
    • Identify defects in solid materials, using ultrasonic testing techniques.
    • Document non-destructive testing methods, processes, or results.
    • Supervise or direct the work of non-destructive testing trainees or staff.
    • Select, calibrate, or operate equipment used in the non-destructive testing of products or materials.
    • Interpret the results of all methods of non-destructive testing (NDT), such as acoustic emission, electromagnetic, leak, liquid penetrant, magnetic particle, neutron radiographic, radiographic, thermal or infrared, ultrasonic, vibration analysis, and visual testing.
    • Visually examine materials, structures, or components for signs of corrosion, metal fatigue, cracks, or other flaws, using tools and equipment such as endoscopes, closed-circuit television systems, and fiber optics.
    • Prepare reports on non-destructive testing results.
    • Select, calibrate, or operate equipment used in the non-destructive testing of products or materials.
    • Select, calibrate, or operate equipment used in the non-destructive testing of products or materials.

    Skills

    • Operations Analysis

      Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.

    • Monitoring

      Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.

    • Complex Problem Solving

      Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

    • Speaking

      Talking to others.

    • Critical Thinking

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

    • Active Learning

      Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.

    • Management of Financial Resources

      Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.

    • Systems Analysis

      Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.

    • Equipment Maintenance

      Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.

    • Operations Monitoring

      Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.

    • Writing

      Writing things for co-workers or customers.

    • Social Perceptiveness

      Understanding people's reactions.

    • Service Orientation

      Looking for ways to help people.

    • Time Management

      Managing your time and the time of other people.

    • Technology Design

      Making equipment and technology useful for customers.

    • Systems Evaluation

      Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.

    • Programming

      Writing computer programs.

    • Quality Control Analysis

      Testing how well a product or service works.

    • Management of Personnel Resources

      Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.

    • Persuasion

      Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.

    • Science

      Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.

    • Installation

      Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.

    • Repairing

      Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.

    • Reading Comprehension

      Reading work-related information.

    • Active Listening

      Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

    • Learning Strategies

      Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.

    • Coordination

      Changing what is done based on other people's actions.

    • Instructing

      Teaching people how to do something.

    • Mathematics

      Using math to solve problems.

    • Negotiation

      Bringing people together to solve differences.

    • Operation and Control

      Using equipment or systems.

    • Management of Material Resources

      Managing equipment and materials.

    • Judgment and Decision Making

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.

    • Equipment Selection

      Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.

    • Troubleshooting

      Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.

    WorkKeys®

    Applied Math
    4
    Workplace Documents
    4
    Graphic Literacy
    4

    Abilities

    • Deductive Reasoning

      Using rules to solve problems.

    • Inductive Reasoning

      Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.

    • Memorization

      Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.

    • Dynamic Flexibility

      Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Sound Localization

      Noticing the direction that a sound came from.

    • Auditory Attention

      Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.

    • Selective Attention

      Paying attention to something without being distracted.

    • Arm-Hand Steadiness

      Keeping your arm or hand steady.

    • Multilimb Coordination

      Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.

    • Stamina

      Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.

    • Time Sharing

      Doing two or more things at the same time.

    • Manual Dexterity

      Holding or moving items with your hands.

    • Trunk Strength

      Using your lower back and stomach.

    • Problem Sensitivity

      Noticing when problems happen.

    • Perceptual Speed

      Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

    • Category Flexibility

      Grouping things in different ways.

    • Mathematical Reasoning

      Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.

    • Speed of Closure

      Quickly knowing what you are looking at.

    • Oral Expression

      Communicating by speaking.

    • Gross Body Equilibrium

      Keeping your balance or staying upright.

    • Visual Color Discrimination

      Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.

    • Gross Body Coordination

      Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.

    • Control Precision

      Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.

    • Speech Clarity

      Speaking clearly.

    • Written Expression

      Communicating by writing.

    • Peripheral Vision

      Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.

    • Written Comprehension

      Reading and understanding what is written.

    • Glare Sensitivity

      Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.

    • Finger Dexterity

      Putting together small parts with your fingers.

    • Speed of Limb Movement

      Quickly moving your arms and legs.

    • Spatial Orientation

      Knowing where things are around you.

    • Fluency of Ideas

      Coming up with lots of ideas.

    • Hearing Sensitivity

      Telling the difference between sounds.

    • Far Vision

      Seeing details that are far away.

    • Response Orientation

      Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.

    • Rate Control

      Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.

    • Reaction Time

      Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.

    • Static Strength

      Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.

    • Wrist-Finger Speed

      Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.

    • Explosive Strength

      Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.

    • Visualization

      Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.

    • Dynamic Strength

      Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.

    • Originality

      Creating new and original ideas.

    • Flexibility of Closure

      Seeing hidden patterns.

    • Night Vision

      Seeing at night or under low light.

    • Information Ordering

      Ordering or arranging things.

    • Oral Comprehension

      Listening and understanding what people say.

    • Depth Perception

      Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.

    • Number Facility

      Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.

    • Extent Flexibility

      Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Speech Recognition

      Recognizing spoken words.

    • Near Vision

      Seeing details up close.

    Knowledge

    • History and Archeology

      Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.

    • Public Safety and Security

      Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

    • Administration and Management

      Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

    • Economics and Accounting

      Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.

    • Design

      Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

    • Mechanical

      Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

    • Foreign Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.

    • Production and Processing

      Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

    • Law and Government

      Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

    • Medicine and Dentistry

      Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.

    • Fine Arts

      Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.

    • Engineering and Technology

      Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.

    • Administrative

      Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

    • Computers and Electronics

      Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

    • Chemistry

      Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.

    • Building and Construction

      Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.

    • Mathematics

      Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

    • Transportation

      Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

    • Therapy and Counseling

      Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

    • Sociology and Anthropology

      Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

    • Communications and Media

      Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

    • Customer and Personal Service

      Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

    • Personnel and Human Resources

      Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

    • Telecommunications

      Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

    • Education and Training

      Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

    • Physics

      Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.

    • Psychology

      Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

    • Geography

      Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.

    • Food Production

      Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

    • English Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.

    • Biology

      Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

    • Sales and Marketing

      Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

    • Philosophy and Theology

      Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.

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    Pay

    • Ohio Annual Salary 68170/yr
    • Typical Salary
    • Ohio Hourly Wage 32.77/hr
    • Typical Hourly Wage

    Ohio Employment Trends

    • Currently Employed 1,780
    • Yearly Projected Openings 160

    Typical Education

    Personality

    Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions.They do well at jobs that need:
    • Integrity
    • Dependability
    • Attention to Detail
    • Achievement/Effort
    • Analytical Thinking
    • Stress Tolerance

    Tools

    • Accelerometers
    • Acoustic sensors
    • Anemometers
    • Binocular light compound microscopes
    • Binoculars
    • Borescope inspection equipment
    • Calipers
    • Capacitance meters
    • Clock timers
    • Compression testers
    • Conductivity meters
    • Desktop computers
    • Digital camcorders or video cameras
    • Dip tanks
    • Drying cabinets or ovens
    • Eddy current examination equipment
    • Electromagnetic field meters
    • Electron microscopes
    • Fluorescent microscopes
    • Hand sprayers
    • Handheld refractometers or polarimeters
    • Hardness testers
    • Height gauges
    • Hoists
    • IR 192 radiography examination equipment
    • Impact testers
    • Infrared imagers
    • Laser measuring systems
    • Leak testing equipment
    • Lux or light meter
    • Magnifiers
    • Metallurgical microscopes
    • Micrometers
    • Notebook computers
    • Oscilloscopes
    • Personal computers
    • Photo attachments for microscopes
    • Piezo electric crystals
    • Polarizing microscopes
    • Power drills
    • Radarbased surveillance systems
    • Radiation detectors
    • Remote reading thermometers
    • Rulers
    • Scanning electron microscopes
    • Sound measuring apparatus or decibel meter
    • Stereo or dissecting light microscopes
    • Strain gauges
    • Tape measures
    • Telescopes
    • Televisions
    • Thickness measuring devices
    • Ultrasonic examination equipment
    • Ultraviolet UV lamps
    • Vibration testers
    • Voltage or current meters
    • X ray radiography examination equipment

    Technology

    • Analytical or scientific software
    • Computer aided design CAD software
    • Computer aided manufacturing CAM software
    • Data base user interface and query software
    • Development environment software
    • Electronic mail software
    • Enterprise resource planning ERP software
    • Geographic information system
    • Graphics or photo imaging software
    • Office suite software
    • Operating system software
    • Presentation software
    • Project management software
    • Spreadsheet software
    • Word processing software

    Tags

    • Apprenticeships are available for this occupation. These programs can help you get hands-on experience and build your skills.

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