Lift Mechanic
What the work is
Designs, installs, maintains, services and repairs electric and hydraulic passenger and freight lifts, escalators, moving walkways, and other lift equipment.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Installs and commissions new lift equipment, including cables, counterweights, pumps, motor foundations, and safety and control devices
- Tests and adjusts assemblies, including cables, wiring and electric controls, and adjusts safety devices such as brakes and speed governors
- Diagnoses and repairs faults in lift motors, brakes, switches and electrical and electronic control systems
- Performs routine maintenance and servicing of lifts and escalators
- Replaces worn or faulty parts in lift equipment
- Responds to emergency call-outs to repair lift equipment
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in a small electrical contracting business working on homes and shops. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- You trace a fault nobody else could find, and the lights come back on
- A clean finished job that you know is safe and that you can be proud of
- A grateful customer who gets their shop back open before the weekend
Hard days
- Crawling through a hot roof space in the middle of summer
- A customer pushing you to cut a corner because they are in a hurry
- A fault that keeps coming back, with the clock and the budget both running
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 381234, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.