Audio and Video Equipment Technicians: Salary, Job Description, How To Become One, and Quiz

Stan T.Career, OverviewLeave a Comment

Audio and Video Equipment Technicians

Audio and Video Equipment Technicians set up, maintain, and dismantle audio and video equipment, such as microphones, sound speakers, connecting wires and cables, sound and mixing boards, video cameras, video monitors and servers, and related electronic equipment for live or recorded events, such as concerts, meetings, conventions, presentations, podcasts, news conferences, and sporting events.

Salary
$53390
Becoming One
Medium
Education
Bachelor's degree
Job Satisfaction
Job Growth

Personality



Job description

Audio and Video Equipment Technicians set up, or set up and operate audio and video equipment including microphones, sound speakers, video screens, projectors, video monitors, recording equipment, connecting wires and cables, sound and mixing boards, and related electronic equipment for concerts, sports events, meetings and conventions, presentations, and news conferences. May also set up and operate associated spotlights and other custom lighting systems.

  • Notify supervisors when major equipment repairs are needed.
  • Diagnose and resolve media system problems.
  • Direct and coordinate activities of assistants and other personnel during production.
  • Compress, digitize, duplicate, and store audio and video data.
Read more about what does an Audio and Video Equipment Technician really do at work and what is it like being and working as one.



Salary

Average salary
$48940 per year

Average hourly wage
$24 per hour


Audio and Video Equipment Technicians with little to no experience tend to make between $25590 and $32770 while the more experienced ones can earn over $60290 per year.

Top 5 paying states Hourly Annual
DC $31 $65,090
CA $27 $56,710
NY $27 $55,140
CT $27 $55,130
HI $26 $54,720

One of the easiest ways to increase your salary as an Audio and Video Equipment Technician is to move to a higher paying state like DC. Right now, the highest paying states for Audio and Video Equipment Technicians are DC, CA, NY, CT and HI.

However, a higher pay at DC doesn’t guarantee that you will make more because the living expenses at DC might be twice as high than where you are currently at now.

Three other factors that can increase your salary as an Audio and Video Equipment Technician is the degree you hold, the industry you work in, and lastly the company you work for.


Requirements

Recommended degree level
Bachelor’s degree

We asked other Audio and Video Equipment Technicians what degree they had when they got the job and most of them said they had a Bachelor’s Degree followed by a High School Diploma.

Other than that, we also asked them what did they major in and here are the most popular majors that came up.

Agricultural Communication/Journalism
Photographic and Film/Video Technology/Technician and Assistant
Recording Arts Technology/Technician
Read more about how to become an Audio and Video Equipment Technician and the degree, training and education you need.

Pros and Cons

Here are some of the pros and cons of being an Audio and Video Equipment Technician.

PROS
Suitable for people who likes practical and hands-on work
Suitable for people who values relationships between co-workers and customers and wants to work in a friendly non-competitive environment
This career is perfect for people who love to work indoors.
It is not too difficult to get into this career. Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for this career.
Normal working hours (40 hours per week)
CONS
Not suitable for people who likes to help and teach others
Salary is below average

What is the job like

Job satisfaction
67%

Is this job meaningful
53%


67% of Audio and Video Equipment Technicians said they were satisfied with their job and 53% said they feel like their job is making other people’s lives better.

Matt Granato
A liberal arts college

I started as a multimedia systems technician after I finished college, so it was an experience early on in my career. Essentially my day-to-day tasks consisted of maintaining, deploying, upgrading, and operating audiovisual equipment and computers to support any of the various events that could be taking place on a college campus. That could be everything from a multimedia presentation of a film festival in an auditorium, a high-profile campus speaker with thousands of attendees, college commencement, or alumni weekend, parents weekend, or reunions weekend programming.

In carrying out these responsibilities it was essential to stay up-to-date on cutting-edge technology and cultivate creative ideas in how to incorporate that technology into all of the events I’ve described to enhance the experience for attendees.

Pros

Like any position, there are high and low points. Overall, I would say that working in entertainment and in this role in particular the pros definitely outweigh the cons. If you’re someone who enjoys meeting new people, meeting well-known or famous people, you definitely will regularly interact with a wide variety of high-profile individuals, celebrities, influencers, etc.

In addition to working with these sorts of people, you regularly work with people on their team in planning and executing the details of the show or event. This is great not only for networking but also for getting a first-hand account of how professionals operate and conduct business in the world of entertainment.

You also get access to experiences most people don’t have the opportunity to, sound checks, rehearsals, one-on-one interviews, show prep, etc.

Cons

The downside of all this excitement is that many times you will hurry to meet a load in and set up a schedule for a show only to be left with hours of downtime waiting for the next rehearsal, or start of show. Entertainment events mostly take place on nights or weekends, so you have to have a flexible schedule.

Lastly, there is usually very little time between events so once you have worked wrapping up one job, you are already diving right into the next one. So the overall pace tends to be quite fast with a lot of long periods of waiting for other departments to do their work or for talent to be ready.

Advice to students interested in this career path

The best way to gain experience and put yourself in a place to find opportunities is to take any mass communications or media production classes your school offers. Another area to explore is computer science. All of the topics areas these disciplines offer are relevant to the roles one would be interested in and are essential to building a solid foundation to further develop. Audio & video production, sound design, compositing, and graphic design are all elements that are part of the live events and programs people are attending and are integral to creating an event with impact. The programs used to design and execute shows have more capabilities and are more powerful than ever before and there is always a very competitive market for technicians with specific skillsets on a particular piece of high-end equipment.

In addition, I would also find the campus events committee. Every school has a group that is responsible for reaching out to national and regional performers to come to campus and entertain the college community. One can gain a vast amount of experience in how to interact with talent managers, negotiate booking acts, and make really helpful contact they can utilize once they graduate.



Is this right for me

Best personality for this career
The Builders and The Thinkers

You can read more about these career personality types here.

People who are suitable for this job tends to like work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They like working with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery..

They also like working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. They like searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.



Learn more about Audio and Video Equipment Technicians

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Related career information

Audio and Video Equipment Technicians job description, Audio and Video Equipment Technicians salary, Audio and Video Equipment Technicians information, what is the job of an Audio and Video Equipment Technician like, pros and cons about Audio and Video Equipment Technicians, colleges and universities for Audio and Video Equipment Technicians, is Audio and Video Equipment Technicians the right career for me, careers in Art, Entertainment and Sports

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