Is Capital Goods A Good Career Path? [Roles, Salaries, & More]

If you’ve landed on this article, you probably have tons of questions about working in the capital goods industry and are wondering if this is a career path worth pursuing.

Good news – you have come to the right place! Whether you're an entry-level professional or you're well established in another industry and looking for a career change, this article is for you!

In this article, we’ll be covering the following topics:

What Are Capital Goods?
What Companies Are In The Capital Goods Field?
What Are The Job Options In Capital Goods?
What Are The Skills Needed For Capital Goods?
What Do Capital Goods Jobs Pay?
Is Capital Goods A Good Career Path? (Our Verdict)
How To Build A Job-Winning Capital Goods Resume

Let’s dig in!

What Is Capital Goods?

Capital goods are assets like machinery, equipment, tools, and buildings used to produce consumer goods or services.

Capital goods is a broad industry and includes sectors such as:

Heavy machinery manufacturing;
Aerospace;
Construction equipment;
And more!

Each sector plays an essential role in creating the infrastructure and tools necessary for other industries like construction, transportation, technology, and others to function efficiently.

What Companies Are In The Capital Goods Field?

Many companies operate within the capital goods industry, providing equipment, tools, and machinery that power different sectors. Here are some examples from different areas:

Heavy Machinery: Companies like Caterpillar and John Deere manufacture construction and mining equipment.
Aerospace: Boeing and Lockheed Martin produce aircraft, defense systems, and space technology.
Automotive Equipment: Firms like General Motors and Ford manufacture vehicles and automotive parts used in various industries.
Construction Equipment: Komatsu and Liebherr produce heavy construction machinery for infrastructure projects.
Industrial Tools: Companies like Stanley Black & Decker and Emerson provide industrial tools and equipment for a variety of sectors.

These companies ensure the production of goods necessary for building infrastructure, manufacturing products, and advancing technological capabilities.

What Are The Job Options In Capital Goods?

When looking for jobs in the capital goods industry, you can either work in roles within the sector – for example, taking a Sales position at a company that operates within the industry – or take a position that directly contributes to the production and distribution of capital goods.

In this section, we’ll cover the most common job options in the field.

Jobs In Capital Goods Production

Capital goods production roles focus on the manufacturing and development of machinery, equipment, and other goods. The most common roles in this area are:

Manufacturing Engineer: Designs and optimizes manufacturing processes to produce equipment and tools efficiently.
Mechanical Engineer: Develops and tests mechanical devices, including machinery used in manufacturing and construction.
Quality Control Specialist: Ensures that products meet industry standards and specifications.

Jobs In Capital Goods Distribution

Roles in capital goods distribution ensure that machinery and equipment reach customers efficiently and are maintained properly. The most common roles in this area are:

Logistics Manager: Oversees the transportation and delivery of capital goods from manufacturing plants to clients.
Field Service Technician: Installs, maintains, and repairs equipment at client sites to ensure optimal performance.
Supply Chain Analyst: Monitors supply chains to ensure efficient delivery of parts and equipment for manufacturing.

Jobs In Capital Goods Innovation

Innovation roles in the capital goods industry focus on creating new technologies and improving existing products. The most common roles in this area are:

Research and Development Engineer: Develops new machinery and equipment, focusing on innovation and efficiency.
Product Manager: Manages the lifecycle of a product, from concept to production, ensuring it meets market demands.
Automation Engineer: Focuses on integrating automation technologies to improve production processes.

What Are The Skills Needed For Capital Goods?

Learning the skills required for each position is essential. You might have to address some skill gaps, or you may already have well-developed skills that you can leverage as you seek a new role.

Here are the required skills for the most common roles in the capital goods industry:

Entry-Level Roles:

Technical Knowledge: Understanding of mechanical systems, machinery, and manufacturing processes.
Problem-Solving: The ability to troubleshoot and resolve operational issues efficiently.
Attention to Detail: Ensuring machinery operates safely and effectively requires precision.
Flexibility: Willingness to work different shifts, including evenings, weekends, and holidays, is often required in manufacturing roles.

Mid-Senior Manager Roles:

Leadership: The ability to lead, motivate, and manage a team within manufacturing or distribution environments.
Strategic Thinking: Developing and implementing strategies that align with production or supply chain goals.
Project Management: Managing large-scale projects, often involving new product development or process improvements.
Data Analysis: The ability to analyze performance metrics and production data to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

Mid-Senior Technical Roles:

Technical Expertise: In-depth knowledge of manufacturing systems, machinery, and industry standards.
Problem-Solving: Advanced problem-solving skills to address complex technical challenges in production.
Innovation: The ability to develop new technologies or improve existing machinery and processes.

Companies also value candidates who are adaptable, innovative, and have strong analytical skills!

Finding The Right Fit Within The Capital Goods Industry

Want to find out if you are the right fit for a role in the capital goods industry?

We've got you covered.

Here's a simple, step-by-step guide to find out if you have the skills to take a new position in the capital goods industry!

Head over to LinkedIn and search for capital goods industry roles.
Copy the job description of the capital goods role that sparked your interest.
Head over to ResyMatch.io (or use our shortcut below)
Grab a copy of your most updated resume.
Upload your resume on the left side.
Paste the job description on the right side.
Hit “Start Resume Scan.”

Boom! ResyMatch will compare and score your resume versus the job description and identify skill gaps. For example:

ResyMatch will also provide best practices you can use to improve your resume and will ensure that your resume is ATS compliant (ATS is a software that recruiters use to track candidates through their hiring process).

Use our shortcut below to get started:

What Do Capital Goods Jobs Pay?

Now that we’ve covered the most common jobs in the capital goods industry, you might be wondering how much these roles pay.

To answer this question, let’s head over to one of our favorite tools for salary research: Glassdoor.

Glassdoor is one of the world’s top job and recruiting websites where users can anonymously provide information about their companies – including their current salary. Glassdoor provides an average salary range for various roles based on the information sent by its users.

According to Glassdoor, the base salary for the most common capital goods industry jobs in 2024 are:

Manufacturing Engineer: $78K – $112K / year base pay (USD)
Mechanical Engineer: $85K – $135K / year base pay (USD)
Quality Control Specialist: $52K – US$ 83K / year base pay (USD)
Logistics Manager: $60K – $94K / year base pay (USD)
Field Service Technician: $51K – $74K / year base pay (USD)
Product Manager: $68K – $117K / year base pay (USD)
Research and Development Engineer: $79K – $127K / year base pay (USD)

Best Paying Jobs In Capital Goods Compared To The Average U.S. Salary In 2024

Now, let’s check what that looks like compared to the average U.S. salary.

According to the Social Security Administration, the average salary in the U.S. is $63,795.

This is what the best-paying jobs in the capital goods industry look like when we put them in perspective:

Manufacturing Engineer, Research and Development Engineer, and Mechanical Engineer are the highest-paying roles in the capital goods industry, with an earning potential of up to 111% higher than the U.S. average.

Now that we've covered the important basics of the capital goods industry, we can finally answer the biggest question many job seekers have when considering a new industry:

Is Capital Goods A Good Career Path? (Our Verdict)

Capital goods is a good career path for people interested in technology, manufacturing, and innovation.

Capital goods roles are essential for building the tools and machinery that power our world. Companies like Caterpillar, Boeing, and John Deere are leaders in the field.

If you feel like this might be the career path for you, then be sure to dive into the next section where we will cover the best strategies to help you land a job in the field:

How To Build A Job-Winning Capital Goods Resume

Here's a fact most people don't usually realize: you don't need traditional experience to take on a new role.

You can leverage your unique background, experiences, and skills for nearly any position, as long as you sell it.

Think about your resume as an advertisement for yourself. Like any ad, you want it to be compelling and visually attractive, right?

That's exactly what you will do with your resume!

You will start by:

1. Leveraging The Best Keywords For Your Target Role

Remember ResyMatch.io, that resume and job description scanner tool we mentioned earlier in this article?

We first showed you how you can scan and compare your resume with your target job description to find out how your skills match the role.

However, if you don't have a resume yet, you can still get great insight from this tool by running a job description scan.

Here's how: head over to ResyMatch.io and, in “Scan Type,” select “Job Description Scanner.” Then, copy the job description for your target role and paste it into the box on the left.

ResyMatch.io will provide a list of hard and soft skills that apply to the role. You can use these skills as keywords when building your resume.

Skim through the list to get ideas for keywords you can leverage on your resume.

For example, let's say you are an innovative and analytical individual. Are there any previous experiences, personal projects, or even academic achievements that you can showcase in your resume to highlight these skills?

If yes, then make sure to include those on your resume and then move on to the next step:

2. Writing Compelling Resume Bullets

This is where you'll start crafting a resume that sells!

You'll want your resume bullets to have just the right amount of hard and soft skills, action words, measurable results, and common words.

This means a compelling capital goods industry resume bullet for someone applying for a Manufacturing Engineer role might look something like this:

Utilized data analysis and project management skills to optimize a 30% improvement in equipment efficiency, reducing production costs by 12%.

This bullet focuses on specific hard and soft skills that apply to a Manufacturing Engineer, while also showcasing measurable results!

To help you write the perfect resume bullet, we've created ResyBullet.io, a free resume bullet analyzer that helps you write your resume in a way that grabs attention and illustrates value. Simply copy and paste your resume bullet below to begin your analysis:

ResyBullet will analyze and score your resume bullet and give you actionable insights for improvement.

Here's how our capital goods industry resume bullet scored on ResyBullet:

If you're a visual learner, check out our video that walks you through the step-by-step of writing a crazy-effective resume bullet:

3. Make Your Resume Visually Appealing

The last step is to take all of your content and apply it to a layout that is both easy to read and visually appealing. We recommend using a resume template so you can save the time you would normally spend designing your resume and instead allocate it to other high-value activities in your job search (like interview prep and networking).

You can use ResyBuild.io, a free resume builder, to easily build and customize your resume in no time. Just pick one of the templates below and get started:

Free Job-Winning Resume Templates, Build Yours In No Time.

Choose a resume template below to get started:

Choose from 8 proven templates and easily create, edit, and customize your resume. ResyBuild's AI assistant also helps you craft personalized, job-winning bullets in a single click. Simply add your experience, hit “Optimize”, and watch the magic happen.

Ready To Pursue A Capital Goods Career Path?

Then check out our No Experience, No Problem course and access a proven framework for building the skills and results you need to break into a new industry (even if you have absolutely no relevant experience right now)!