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Yes, Precious Metals is a good career path. If you’re someone who likes the flexibility of responsibilities in a job and doesn’t like to do the same thing twice, this is the career path for you. Depending on your skills, the precious metals market can offer a number of well-suited jobs.
If you’re creative and like to pay attention to detail, being a jewelry designer, a goldsmith, or a general precious metals worker could be perfect for you. If you enjoy the thrill of making a sale or like to get creative in advertising, then sales and marketing could be a great option.
If you’re someone who’s interested in this market but not necessarily customer-facing, working in the production line, materials operation, or manufacturing could be the place for you.
No matter your skillset, if you find the precious metals industry to be appealing, chances are you can find a job that suits your talents.
Here are some great jobs in Precious Metals:
The 5 Best-Paying Jobs in Precious Metals
Joining a career in precious metals can be both rewarding and lucrative, depending on your position. Working with these types of materials is a highly specialized field that often pays fairly well. Here are some of the best paying jobs in this field:
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Precious Metals Broker
Average Annual Salary: N/A
A precious metals broker is an individual who acts as an industry intermediary, buys and sells real metals for institutions or individuals, and provides customers with trading forms such as spot trading, futures, options, and swaps.
They may also invest in materials like sapphires, diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and more. Typically metals brokers will have some previous experience working at a metal banking institution or trading in the commodity market.
The key responsibilities include working with clients, trading on behalf of investors, managing risk, understanding commodities laws, and promoting awareness. It’s important to note precious metal brokers are often required to have licenses in the state or country where they operate.
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Precious Metals Worker
Average Annual Salary: N/A
A general precious metals worker is an individual involved in the manufacturing of gold, silver, and other metals. This career field is incredibly broad and can involve career paths where workers learn to design and produce things like cards, aircraft, ships, and tools.
There are a number of jobs in this field, including teaching at an engineering school or working as an entrepreneur and becoming a materials scientist. There are precious metals workers who work in green energy technology, utilizing their knowledge of precious metals to create more sustainable products.
If you’re looking to become a precious metals worker, you want to be sure you have high levels of dexterity and hand-eye coordination. Most work with jigging molten metal, working with different resins and solvents, adjusting furnaces, applying solder, and more.
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Average Annual Salary: $48,000
Goldsmiths are highly skilled craftsmen who create or repair jewelry, among other items made from precious metals. They may also be designers of items such as spoons, buckles, artistic items, and more.
Goldsmiths work with tools like hammers and chisels to create intricate artisanal designs on metal objects, whether they be jewelry, helmets, or badges. Although tools like hammers and chisels seem rudimentary, goldsmithing is a highly-skilled career path and requires extreme attention to detail, immense dexterity, and a keen eye for detail.
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Precious Metals Sales Agent
Average Annual Salary: N/A
Depending on your skills, becoming a precious metals sales agent can be an incredibly lucrative career. Typically, sales agents in these types of roles must have some coin, collectible, and precious metals experience to bring to the table.
Their primary responsibility is to manage and expand their company accounts and portfolios by buying, selling, and trading from a selection of valuable coins and metals. In today’s day and age, most sales agent jobs are done over the phone and typically bring some level of commission, plus guaranteed base pay.
For this type of career, it’s important you’re comfortable on the phone, assertive, and confident. Precious metals sales agents must discuss the last amounts of money and have deep and easily accessible knowledge about the products they are selling.
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Precious Metals Marketing Expert
Average Annual Salary: N/A
Similar to the precious metals sales agents, precious metals marketing experts should have knowledge of precious metals or the coin industry, as well as knowledge of basic marketing strategies and communication skills.
Typically, these individuals will act as product evangelists to build awareness and understanding to help maintain or increase a sales funnel to achieve the company’s financial goals.
Marketers may be responsible for maintaining product information, the company website, and selling tools for sales. They may also be responsible for creating advertisements, email campaigns, social campaigns, and more.
5 Entry-Level Jobs in Precious Metals
Jobs in precious metals rarely require a college degree, making the barrier to entry much lower than other careers. There are many positives in precious metals as both a career and an investment for long-term success. Here are five entry-level jobs in precious metals.
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Goldsmith Apprentice
Average Annual Salary: N/A
Goldsmithing apprenticeships are offered for those looking to become full-time goldsmiths. Typically, those looking to land an apprenticeship will work with local master smiths and organizations.
Apprenticeships allow for one-to-one training in a workplace setting so that individuals can learn the trade on an individual basis and become familiar with the job and how the industry runs as a whole.
One of the most prestigious apprenticeship programs for goldsmiths is operated out of the United Kingdom called The Goldsmith Company.
Apprenticeships can be found in local areas through organizations or individual smiths. Typically, it takes about three to five years in an apprenticeship program before you can become a full-time goldsmith.
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Junior Precious Metals Sales Associate
Average Annual Salary: N/A
Typically junior precious metals sales associates do not need prior sales experience to land a job. This type of job will train you as you go, as long as you are motivated, responsible, and coachable.
Many of these jobs require individuals to follow a phone script written by executives or marketing and sales professionals within the company. Junior precious metals sales associates also typically make a small commission, usually splitting it with their more senior leaders.
Working as a sales associate allows you to learn the job with hands-on experience, gain knowledge of your customer base, and gain specific knowledge about precious metals. These skills can set you apart when you begin applying to more senior precious metals sales jobs.
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Material Operator
Average Annual Salary: N/A
Materials operators who work with precious metals typically work in the production part of the business. They will be responsible for planning, monitoring, and coordinating all materials to meet the needs of the production schedule for the department.
They may need to maintain logs, record production, process data, and observe and record key process indicators on certain equipment in the production line.
Material operators must organize materials and be sure they are properly sealed and weighed prior to shipment. They may be responsible for enforcing safety rules and regulations as well as maintaining equipment health to be in compliance with government and local requirements.
Being a material operator can open new doors in production and manufacturing, especially as it pertains to precious metals.
As a material operator, you’ll learn the ins and outs of production, quality control, organization, sales, and shipping. These skills can set you apart from other candidates when looking for a more senior role in production and manufacturing.
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Average Annual Salary: $43,000
There are a variety of levels for maintenance technicians, but for an entry-level position, most will join at Level One. Once you’ve gained the experience and abilities as an entry-level maintenance technician, you can begin applying for higher-level jobs.
These individuals are typically required to inspect, diagnose, and repair faulty production machinery, troubleshoot systems, follow blueprints to verify material components and perform general plant maintenance.
Additionally, there may be a component to this job that involves working in a system to track work order requests, charge parts, or failure tracking, as well as general housekeeping and cleanup.
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Precious Metals Marketing Associate
Average Annual Salary: N/A
Joining a team as a precious metals marketing associate means you’ll be learning as you go. As a marketing associate, your primary responsibility will be to assist the marketing leader through a variety of tasks, including helping develop sales material, call scripts, and promotional materials.
Depending on your industry, you may be required to maintain social media profiles and calendars, as well as any other digital marketing responsibilities, including email campaigns, advertisements, and event attendance.
For smaller businesses, marketing associates may be responsible for company branding, general awareness, and promotion within the area they reside in. Taking a job as precious metals marketing associate will open up opportunities in higher-ranking marketing roles.
Why Choose a Career in Precious Metals?
Precious metal workers have a wide variety of potential responsibilities. These people may be required to craft jewelry, resize rings, or repair broken pieces or delicate items such as cutlery, jewelry, or silver tea sets.
They may also be required to clean delicate items, create new items, or even act as security to protect precious metals from thievery. So, why choose a career in precious metals?
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You’ll always have something new to work on. As we previously mentioned, precious metals careers open a wide variety of options. From engineering to production to sales and marketing, you’ll be able to find something that suits your skills and goals.
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You’ll meet a wide variety of people. Working with precious metals attracts a wide variety of people. In certain roles, you’ll be able to work directly with clients and have face-to-face interactions with a plethora of people.
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You’ll gain specific knowledge. Precious metals are a highly specialized career field. This means you’ll be able to land jobs more easily in this field, and as you build more and more knowledge, you will become a more valuable asset to any team.
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You’ll feel fulfilled. Precious metals are expensive and oftentimes can be what people put their retirement savings into. This alone makes this an important job that many people value, allowing you to feel more fulfilled once your work is done.
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You can tailor your job to meet your needs. Because this career field is so broad, it’s easy to choose a job that meets your needs. If you enjoy being customer-facing, you can find a job that allows you to interact with customers.
If you’d rather work behind the scenes, look for a job in manufacturing or production that doesn’t require any face-to-face interaction except with your co-workers.
Education and Certification Requirements for a Career in Precious Metals
Depending on the field you decide to explore, education and certification requirements can differ. It’s important to understand which jobs require which type of education or certification, so be sure to do your research on the company or ask your hiring manager what may be required for the position you’re interested in.
Here are some education requirements in the field of precious metals:
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49% of precious metal workers have a certificate or associate degree. 35% of precious metal workers have a high school diploma, and nearly none have any higher education than an associates degree
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Most precious metals careers require one to two years of on-the-job training and information training with experienced workers. However, many jobs offer on-the-job training, and most are willing to train entry-level applicants if it’s the right fit.
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For careers in jewelry or goldsmithing, many require a specific certification or an apprenticeship if the individual has no secondary education. This ensures the individual can do their job to the best of their ability, with the key skills needed to be successful.
What Do People Working With Precious Metals Do?
Those working in precious metals deal with materials such as gold, silver, and platinum and objects made from those metals. However, this doesn’t just pertain to jewelry-making. Precious metals workers can be found in a variety of roles in many different industries, including jewelry, antique restoration, furniture production, mining, and blacksmithing.
Precious metal workers may have a number of different responsibilities depending on their career path. Those who work with jewelry may craft metal jewelry, resize rings and bracelets, or repair or restore broken or older pieces of jewelry.
Precious metal workers may also be consultants who work for insurance companies. Others may specialize in engraving items made from precious metals like wristwatches, photo frames, and wedding rings.
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Author
Caitlin Mazur is a freelance writer at Zippia. Caitlin is passionate about helping Zippia’s readers land the jobs of their dreams by offering content that discusses job-seeking advice based on experience and extensive research. Caitlin holds a degree in English from Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, PA.
