21 Key Attributes Traffic Technicians Need To Succeed In Their Career

by Noah Smith

Saturday, September 5, 2015

Traffic technicians conduct field studies to determine traffic volume, speed, effectiveness of signals, adequacy of lighting, and other factors influencing traffic conditions, under direction of traffic engineer.

The core tasks that traffic technicians are likely to carry out include:

Interact with the public to answer traffic-related questions, respond to complaints or requests, or discuss traffic control ordinances, plans, policies, or procedures.

In order to successfully forge ahead with their careers, analysts in a survey carried out by U.S. Department of Labor (via O*NET) have marked out the following as important attributes that traffic technicians would need. These attributes have been selected from characteristics and requirements strongly associated with the occupation. They are

Abilities: Enduring attributes of the individual that influence performance
Interests: Preferences for work environments. Occupational Interest Profiles (OIPs) are compatible with Holland's (1985, 1997) model of personality types and work environments. Six interest categories are used to describe the work environment of occupations: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional. An OIP consists of six numerical scores indicating how descriptive and characteristic each work environment (or interest area) is for an occupation
Knowledge: Organized sets of principles and facts applying in general domains
Skills: These include basic skills, which are developed capacities that facilitate learning or the more rapid acquisition of knowledge. Plus cross-functional skills, which are developed capacities that facilitate performance of activities that occur across jobs
Style: Personal characteristics that can affect how well someone performs a job

We have listed out attributes which were scored 80% or more in terms of importance by the analysts.

Being honest and ethical.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 96.2%

Being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 94.6%

Being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 94.4%

Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Attribute Type: Knowledge Score: 92%

Being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 91%

A willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 90.6%

Having a strong preference for realistic work environments. Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
Attribute Type: Interests Score: 90.43%

Analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 89.6%

Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Attribute Type: Knowledge Score: 89.4%

Maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 89.2%

Developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 89.2%

Accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 88.4%

A willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 88.4%

Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Attribute Type: Knowledge Score: 88.4%

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.
Attribute Type: Knowledge Score: 87.6%

Being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 87.4%

Persistence in the face of obstacles.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 87%

Creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 86.4%

Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Attribute Type: Knowledge Score: 85.4%

Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Attribute Type: Knowledge Score: 84.2%

Establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 82.2%