Coal Miners

Employers

Approximately 68,590 workers were employed as coal miners in 2023, according to the National Mining Association. Most coal miners work in private industry for mining companies. Some opportunities also exist with federal and state governments. Statista.com reports that West Virginia, Kentucky, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Indiana, Illinois, and Alabama are the states with the highest levels of employment of coal miners.

Starting Out

The usual method of entering this field is by direct application to the employment offices of the individual coal mining companies. However, mining machine operators must "come up through the ranks," acquiring the necessary skills on the job.

New employees start as trainees, or "red hats." After the initial training period, they work at routine tasks that do not require much skill, such as shoveling coal onto conveyors. As they gain more experience and become familiar with the mining operations, they are put to work as helpers to experienced machine operators. In this way they eventually learn how to operate the machines themselves.

Coal mining technicians are usually hired by recruiters from major employers before completing their last year of technical school. Industry recruiters regularly visit the campuses of schools with coal mining technician programs and work with the schools' career services counselors.

Many two-year graduates take jobs emphasizing basic operational functions. Technicians are then in a position to compete for higher positions, in most cases through the system of job bidding, which considers such factors as formal education, experience, and seniority.

In union mines, when a vacancy occurs and a machine operator job is available, an announcement is posted so that any qualified employee can apply for the position. In most cases the job is given to the person with the most seniority.