Careers > Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairers

Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairers

$32.46K Median Salary 800 Job Openings (Annual Projection) -13.8% Job Growth

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About This Career

Construct, decorate, or repair leather and leather-like products, such as luggage, shoes, and saddles. May use hand tools.

Reported Job Titles

Boot Maker, Cobbler, Cutter, Leather Worker, Saddle and Harness Maker, Shoe Cutter, Shoe Maker, Shoe Repairer, Shoe Repairman, Stitcher

Career data shown for:

Skills You'll Need

Click on skills to find related courses.

Abilities

Near Vision

Arm-Hand Steadiness

Finger Dexterity

Problem Sensitivity

Category Flexibility

Control Precision

Deductive Reasoning

Inductive Reasoning

Information Ordering

Manual Dexterity

Oral Comprehension

Selective Attention

Speech Clarity

Speech Recognition

Visualization

Knowledge

Production and Processing

Customer and Personal Service

Skills

Active Listening

Critical Thinking

Monitoring

Speaking

Technology Skills

Spreadsheet software

Accounting software

Point of sale POS software

Inventory management software

Tools

Sewing machines

Leather cutting machines

Awls

Hammers

Blade sharpener

Rotary paper or fabric cutter

Punches or nail sets or drifts

Shears

Polishing machines

Tape measures

Wire cutters

Calipers

Magnetic stripe readers and encoders

Leather riveting machines

Power buffers

Pullers

Applicator brushes

Power drills

Planes

Slip or groove joint pliers

Inkjet printers

Protective gloves

Rulers

Leatherworking workshop equipment

Cash registers

Anatomical models

Leather presses

Shoe heelpiece machine

Bench scales

Wire brushes

Sanding machines

Razor knives

Hand clamps

Utility knives

Sewing needles

Personal computers

Abilities

Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.

Knowledge

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

Skills

Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Technology Skills

Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel
Accounting software: Billing software; Bookkeeping software; Intuit QuickBooks; Sage 50 Accounting
Point of sale POS software: Smart card management software
Inventory management software: Assisi Software Assisi Inventory

Tools

Sewing machines: Industrial sewing machines
Leather cutting machines: Bench trimmers; Leather skivers; Mini leather cutters
Awls: Punching awls
Hammers:
Blade sharpener: Tool sharpeners
Rotary paper or fabric cutter: Felt cutters
Punches or nail sets or drifts: Mini punch sets
Shears: Metal shears
Polishing machines: Superfinishing machines
Tape measures: Diameter tape measures
Wire cutters:
Calipers: Dial calipers; Digital calipers; Vernier calipers
Magnetic stripe readers and encoders: Credit card readers
Leather riveting machines: Leather rivet settings
Power buffers: Portable buffers
Pullers: Comealongs
Applicator brushes: Oil brushes
Power drills: Hand drills
Planes: Shapers; Spindle shapers
Slip or groove joint pliers: Slip joint pliers
Inkjet printers: Poster printers
Protective gloves: Safety gloves
Rulers: Precision rulers; Steel rules
Leatherworking workshop equipment: Hole punching equipment
Cash registers: Computerized cash registers
Anatomical models:
Leather presses: Leather pressing machines
Shoe heelpiece machine: Heel wheels
Bench scales: Digital bench scales
Wire brushes: Wire cleaning brushes
Sanding machines: Edge sanders; Wide belt sanders
Razor knives: Trim knives
Hand clamps:
Utility knives: Precision knives
Sewing needles:
Personal computers:

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