Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media · Holland code RCA
Audio and Video 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.
Also called: Audio Visual Specialist (AV Specialist), AV Tech (Audio Visual Technician), Media Technician, Operations Technician, Audio Technician, Stagehand, Video Technician.
O*NET 27-4011.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $58,100
- Middle half earn $46,390 to $77,560. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree
- 43% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 3 of 5
- Medium preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- 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.
- Install, adjust, and operate electronic equipment to record, edit, and transmit radio and television programs, motion pictures, video conferencing, or multimedia presentations.
- Monitor incoming and outgoing pictures and sound feeds to ensure quality and notify directors of any possible problems.
- Control the lights and sound of events, such as live concerts, before and after performances, and during intermissions.
- Mix and regulate sound inputs and feeds or coordinate audio feeds with television pictures.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Monitoring3.8 / 5
- Reading Comprehension3.5 / 5
- Critical Thinking3.5 / 5
- Active Listening3.1 / 5
- Writing3.1 / 5
- Speaking3.1 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Computers and Electronics4.1 / 5
- Communications and Media4.1 / 5
- English Language4.0 / 5
- Telecommunications3.7 / 5
- Fine Arts3.6 / 5
- Engineering and Technology3.6 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic70
- Investigative29
- Artistic37
- Social16
- Enterprising15
- Conventional60
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- audio production technician · DE Tontechniker/Tontechnikerin · FR technicien de production son/technicienne de production son
- audio-visual technician · DE Fachkraft AV-Medientechnik · FR technicien audiovisuel/technicienne audiovisuel
- boom operator · DE Tonassistent/Tonassistentin · FR perchiste
- sound operator · DE Soundtechniker/Soundtechnikerin · FR opérateur du son/opératrice du son
- video technician · DE Videotechniker/Videotechnikerin · FR technicien vidéo/technicienne vidéo
- performance rental technician · DE Veranstaltungstechniker (gemietetes Equipment)/Veranstaltungstechnikerin (gemietetes Equipment) · FR technicien matériel de location/technicienne matériel de location
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Photographers, audio-visual and broadcasting equipment operators (3417)81,300 employed
- Arts officers, producers and directors (3416)113,500 employed
- Other skilled trades n.e.c. (5449)35,600 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €50,992 |
| Austria | €46,986 |
| Germany | €44,473 |
| Netherlands | €42,448 |
| Ireland | €41,613 |
| Sweden | €41,155 |
| Italy | €34,882 |
| France | €34,816 |
| Spain | €29,757 |
| Portugal | €18,080 |
| Poland | €12,108 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.01. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (27-4011).
Related careers
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