ascx-begin clientid=ctl73 path=/Career/CareerProfile/CareerProfile.ascx
What They Do
About This Career
Sets up, maintains, and dismantles 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.
This career is part of the Arts, Audio-Video Technology and Communications cluster Journalism and Broadcasting pathway.
A person in this career:
- Notifies supervisors when major equipment repairs are needed.
- Diagnoses and resolves media system problems.
- Compresses, digitizes, duplicates, and stores audio and video data.
- Directs and coordinates activities of assistants and other personnel during production.
- Installs, adjusts, and operates electronic equipment to record, edit, and transmit radio and television programs, motion pictures, video conferencing, or multimedia presentations.
- Controls the lights and sound of events, such as live concerts, before and after performances, and during intermissions.
- Switches sources of video input from one camera or studio to another, from film to live programming, or from network to local programming.
- Records and edits audio material, such as movie soundtracks, using audio recording and editing equipment.
- Performs minor repairs and routine cleaning of audio and video equipment.
- Designs layouts of audio and video equipment and performs upgrades and maintenance.
Working Conditions and Physical Demands
People who do this job report that:
- You would often handle loads up to 10 lbs., sometimes up to 20 lbs. You might do a lot of walking or standing, or you might sit but use your arms and legs to control machines, equipment or tools.
- Work in this occupation involves using your hands to hold, control, and feel objects more than one-third of the time
- Work in this occupation requires being inside most of the time
- Work in this occupation involves sitting more than one-third of the time
Working in this career involves (physical activities):
- Picking out a particular sound in the presence of other sounds
- Identifying color and seeing differences in color, including shades and brightness
- Seeing clearly at a distance
- Detecting sounds and hearing the differences between sounds of different pitch and loudness
- Seeing clearly up close
- Speaking clearly enough to be able to be understood by others
- Identifying and understanding the speech of another person
Work Hours and Travel
Specialty and Similar Careers
Careers that are more detailed or close to this career:
- Operations Technician
- Stagehand — Assists in the assembly and disassembly of show productions.
- AV Tech (Audio Visual Technician)
- Audio Visual Specialist (AV Specialist)
- Media Technician
Every year the U.S. Department of Labor conducts national surveys of wage data by occupation in every state and in all industry divisions. These surveys are conducted through the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program.
The statistics collected for one year are published the next fall. For example, 2013 wage information was published in the fall of 2014.
There are over 800 occupations in the surveys, and these occupations cover the entire U.S. labor market. The surveys ask for reports in a scale of ranges for both hourly wages and annual wages.
In many cases, these occupations are broad enough to cover many more detailed specialties of an occupation. A specific occupation may be included in a broader occupational category for which labor market data is available. When you look at the statistics for a broad category, be aware that the salary data for a specific career may differ.
For more details about how wage information is collected and calculated by the U.S. Department of Labor, visit their website at http://www.bls.gov/bls/blswage.htm.
Every year the U.S. Department of Labor conducts a national survey of over 400,000
employers in every state and in all industry divisions. This survey is conducted
through the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program. Every other year the
department publishes outlook information based on these surveys.
Each outlook period covers 10 years. For example, in 2003 the outlook information
was published for 2004-2014. Employers are asked to report the number of employees
in about 770 different occupations that cover the entire U.S. labor market.
From this information, staffing patterns for different industries are established.
Industry growth is projected into the future based on past trends and current economic
conditions. Industry staffing patterns are then applied to the industry projections
to obtain occupational projections.
In many cases, these occupations are broad enough to cover many more detailed specialties
of an occupation. A specific occupation may be included in a broader occupational
category for which labor market data is available. When you look at the statistics
for a broad category, be aware that the employment data for a specific field may
differ.
For more details about how employment information is collected and calculated by
the U.S. Department of Labor, visit their website at http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.
ascx-end /Career/CareerProfile/CareerProfile.ascx